Wisconsin Democrat Rebecca Cooke is selling herself as a political outsider and blue-collar champion in her bid for a rematch against Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), even as years of paid political fundraising and consulting work undercut that carefully crafted image.
According to Breitbart, Cooke, who lost to Van Orden by 2.7 points in 2024 and is now seeking a second shot at Wisconsins Third Congressional District, has repeatedly framed her candidacy as a break from career politicians and Washington insiders. Yet public records, prior media reports, and financial disclosures reveal a long record of professional involvement in Democratic politics, including running a partisan consulting firm and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for liberal candidates across multiple states.
When contrasting her background with then-primary opponent state Rep. Katrina Shankland, who has served in the Wisconsin Legislature since 2013, Cooke told the Wisconsin Examiner that she sees herself as uniquely positioned to appeal to the political middle. I think my background and profile is really suited to connect with swing, moderate and independent voters, Cooke said. You know, I dont come from a career background in politics, and I feel like theres a lot of people in our district that want to have a representative that has lived experiences that they can connect to,.I think career politicians make folks a little bit more leery.
That narrativeof a non-political, working-class outsider stepping up to challenge the establishmenthas become central to Cookes campaign messaging. She has also remarked:
You dont see a lot of folks like me running for Congress. You see a lot of people, usually that are wealthy or are elitists or a little bit out of touch with working class folks, maybe, and its because the number one thing that people look at when theyre working to recruit candidates to run for Congress is how much money can we raise?
Cooke has used that line of argument to call for changes to campaign finance laws, casting herself as the antidote to big-money politics even as her own rsum is steeped in professional fundraising. And I think its so important that we change our campaign finance laws so that theres more people with my type of background, stepping up to run for offices at this level, she continued. I know I dont have a background in politics, being a career politician, but I do have a background I think thats really rooted in my community, that I think connects with everyday folks in this district, growing up on a dairy farm, running a small business for a number of years, running a nonprofit organization, waitressing three nights a week, and I think theres value and dignity in that type of work.
On social media, Cooke has doubled down on this self-portrait as a grassroots, working-class candidate rather than a political insider. Cooke further wrote in an X post, My background is rooted in agriculture, small business and helping other women entrepreneurs. I also waitress at night while I run for Congress. My lived experiences are what connect with everyday voters. Lets flip this seat and send a voice for working families to Congress.
That image, however, stands in stark contrast to her documented history as a paid Democratic operative and fundraiser. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel previously reported that Cooke worked as a professional fundraiser before launching her first congressional campaign, serving as finance director for congressional races in Minnesota, Michigan, Colorado, and California, beginning in late 2012. Her own Cooke Strategy website described her as The founding principal of Cooke Strategy, a Democratic political and fundraising consulting firm, and said she raised $3.7 million for Rep. Raul Ruiz of California, helping to cement a 2014 win in one of the toughest cycles for Democrats.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cooke registered Cooke Strategy LLC in 2015, formalizing her role as a political consultant. The outlet reported that Cooke and her firm were paid more than $190,000 by a dozen committees and campaigns, and that between 2012 and 2014, Cooke was paid $77,543 in salary and consulting fees and another $10,699 in expenses for work involving Democrat candidates Jim Graves, Joe Miklosi, Syed Taj, and Rep. Raul Ruiz.
After forming Cooke Strategy, Cooke expanded her client list and continued to profit from partisan political work while now claiming she does not come from a career background in politics. After forming Cooke Strategy, Cooke worked for five federal candidates, two state candidates, and a leadership political action committee, according to the report. Those included former state Rep. Dana Wachs, a Democrat who lost his 2018 gubernatorial bid; Appeals Court Judge Joanne Kloppenburg, who ran unsuccessfully for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2016; and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, who lost his 2016 congressional bid.
The Journal Sentinel reported that between 2015 and 2021, Cooke Strategy was paid $67,191 by federal candidates and committees and $37,148 by state candidates, underscoring that her political work was neither incidental nor short-lived. These figures paint a picture of a professional political operative whose livelihood depended on advancing Democratic campaigns, even as she now insists she is not part of the political class.
Cookes own campaign has attempted to downplay the extent and duration of her political career. Cooke campaign manager Alex Obolensky told the Journal Sentinel in 2024 that Cooke spent her early 20s working on political campaigns, though the paper noted the work continued into her 30s. Obolensky said that after Cooke moved back to Wisconsin in 2015, she helped political candidates raise money or launch campaigns from time to time while building her small business and nonprofit. She has worked in politics but she is not a career politician, Obolensky said.
