‘Cookout for Cooke’ brings candidates to PdC
A Democratic protest took place a few blocks away from the Prairie du Chien High School during Trump’s visit. Demonstrators held signs in support of the Harris/Walz Democratic ticket for the November election.
Rebecca Cooke, Dr. Scott Walker and Gov. Tony Evers were present during the ‘Cookout for Cooke’ on September 23 on St. Feriole Island. (Photos by Steve Van Kooten/Courier Press)
Steve Van Kooten
On September 23, Crawford County Democrats gathered on St. Feriole Island for a “Cookout for Cooke,” a meet-and-greet event where voters could get an up-close experience with 3rd District candidates Rebecca Cooke and Dr. Scott Walker.
Cooke is challenging U.S. Representative Derrick Van Orden, and Walker is trying to unseat long-standing assemblyman Travis Tranel.
“People have talked about how this is one of the most important elections we’ve ever had,” said Dale Klemme, chair of the Crawford County Democrats. He suggested that past elections, such as the one won by Abraham Lincoln, likely faced similar division among U.S. citizens, but the 2024 elections still presented a unique set of circumstances. “I don’t think I imagined anything would be as at risk as what we’re facing here today.”
Ed Block, a Prairie du Chien resident, attended the event to get a better look at each candidate and to experience an “uplifting, upbeat event.”
In a way, it’s a two-step verification for voters to vet their prospective representatives.
“I like to hear what the candidates have to say,” he said. “You can kind of feel it; you can see their faces and hear their words.” Jon Sutton said the event was a way “to give [the candidates] a chance to speak to folks and to get their opinions out.”
Walker and Cooke both expressed their support for reproductive freedoms and women’s health care. Cooke reiterated her support for small, family farms and wanted to be appointed to the Agriculture Committee to bring “a rural voice” to D.C.
Walker pushed his support for expanding healthcare and the public school system. He also said Southwest Wisconsin “can and must defend women’s rights and voting rights and boost our economy with better jobs. We can walk and chew gum at the same time.”
A report from the cookout claimed approximately 85 people attended the event.
Not in our town
Later in the week, while former President Donald Trump spoke at the Prairie du Chien Area Arts Center, a Democrat protest took place a few blocks away on Dousman Street.
Several participants had shirts that said, “Not in Our Town.”
Rachel Nation designed the shirts to make two different — though related — statements to push back on recent rhetoric around noncitizen crime.
“I wanted to clearly state that there is not a wave of crime being perpetrated in Prairie du Chien by undocumented individuals,” she wrote. “But I also wanted to state that many of us don’t want Trump’s racist and misogynistic rhetoric in our town.”
Curtis Goodman, one of the protest’s attendees, wore one of Nation’s shirts. He attended the protest to show there are two sides to Prairie du Chien’s political identity.
“I just wanted to put a face to both sides,” he said. “It’s not one-sided. We’re small town USA. It’s a wonderful place to raise a family. It’s hard to think of it as a violent place.”
