U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden brought Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan to the Menards Distribution Center in Eau Claire on Friday, turning a factory-floor stop into a campaign-style pitch for no tax on overtime and tips. The visit put one of Wisconsin’s most vulnerable House seats back in front of voters with November closing in.
Van Orden used the appearance to sell the tax cuts signed into law as part of the working families tax cut and jobs act, also known as Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, arguing that Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District matters because it sits at the center of rural manufacturing and production. He said the district represents a cross-section of America, from workers who use their hands to businesses that make products for the world.
Jordan’s presence gave the stop extra weight. The Ohio Republican has become a familiar figure on the party’s national stage, and his trip to Eau Claire was described as another high-profile visit to the district where Van Orden is fighting to keep his seat. Democrats Rebecca Cooke and Emily Berge are trying to unseat him, and the race is already shaping up as one of the more closely watched in the state.
Berge, in particular, took aim at both lawmakers and at the policy they were promoting. She said she had traveled across the 19 counties of the district and spoken with thousands of people she said had been harmed by the law Van Orden and Jordan supported. In her account, the same measure that lowered some tax bills on overtime or tips had left people paying significantly more for health care, wiping out the savings Republicans were highlighting.
She called Van Orden’s appearance with Jordan a disgusting political stunt, framing it as more proof that Republicans are trying to sell a tax message to voters who are feeling a different kind of pressure at home. That clash matters because it cuts to the heart of the November contest: Van Orden is leaning on tax relief and a high-profile ally, while his challengers are arguing the law’s costs are showing up where families feel them most, in medical bills and household budgets.
The stop at Menards was more than a local photo op. It tied a Republican talking point to a seat that could change hands in November, and it brought a national party figure into a district where both sides are already treating every public appearance as part of the election.