Beyond her consulting work, Cooke has also promoted herself as a small business owner and nonprofit founder, using those roles to reinforce her working-class, community-based narrative. Cooke also launched Red Letter Grant, a non-profit aimed at supporting women-owned businesses, while simultaneously operating Reds Mercantile, a retail business that helped fund the grant.
Even here, however, the story is more complicated than Cookes campaign rhetoric suggests. She claimed she closed Reds Mercantile in 2022 because of the difficulty of competing with cheap, foreign-made goods, despite explicitly saying on the stores Instagram page that she closed the business because she ran for Congress and lost. In promotional videos, Cooke described a model where a portion of sales from her store funded the nonprofit, creating overlap between her business and charitable efforts.
Previously unreported financial records reviewed by Breitbart News raise further questions about how Cookes nonprofit was structured and whom it primarily benefited. Previously unreported financial records reviewed by Breitbart News show that between 2021 and 2023, Cooke received more in total compensation from Red Letter Grant than the organization awarded in grants to new businesses.
The total pay for Cooke from Red Letter Grant was $56,830.37 ($21,653.37 in 2021, and $18,000 in 2022, $17,177 in 2023). Meanwhile the total money received by businesses from the grants was $54,000 ($16,000 in 2021, $16,000 in 2022, $22,000 in 2023).
Publicly announced grant awards include The Good Wives restaurant, a local establishment that has been highlighted as a beneficiary of Cookes philanthropic efforts. Cooke reported earning $18,000 in income tied to Red Letter Grant and has allegedly continued working at the establishment as a server.
For a candidate who denounces elitists and claims to stand against a system that rewards insiders, the fact that her own nonprofit paid her more than it distributed in grants is likely to trouble voters who expect transparency and integrity from those seeking public office. It also complicates her attempt to present herself as a self-sacrificing advocate for women entrepreneurs rather than a political professional who found ways to pay herself through charitable vehicles.
Cookes ties to the broader left-wing political infrastructure extend beyond her own firm and nonprofit. Cooke served in 2021 and 2022 on the steering committee for Opportunity Wisconsin, which describes itself as a coalition of Wisconsin residents fighting for an economy that works for all Wisconsinites, not just the wealthy few, but is one of several aliases used by the North Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based dark money group backed by George Soross Open Society Policy Center and managed by Arabella Advisors, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
That connection places Cooke squarely within the orbit of some of the most powerful and secretive liberal funding networks in the country, even as she claims to be running against a political system dominated by wealthy elites. For conservatives and independent voters wary of outside influence and dark money operations, her involvement with a Soros-backed, Arabella-managed entity will likely raise red flags about whose interests she would truly represent in Congress.
Republicans have seized on these contradictions, arguing that Cookes public persona is fundamentally at odds with her record. RNC spokesman Hunter Lovell exclusively told Breitbart News, Radical Socialist Rebecca Cookes entire campaign image is based on a lie. In reality, shes a far-left political activist and snake oil saleswoman making shady deals to line her own pockets. Her history raises serious questions about her credibility and whether she can be trusted with Wisconsin voters.
The contrast between Cookes rhetoric and her documented activities underscores a broader pattern common among progressive candidates who attempt to rebrand themselves as populist outsiders while remaining deeply embedded in the professional left. Cookes years as a paid fundraiser, her leadership of a Democratic consulting firm, her compensation from a nonprofit that gave out less in grants than it paid her, and her role with a Soros-linked dark money operation all stand in tension with her insistence that she does not come from a career background in politics.
For voters in Wisconsins Third Districtmany of whom value authenticity, self-reliance, and transparencythe question is whether Cookes lived experiences narrative outweighs the evidence of a long-running political career and financial entanglements within the liberal activist ecosystem. Her insistence that she is merely a waitress, small business owner, and community advocate may resonate with some, but the record suggests a far-left political insider who has spent much of her adult life working to advance Democratic power.
As the rematch with Rep. Van Orden approaches, scrutiny of Cookes background, finances, and alliances is likely to intensify, particularly among swing and moderate voters she claims to court. Cookes campaign did not respond to Breitbart Newss request for comment.
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