Foreign money and competing claims of working-class roots in Wisconsin primary

As the child of dairy farmers and the owner of a small business in western Wisconsin, Democratic candidate Rebecca Cooke has portrayed herself as a working-class political upstart. But her congressional campaign has only vaguely hinted at her behind-the-scenes work in political fundraising. As Tuesday’s Democratic primary for Wisconsin’s 3rd District approaches, Cooke’s primary opponent, Rep. Katrina Shankland, has accused her of lying about her background to voters.

As originally reported in the Milwaukee Journal SentinelCooke’s work in political consulting and fundraising dates back to 2012. She has served as finance director for congressional campaigns in four states. Cooke would later register a political consulting firm, Cooke Strategy LLC, and would serve on the steering committee for Chance Wisconsina nonprofit that advocates for progressive economic policies. FEC records show that Cooke earned more than $190,000 from her consulting work at Cooke Strategy from 2015 to 2021. That’s not a lot of money to make in six years. But her political career to date hasn’t quite matched the image she’s sold to voters.

Cooke’s campaign has consistently positioned her as a working-class political outsider. In response to criticism that she lied to voters, her campaign has downplayed her fundraising work as a way to make ends meet. In an interview with the Wisconsin Examinershe positioned herself as a voice for Wisconsin’s rural working class, distinguishing herself from so-called “career politicians” like Shankland, her primary opponent, who was first elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2013. She reiterated this framing in an interview with the Expectationbefore revelations about her political work emerged.

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Shankland has also accused Cooke of taking money from conservative PACs that has been used to discredit Shankland’s record. The “conservative dark money” comes from the influential Blue Dog PAC and the “Blue Dog-aligned” Welcome PAC. Both PACs work to elect moderate to conservative Democrats. FEC records show that Cooke $5,000 from Blue Dog PAC (also a prominent supporter of Cooke) and $7,600 from Welcome PACWelcome PAC also spent another $170,000 to support Cooke’s campaign.

Since its founding in the 1990s, the Blue Dog Coalition, which includes the Blue Dog PAC, has a reputation as a “southern boys club.” Part of this is because some of the early members were the last of the Southern Democrats, who previously opposed racial integration. Earlier members also opposed abortion and gay marriage. A failed attempt to create a new image in 2023 led to eight of the 15 members leaving the coalition. The coalition currently stands at ten members.

Shankland said the money from conservative Democratic PACs is being used to run attack ads against her campaign. Cooke’s campaign website has outlined three main points of attack on Shankland’s record. She has accused Shankland of voting with Republicans to block Medicaid expansion (under a state program called BadgerCare), cutting taxes for the wealthy, and lifting restrictions on how close sex offenders can be to parks and schools.

Shankland has a whole page dedicated to it website to debunk Cooke’s attacks. For example, she has co-sponsored legislation to expand BadgerCare every year she has served in the Legislature. The bill Cooke referenced, and which Shankland voted against, was also opposed by every Democrat in the Legislature. It gives the Legislature, which until this year in Wisconsin has been gerrymandered to be heavily Republican, a veto over every federal waiver in the BadgerCare program, including the eligibility expansion. Because it shifts a typically bureaucratic process from the executive branch to the legislature, Democrats oppose it. “Cooke is knowingly misrepresenting and distorting Katrina Shankland’s health care record,” the website states.

The page also discusses other claims made by Cooke, including those about tax cuts (the bill in question was a property tax measure that was also widely supported by Democrats in the legislature) and restrictions on sex offenders (that law, which was a setback for sex offenders that ultimately drove them into harder-to-track rural areas, was overwhelmingly rejected by Shankland and her Democratic cronies and was eventually repealed).

Shankland has also played up her own rural working class roots. She spoke to the Expectation about growing up in a small town as the child of public school teachers, working a minimum wage job after college and struggling with medical bills. She also touted her recommendations for 17 different unions (although it should be noted that Cooke has also received messages of support from multiple unions).

Wisconsin’s Third District seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden. The results of the race could help shape the balance of power in the House. A June GQR poll showed Cooke at 46 percent in a matchup with Van Orden, who scored 50 percent.

Cooke’s campaign has accused Shankland of accepting outside donations. According to FEC filesShankland’s campaign has received $194,000 in independent expenditures on behalf of the Leaders We Deserve PAC, which works to elect young progressive candidates. Founded by Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg, Leaders We Deserve claims to disclose all of its donors, a fact Shankland cited in condemning the dark-money Welcome PAC.

Eric Wilson, who is also running in the Democratic primary for the Third District, has never faced accusations of accepting “foreign” money for his campaign. In fact, he has distinguished himself from his opponents by pointing to his campaign’s reliance on small individual donations.

“Both of my opponents are getting a lot of help from outside groups,” Wilson said. “They seem hell-bent on attacking each other. People are tired of this kind of politics. I’m running a positive, progressive, issue-based campaign. We’re people-driven with 99 percent individual contributions and an average contribution of $27.”