By Henry Redman | Wisconsin Examiner
Retired Navy SEAL Derrick Van Orden seems like he’s on his way to defeating state Sen. Brad Pfaff in the race for the open seat in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District. With 92% of the votes counted as of 12:15 a.m., Van Orden held a 4% lead.
Van Orden is headed to the U.S. House of Representatives two years after he lost a race for the same seat to incumbent Democratic Rep. Ron Kind, who had represented the seat for more than 20 years before retiring this year.
Van Orden frequently drew criticism from Pfaff for his participation in the protest that led to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
In 2020, Kind was one of the few Democrats in the country to hold a congressional district won by former President Donald Trump — making the seat one of the top targets for Republicans this year.
Van Orden’s win was forecasted ahead of Election Day, but the four point win was made easier by a lack of national Democratic support in the district. Just weeks ahead of the election, House Majority PAC, the fundraising organization connected to House Democrats, pulled $1.8 million in ad spending that had been planned for the race.
Wisconsin Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Wisconsin Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Ruth Conniff for questions: [email protected]. Follow Wisconsin Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.
This story first appeared in the Wisconsin Examiner and is being republished with permission through a Creative Commons License. See the original story, here.
