Democrat backed by Blue Dogs and Bernie Sanders wins primary as parties prepare to battle for the House

Tuesday’s primaries are setting the matchups in around a half-dozen competitive House races that will be key to the fight for the House majority in November, including in a hotly contested Democratic target in Wisconsin. Rebecca Cooke won the Democratic primary in Wisconsin’s 3rd District, NBC News projects, and will take on two-term GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden in the fall. The race will be a rematch from 2024, when Cooke lost to Van Orden by about 3 percentage points even though Donald Trump carried the district by 7 points. Cooke, a small-business owner, has touted her roots growing up on a dairy farm and tried to eschew political labels, boasting a range of supporters from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to moderate groups like New Dems and Blue Dogs to a progressive icon in Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. “I am a Blue Dog and a New Dem, but I’m also very progressive where it counts,” Cooke told NBC News last year. “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.” Republicans are looking to paint her as too far left for the district. Van Orden campaign spokesperson Grace Kim recently said in a statement that Cooke “has aligned herself with the most extreme elements of her party,” pointing to video of her saying she would support Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New York and calling for a ban on AR-15 rifles. Cooke has proven to be a strong fundraiser, pulling in nearly $8.6 million to Van Orden’s $7.5 million this election cycle. And the race is sure to attract millions more: Super PACs from both parties have already reserved $9 million in airtime for the fall, according to AdImpact. More Democratic targets Democrats also hope they can put another Wisconsin race in play in November: the 1st District in the southeastern corner of the state, where GOP Rep. Bryan Steil is running for a fifth term with Trump’s endorsement. Trump won the district by less than 5 points in 2024. Mitchell Berman, a former nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs, won the Democratic primary, NBC News projects, after having decided to run for office after the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to slash the federal workforce. “I got an email asking me to justify my job,” Berman told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Give Elon Musk three things that I did in the previous week as an ER nurse at the bedside at the VA. I realized, this is no longer about improving care for veterans.” Berman’s fundraising has lagged behind that of Steil, who has raised $5.5 million this election cycle, while Berman has pulled in $713,000. Democrats are also looking at Minnesota’s 1st District as a potential pickup, although it is further down the party’s list of targets, given Trump won the district in southern Minnesota by 12 points in 2024. Trump has endorsed GOP Rep. Brad Finstad. Democrats Jake Johnson and businessman Alex Eaton are competing to take on Finstad in the fall. Republicans go on offense Republicans are looking to pick up Alabama’s 2nd District, in the southeastern corner of the state, after a redistricting effort redrew the state’s congressional lines. The seat, represented by Democrat Shomari Figures, had been one of the state’s largely Black districts, but it shifted toward Republicans after the Supreme Court ruled in June that Alabama could use a different map preferred by state Republicans. In 2024, then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the old version of the district by 8 points, but Trump would have won it by about 14 points under the new lines. Republicans have nominated state Rep. Rhett Marques, who will take on Figures in the fall. Marques is backed by prominent Republicans including Trump, top members of House GOP leadership and Sen. Katie Britt. Republicans are also looking to make Minnesota’s open 2nd District competitive as they defend their narrow House majority. Trump lost the district in the Twin Cities suburbs by 6 points in 2024, but it has been competitive in recent election cycles. And Democrats no longer have the benefit of incumbency, since Rep. Angie Craig vacated the seat to run for the Senate. State Sen. Matt Little won the Democratic primary and will face GOP state Sen. Eric Pratt in the fall.