Democrats Brad Pfaff, Deb McGrath won't seek to run again against Derrick Van Orden

WASHINGTON – The Democrat who fell to Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden in last year’s race for a battleground congressional district in Wisconsin and one of his top former primary challengers have both decided not to run for the seat again in 2024.

State Sen. Brad Pfaff, of Onalaska, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he will not jump into the Democratic primary for Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District and rather plans to run for reelection in the state Senate. Former CIA officer Deb McGrath also said she will not run again, citing undisclosed "personal reasons."

Pfaff lost to Van Orden by four points in last year’s general election, which saw the seat flip to Republicans for the first time in 26 years. McGrath came in third in the Democratic primary.

“I’ve got deep roots here in western Wisconsin and I work to be a good neighbor,” Pfaff said. “I look forward to continuing to be that good neighbor for the people I represent in the Wisconsin State Senate.”

McGrath declined to elaborate on her decision but told the Journal Sentinel: "We have to coalesce, we need to be around a candidate that is going to beat Van Orden. And so I am not going to run this time. I am going to support a candidate who I know can beat Van Orden."

The announcements shake up a still-developing race for a seat Democrats plan to target in their quest to regain control of the House next year. Rebecca Cooke, who placed second behind Pfaff in the 2022 Democratic primary for the seat, launched her reelection bid last month. A number of other Democrats are also eying the seat.

Stevens Point state Rep. Katrina Shankland told the Journal Sentinel this week that she is “seriously considering a run after being encouraged by so many folks across the district.” And former La Crosse County Board chair Tara Johnson said she, too, is strongly weighing a bid.

Meanwhile, Missy Hughes, CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. and a member of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' cabinet, has not yet ruled out a bid for the seat, though multiple Democrats in the state have expressed doubts over whether she will run in 2024. Hughes did not respond to a text message seeking comment.

The heavily rural western Wisconsin district has trended redder in recent years and is just one of two competitive congressional districts in the state. National Democrats have listed the state’s 3rd and 1st Districts, held by Van Orden and Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, respectively, as top targets this election cycle.

Republicans are expected to attempt to tie any Democrat who runs in those districts to President Joe Biden and his administration's agenda.

“Nobody wants to run for Congress to defend extreme Democrats' skyrocketing inflation, surging gas prices, and rampant crime,” Chris Gustafson, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement. "Voters know Derrick Van Orden is working to clean up Democrats' mess, which is why these Democrats refuse to challenge him."

For Pfaff, the state’s legislative maps played a significant role in his decision to forgo another congressional bid and seek reelection in 2024, according to a source close to Pfaff.

Law Forward, a Madison-based liberal-leaning law firm focused on voting issues, filed a lawsuit earlier this month challenging Wisconsin’s state legislative maps, arguing the Republican Party “has insulated itself from being answerable to the voters” with the current gerrymander.

The firm filed the suit one day after the state Supreme Court flipped into liberal control. Wisconsin’s congressional district lines have not been challenged.

“Next year brings the potential for real change coming to Madison,” Pfaff said in his reelection announcement, “and with that change, we must continue to build a better tomorrow for Wisconsin.”

To date, Cooke remains the only Democrat from the district to announce a bid.

Earlier this month, a third-year student at Harvard Law School who grew up in the Milwaukee area launched his own campaign for the 3rd Congressional District.

But Democrats and Republicans alike were quick to point out that the man has no ties to the district, though his campaign said he plans to move to western Wisconsin after graduation. He currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 2 top western Wisconsin Democrats won't run to challenge Van Orden