WATCH: Protecting health care matters to these Wisconsin 3rd District candidates

By Salina Heller

August 23, 2025

Health care is the number one issue constituents in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District are concerned about. That’s what three Democratic candidates have concluded as they’ve been going out to fairs, parades, and other community events this summer in order to learn what western Wisconsinites are worried about and what they want to be different.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden is the politician who represents the 3rd congressional district in the US House of Representatives. Van Orden, a Republican, voted to pass President Trump’s “billionaire bill”—also called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”—which could lead to nearly 60,000 people in the state losing health care coverage, including more than 30,000 people in rural areas. It also puts some rural hospitals at risk of closing.

The money saved will go toward funding tax cuts for billionaires.

Van Orden’s challengers have a few things to say about that.

✏️/🎥: Salina Heller

Author

Salina Heller

A former 15-year veteran of reporting local news for western Wisconsin TV and radio stations, Salina Heller also volunteers in community theater, helps organize the Chippewa Valley Air Show, and is kept busy by her daughter’s elementary school PTA meetings. She is a UW-Eau Claire alum.

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CATEGORIES: Politics Video

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