Still only one La Crosse-area debate scheduled, though Rebecca Cooke says she’s open to one with Derrick Van Orden

Derrick Van Orden and Rebecca Cooke might debate afterall for the 3rd US House District seat.

Cooke, the Democratic candidate, is hoping at least one forum with Rep. Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) can be arranged.

Cooke spoke with reporters Thursday in La Crosse about the chance of debates, saying that UW-La Crosse political scientist Anthony Chergosky “has reached out to our campaign with a couple of dates, so that’s something that we’re taking a look at.”

Multiple groups, including UW-L, have been working on setting up debates for local races but, so far, only a Wisconsin state Senate seat between Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) and GOP challenger Stacey Klein appears to be happening.

The three Republicans in La Crosse-area state Assembly races — Rep. Loren Oldenburg and candidates Ryan Huebsch and Cedric Schnitzler — all said they couldn’t debate due to “scheduling conflicts.”

Cooke, though, noted that since the election is less than four weeks from now, “it’s about what we’re gonna have time to do. We’ve got a lot of community events throughout the district.”

Cooke added that she shows up “to a lot of things. There’s no community too small, or too red,” referring to Republicans, “that we don’t get out to,” she said.

Cooke met at Veterans Freedom Park with vets from recent wars, who are supporting her campaign.