Van Orden announces a second run against Rep. Kind

Derrick Van Orden, who last year lost to Rep. Ron Kind in the closest race of the congressman’s career, announced Thursday he’d be trying again to unseat Kind from his 3rd Congressional District seat in 2022. 

Kind is one of a few congressional Democrats who won a seat in 2020 in a district that was also carried by former President Donald Trump. Trump won in the 3rd CD by 4.7 percentage points and Kind edged out Van Orden in the Western Wisconsin district by 2.7 points. 

“I’m running to bring Wisconsin values back to Washington DC, stand up for our Constitution, and truly represent the people of the 3rd District instead of becoming rich in office by protecting personal power as my opponent has done for over two decades,” Van Orden said in a release.

Since the election last November, Van Orden has been criticized for attending the Jan. 6 rally in Washington D.C. that culminated in a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. 

“Derrick Van Orden is a self-confessed sexual harasser and a failed candidate who voters rejected as too extreme for Wisconsin just months ago,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler said in a release. “Since then, Congressman Ron Kind has helped bring home $1,400 survival checks and critical funding for vaccine distribution, schools, child care, and more. Meanwhile, Van Orden has rallied with cop-killing insurrectionists, spread anti-Semitic bile, and promoted wild conspiracy theories. Voters in the 3rd District chose Ron Kind over Van Orden in 2020, and I don’t think they’re having any second thoughts.”

In a video announcing his run, Van Orden rides a motorcycle on country roads while a narrator decries Democratic government leading to “open borders,” “COVID cash to prisoners” and “Nancy Pelosi” as House speaker. 

As one of the country’s most vulnerable Democrats, Kind has worked to build a reputation as a moderate. Recently he was one of just two Democrats who voted against both the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021.