Eau Claire City Council president is considering run for Congress, as a two-time former candidate also jumps in

Emily Berge may want to tap into anger that US Rep. Derrick Van Orden is ignoring the Chippewa Valley, while 2024 nominee Rebecca Cooke is also announcing a third effort in the 3rd District.

Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge has confirmed to UpNorthNews she is considering a run for Congress in 2026, challenging Republican US Rep. Derrick Van Orden. The news comes on the same day that Van Orden’s 2024 opponent, Rebecca Cooke, also confirms her interest in trying again to unseat the volatile Republican incumbent.

People close to Berge say her potential candidacy is coming amid frustration by Chippewa Valley constituents who say Van Orden is all but ignoring Eau Claire, a Democratic base but also the largest city in the 3rd Congressional District.

Those who have talked to Berge frequently about the potential run criticized Van Orden as “unfit, unqualified, and too inexperienced” to serve effectively as a member of Congress. Berge had been planning to wait until after the key April 1 spring elections in Wisconsin for state Supreme Court and Superintendent of Public Instruction before making any final decision and formal announcement.

A licensed mental health counselor, Berge was first elected to the Eau Claire City Council in 2018 and was elected by voters to the council president role in 2023. She also serves as president of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities

Cooke also announcing

Cooke told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel she is also announcing a run for the 3rd District seat, her third attempt. She cited massive cuts by the Trump administration, supported by Van Orden, as well as a new trade war that will hurt farmers and consumers. Reproductive healthcare rights will also be a centerpiece of Cooke’s campaign.

As Van Orden’s challenger in 2024, Cooke finished with stronger margins that presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, but still lost by just under 12,000 votes—the same margin as fellow Democrat, state Sen. Brad Pfaff of Onalaska, in 2022. Cooke finished second to Pfaff in the 2022 Democratic primary; she defeated former state Rep. Katrina Shankland in the 2024 primary. 

Pfaff has been encouraged to make another run, according to a Journal Sentinel source, while Shankland said she is not going to run in 2026. 

Van Orden: Town halls vs. tweets

That two Democrats are already going public with potential candidacies only seven weeks into Van Orden’s second term speaks to the frustration being felt by 3rd District residents upset about his support of Trump’s agenda and his lack of public appearances to take questions about cuts that have led to widespread firings, especially of veterans. 

A staffer for Van Orden failed to appear at a meeting with an Eau Claire group last week after the amount of people expressing interest grew to nearly four times the room capacity at a local library. Constituents gathered anyway, wrote letters expressing concern about Trump’s cuts, and walked them to Van Orden’s Eau Claire office.

Van Orden’s preferred public engagement comes through social media confrontations or insults—posting 17 times to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday alone.