But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Rebecca Cooke
Democrat · U.S. House, Wisconsin District 3
?Mixed
How this mark works
We track key votes on sending U.S. weapons and money to the government of Israel. A check means every tracked vote they cast came down against sending more, on the side of peace and de-escalation. A question mark means a mixed record: they sided with sending up to half of the time. An X means they voted to send more weapons and money in over half of their tracked votes, even as the way those weapons and dollars were being used became more and more obvious. At exactly half, money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track, or an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons, makes it an X. Only votes actually cast are counted. Where a candidate has no recorded votes on these bills, the mark comes instead from a reviewed reading of their public record (money from the lobbying groups we track, endorsements, and their own words since January 26, 2024). There an X also covers fully backing the conduct of the war by the government of Israel without significant reservations, and a question mark also covers speaking about Israel without saying clearly where they stand on U.S. weapons and funding. A dash means No Position Found: we found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.
Her own words oppose sending more military aid to the Netanyahu government's invasion (October 2025), but she also says she strongly supports Israel's right to defend itself, and DMFI PAC backed her with $5,000 in 2024. Reviewed by hand on 2026-09-28. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
Rebecca Cooke is a small business owner and nonprofit founder from Eau Claire who grew up on a sixth-generation Wisconsin dairy farm. She ran for this seat in 2024 and lost by under three points. She won the Democratic primary on August 11, 2026 with 60.0 percent against Emily Berge, and is running on November 3, 2026 against the incumbent Republican Derrick Van Orden and two independent candidates, Alexander Valiensi Kent and Rustin Provance.
At the same event she said she has never taken money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the lobbying organization that works to strengthen the United States relationship with the government of Israel and that since 2021 has run political committees giving directly to candidates, and she defended the backing she has had from J Street, which she called an organization that has always been for a two-state solution. J Street is an advocacy group that describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace and has supported conditioning some American arms transfers. A refusal of one committee's money is not by itself a position on weapons or funding, and nothing here is read as one.
Her campaign platform does not reach this question: her priorities page sets out costs, corruption, agriculture, small business, housing and technology, and says nothing about Israel, Gaza or foreign aid. What the organizations that have endorsed her say about her, and everything else our research found, is on her research page.
The money
$5K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
Lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
DMFI: $5,000
Support-only OpenFEC data (as of 2026-10-03). Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
Who these lobbying groups are
DMFI PAC$5,000Democratic Majority for Israel's PAC; calls itself the home for pro-Israel Democrats and backs Democratic candidates who support a strong U.S. alliance with the government of Israel.Direct contributions and independent expenditures supporting this candidate from the five lobbying groups we track, every cycle each has filed, through 2026. Excludes earmarked and conduit contributions.
In their words
“I don’t think that taxpayer dollars should be going to fund the killing of children. Period,”
“I think this is a moral issue. The other thing that I’ll say is that I don’t think that we should send more military aid to the Netanyahu government invasion.”
“I’ve expressed my deep concerns about the humanitarian toll of the war in Gaza, and I’m thrilled that a peace agreement has been reached and that the hostages will be able to return home.”
“J Street is an organization that has always been for a two-state solution. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is endorsed by J Street. Congressman [Mark] Pocan (D-WI) is endorsed by J Street.”
The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.
Every page named below was opened and read on 2026-09-18 unless the entry says otherwise. Her campaign site was read in full: the home page, the priorities page, the endorsements page and the press listing. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. She has held no office, so this record carries no votes.
U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel
[Position, 2025-10-10] Jewish Insider, “Wisconsin Dem recruit calls for U.S. to halt arms to Israel”, by Marc Rod. The article reports that she said at “a recent campaign event” that she supports a halt to United States military aid to Israel, and quotes her in two spans separated by the attribution. First: “I don’t think that taxpayer dollars should be going to fund the killing of children. Period,” said “in response to an audience question, in a video obtained by Jewish Insider”. Then: “I think this is a moral issue. The other thing that I’ll say is that I don’t think that we should send more military aid to the Netanyahu government invasion.” The two spans are kept apart here because the article separates them. The article does not date the event itself, so nothing more precise than the publication date is asserted. The video was not watched.
[Position, 2025-10-10] In a statement to the same publication, quoted in the same article: “My record is clear, I strongly support Israel’s right to defend itself.” The article's own arguments about J Street, about Rep. Mark Pocan's record and about what her remarks mean are the publication's and are not used.
Nothing else located at any date. Her campaign site, her priorities page, her press listing and her endorsements page carry no statement on American weapons or money for the government of Israel, and no earlier statement of hers on the subject could be opened.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located at any date, in either direction. Her statement about the humanitarian toll of the war is a characterization of the war and not a position on American humanitarian funding, and it is recorded under characterization below rather than here.
Characterization of the conflict
[Position, 2025-10-10] Her statement to Jewish Insider: “I’ve expressed my deep concerns about the humanitarian toll of the war in Gaza, and I’m thrilled that a peace agreement has been reached and that the hostages will be able to return home.” At the event she described the military campaign as “the Netanyahu government invasion”, in the sentence quoted above.
[Undated; read 2026-09-18] The Jewish Democratic Council of America's endorsements page carries a profile of her which says: “She has emphasized her support for a two-state solution and is committed to fighting antisemitism using a ‘whole-of-government effort.’” Those are the organization's words about her, not her own, so nothing is built on them. The Jewish Democratic Council of America is an advocacy group that organizes Jewish support for Democratic candidates. Our research recorded the same sentence as though it stated her platform; it states the endorser's summary of it.
Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying
[Position, 2025-10-10] At the same event she said: “I’ve never taken any money from AIPAC. Derrick Van Orden is the only AIPAC-endorsed candidate in this race,” and then: “J Street is an organization that has always been for a two-state solution. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is endorsed by J Street. Congressman [Mark] Pocan (D-WI) is endorsed by J Street.” The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobbying organization that works to strengthen the United States relationship with the government of Israel and, since 2021, runs political committees that give directly to candidates. J Street is an advocacy group that describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace, supports a two-state solution, and has supported conditioning or blocking some American arms transfers. The clause about her opponent is her own, and his record belongs on his card, so it is recorded here and not narrated on hers. A refusal of one committee's money is never read here as a position on weapons or funding.
[Position, 2024-06-20] Democratic Majority for Israel's political arm reproduced a Jewish Insider report of its 2024 endorsements, which names her as one of three candidates it backed in that cycle and says she was “backed by J Street as well as the Jewish Democratic Council of America”. The words quoted in it belong to the group's chairman and to the reporter, not to her. Democratic Majority for Israel is an advocacy group that works to keep support for the government of Israel a mainstream Democratic position; its political committee also gives to candidates.
[Undated; read 2026-09-18] Her own endorsements page lists about thirty organizations, almost all of them labor unions, plus Council for a Livable World, EMILY's List, End Citizens United and the New Dems Action Fund, and a list of elected officials. No Israel-related organization appears on it.
[Position, 2024-08-04; could not be read] Our research reported that she named endorsements from J Street and from Democratic Majority for Israel in a candidate questionnaire published by the Leader-Telegram on August 4, 2024. The address it gave, https://wedefendthevote.org/leader-telegram-three-candidates-vie-for-democratic-nomination-to-congress/ , refused every attempt on 2026-09-18, and the questionnaire itself could not be located. Nothing is written from it.
Safety and antisemitism (context, not an answer to what America sends)
[Undated; read 2026-09-18] The same Jewish Democratic Council of America profile says she is committed to fighting antisemitism using a “whole-of-government effort.” That is the organization's summary, not a statement of hers, and no statement of hers on the subject was located.
What the campaign site and own pages say
[Read 2026-09-18] Her campaign site and its priorities page, which set out lower costs, corruption, agriculture, small business, rebuilding the American dream, technology and related headings. A case-insensitive search of the home, priorities, endorsements and press pages for israel, gaza, palestin, hamas, antisemit, jewish, foreign aid, middle east and aipac returns nothing. The only foreign-policy item on the priorities page concerns the cost of the war with Iran, which is a different question. The press listing carries about thirty items from August and September 2026, none of them on this subject.
The race
[Read 2026-09-18] Ballotpedia's page for the 2026 election in Wisconsin's 3rd District: “Incumbent Derrick Van Orden, Rebecca Cooke, Alexander Valiensi Kent, and Rustin Provance are running in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on November 3, 2026.” Kent and Provance are both listed as Independent; Jayte Welch is listed as withdrawn or disqualified. Wisconsin's primary was held on August 11, 2026: Cooke defeated Emily Berge in the Democratic primary with 60.0 percent to 39.9, and Van Orden advanced from the Republican primary with 99.0 percent. Ballotpedia prints its own caution that the candidate list may not be complete. The other candidates' records belong on their own cards.
Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them
The repost of the Leader-Telegram candidate questionnaire at https://wedefendthevote.org/leader-telegram-three-candidates-vie-for-democratic-nomination-to-congress/ , which refused every attempt on 2026-09-18.
The video of the campaign event. It was obtained by a news organization and is not published at an address we could open, so nothing is claimed from the footage itself; only what the article quotes from it is used.
Her accounts on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube. None was read here.
Not on the card, and why
The sentence naming her opponent as the only candidate in the race endorsed by a lobbying committee. It is her own sentence and it is printed above, but another candidate's record belongs on that candidate's own card.
Her statement that she has never taken money from that committee, as a weapons or funding position. A money-refusal is a separate thing and is never read here as a position on what the United States sends; it is recorded under rhetoric and lobbying.
The Jewish Democratic Council of America's and Democratic Majority for Israel's descriptions of her, and Jewish Insider's own arguments about J Street and about other members of Congress. Third parties speaking about her.
The endorsement she received in the 2024 cycle, as evidence of a present position. It is recorded with its date; an endorsement is not a statement by her.
The line on her priorities page about the cost of the war with Iran. A different question from what the United States sends to the government of Israel.
Derrick Van Orden's, Alexander Valiensi Kent's and Rustin Provance's records. Another candidate's record belongs on that candidate's own card.
The costs, agriculture, small business, health care and housing material that fills her platform. Out of scope.
Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)
https://jewishinsider.com/2025/10/rebecca-cooke-israel-aid-derrick-van-orden-wisconsin/ (opened; 2026-09-18; article:published_time 2025-10-10T05:38:17+00:00, by Marc Rod)
https://cookeforwisconsin.com/ , https://cookeforwisconsin.com/priorities/ , https://cookeforwisconsin.com/endorsements/ and https://cookeforwisconsin.com/press/ (opened; 2026-09-18)
https://jewishdems.org/endorsements/ (opened; 2026-09-18; the page carries no date)
https://dmfipac.org/dmfi-pac-wades-into-heated-house-races-in-new-york-phoenix-wisconsin/ (opened; 2026-09-18; the reproduced report is dated June 20, 2024)
But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and
funding for the government of Israel. Every claim on this page goes through at least two verification steps.
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