JD Vance Stumps for Derrick Van Orden, Tom Tiffany in Wisconsin Visit
The vice president touted economic prosperity under President Trump.
Vice President JD Vance walks on stage before delivering remarks Thursday Feb. 26, 2026, at Pointe Precision in Plover, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Vice President JD Vance was in Plover Thursday, campaigning for Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden in an effort to hang on to the GOP’s slim majority in the U.S. House.
Vance’s visit came just days after President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, and he touted the president’s tax cuts, saying they wouldn’t have happened without Republicans like Van Orden, a top target of Democrats hoping to flip the House.
Vance joined Van Orden, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate for governor in Wisconsin, state GOP Chair Brian Schimming and around 300 supporters at Pointe Precision, a manufacturer of aerospace, medical and industrial components located near the eastern edge of Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District.
Vice President JD Vance speaks Thursday Feb. 26, 2026, at Pointe Precision in Plover, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
As he stood between large banners stating “Lower Prices Bigger Paychecks,” Vance focused on affordability, which the latest Marquette University Law School poll identified as the top issue for midterm voters. The vice president said Wisconsinites would be able to keep more of their money by way of the elimination of taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security payments made possible by Republicans’ Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law by Trump last year.
“So if you are a citizen in this district and you see a big tax refund check come next month or the month after that, whenever you file your taxes, remember it was Derrick Van Orden who made it happen,” said Vance. “And it was congressional Democrats who tried to stop it. So we’re going to send Derrick Van Orden back to Washington.”
Vance also thanked Tiffany for helping get the tax cut and spending legislation across the finish line and endorsed his campaign for Wisconsin governor.
This was Vance’s first campaign stop following Trump’s State of the Union speech, which echoed the same themes.
U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden speaks before Vice President JD Vance’s remarks Thursday Feb. 26, 2026, at Pointe Precision in Plover, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
When he took the stage, Van Orden said he and Vance have things in common. Both grew up in poverty, he said, and both joined the military at a young age.
“I joined the military and now I failed up, because I’m a member of Congress,” Van Orden said.
Van Orden is a former Navy SEAL, and Vance is a former Marine.
He referenced affordability and the tax cuts in the bill enacted July 4, 2025, along with $50 billion directed toward rural health care providers.“That doesn’t apply to Madison or Milwaukee, that applies to Plover,” said Van Orden. “And we got that in that bill because we actually want to make sure that every American citizen has high quality, readily available and actual affordable health care, and we just got that done in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ so you can take that home with you.”
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany speaks before Vice President JD Vance’s remarks Thursday Feb. 26, 2026, at Pointe Precision in Plover, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Wisconsin’s most competitive congressional district could help determine House control
With two years left in Trump’s second term as president, Republicans hold a razor’s edge majority in the U.S. House with Democrats only needing a net pickup of three seats to flip the chamber and pump the brakes on Trump’s agenda.
Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District is a choice opportunity for Democrats. By the numbers, it’s the most competitive of the state’s eight house seats and the voters in this district, which covers central and western Wisconsin, have swung from Democrats like Barack Obama to Republicans like Trump over the years.
The matchup between Van Orden and Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke is a repeat of 2024, when the Prairie du Chien Republican won reelection by just less than 3 percentage points. Van Orden was Wisconsin’s only Republican House member to get a smaller share of the vote in his own district than Trump.
Eau Claire Democrat Rebecca Cooke speaks to reporters at the campaign event in La Crosse on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Hope Kirwan/WPR
This year, the Cook Political Report has listed the 3rd District as one of just 18 “toss up” races in the nation.
Democrats issued statements linking Van Orden to Trump, with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin saying Van Orden’s votes had harmed his constituents.
“They deserve independent leadership and not a rubber stamp,” Baldwin said. “So we welcome the vice president to the state so they can see the damage this administration is causing.”
Attendees listen as Vice President JD Vance speaks Thursday Feb. 26, 2026, at Pointe Precision in Plover, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Millions have poured into 3rd District race, national Democrats just opened the tap
Fundraising reports from the 3rd District illustrate how bullish Democrats are on helping Cooke flip Van Orden’s seat, and how steadfast Republicans are in protecting it. By the end of last year, Van Orden raised nearly $5 million for his reelection campaign. At the same time Cooke reported raising just more than $4 million. For context, the combined fundraising from all eight candidates running for the neighboring 7th Congressional District seat was around $3.6 million at the end of 2025.
On Monday, the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or DCCC, announced it added Cooke’s challenge to Van Orden to its “Red-to-Blue” initiative, which the group said will come with strategy guidance, extra staff, training and fundraising help. The move is a clear sign that national Democrats have made their choice despite Cooke still facing Democratic primary challenger Emily Berge. After the DCCC’s announcement, Berge described it as “disappointing” to WQOW-TV and said “people in D.C.” are picking who they want to face Van Orden, which is “not democratic.”
JD Vance stumps for Derrick Van Orden, Tom Tiffany in Wisconsin campaign event was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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