Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Thursday announced his endorsement of Democrat Rebecca Cooke for Congress in Wisconsin’s 3rd District — making a foray into one of a handful of districts that could decide the next House majority, which President Donald Trump carried by 7 points less than a year ago.
“Rebecca is a working class fighter who developed her populist roots in rural Western Wisconsin. A daughter of farmers, a waitress and a small business owner — she’s lived through failed policies from Washington elites and is ready to deliver tangible outcomes that working people will actually feel,” Sanders said in a statement shared first with NBC News.
Sanders’ endorsement brings renewed national attention to a race that Cooke lost by less than 3 percentage points last year as GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden earned a second term. And it also highlights a notable cross-section of support for Cooke — who has also been endorsed by the Blue Dog Democrats' PAC, a longtime supporter of party moderates — as Democrats in Washington and around the country review the party's policy platforms, personalities and coalitions after they suffered defeat to Trump in the 2024 election.
Cooke said in an interview that Sanders’ endorsement meant a lot to her because “Bernie really is no bulls---.”
“He’s been able to pass legislation in the fray of Washington while remaining really true to his core values that center around the working class, and his voice has never really wavered,” she said.
Cooke said she voted for Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary and has valued his authenticity ever since.
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“Why wouldn’t I seek support from someone like that in an era, kind of, where nothing feels authentic, when Bernie really is?” she added.
Last year, Cooke campaigned on a message focused largely on the economy and ran ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin in her district. She also ran with the support of the New Democrat Coalition and Blue Dog Democrats, two groups of moderate congressional Democrats who tout their support for bipartisanship and working across the aisle. The Blue Dog PAC endorsed her again this month.
Sanders followers and some Blue Dog types have clashed over the years over policy and the direction of the Democratic Party. Cooke acknowledged that “it could seem surprising, you know, to welcome an endorsement like that from Senator Sanders.”
“But I really think that it’s important that we let go of purity tests in politics and that we stay disciplined on creating election wins,” she said, adding that in her campaign she hopes to shed the labels of “moderate” or “progressive” and gain support from a broad base of voters.
“I am a Blue Dog and a new Dem, but I’m also very progressive where it counts,” Cooke said. “I don’t like the labels and the boxes that kind of have been created, because immediately, you know, you’re written off and ‘othered’ in your party because you’re this or because you’re that. And really, I’m just — I’m running because I’m for western Wisconsin, period.”
In a statement, NRCC spokesperson Zach Bannon said, "Terrified of a messy primary, Rebecca Cooke isn’t just being pushed to the left; she’s fully embracing Bernie Sanders’ radical, socialist agenda to abolish ICE, allow men in girls’ sports, and give free healthcare to illegals. Political activist Cooke continues to prove she is completely out of touch with western Wisconsin, and she will be rejected for a third time."
The national stakes
Democrats need a net gain of at least three districts to retake a majority in the House in 2026. And Wisconsin’s 3rd District is expected to be highly competitive again in 2026. It's one of just nine Republican-held House seats rated as toss-ups by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter.
As Cooke welcomes Sanders' support in a district Trump has carried three times, after Barack Obama and other Democratic presidential nominees carried it in previous elections, the Democratic Party is grappling with how to move forward from the 2024 election.
Some Democrats — like Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts — have said Democrats alienated some voters in recent years by insisting that candidates agree with certain socially progressive norms and use “woke” language that not all voters understand.
“We have to, you know, quit demonizing people along the political spectrum. Otherwise we’re, we’re never going to get there. We’re never going to achieve the things that we want to get done," Cooke said.
Sanders, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020, kicked off a nationwide “Fighting Oligarchy” tour this year, rallying with voters across the country and urging Democrats to fight Trump and his allies and to listen to voters’ concerns about the economy.
Sanders made several stops in Wisconsin, including in Eau Claire County, which is in the 3rd District.
Sanders' endorsement statement praised Cooke as a potential "partner in Congress" who shares his goal of "building opportunities for the working class."
"She will be an ally to me in the House as she works to enforce antitrust laws against corporate monopolies that have bankrupted family farms like hers, raise the federal minimum wage to a living wage and expand Medicare to cover vision, dental and hearing," Sanders said in the statement.
He has already thrown his support behind several other candidates in the 2026 midterm elections. They include Maine’s former state Senate president Troy Jackson, who is running for governor; Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed; and Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney, who is challenging Rep. Shri Thanedar in the Democratic primary in a Detroit-area district.
On Monday, Sanders also backed New York state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani in next week’s New York mayoral primary.
