Dem House hopeful’s delayed disclosure reveals mystery payments from Soros-linked groups
Rebecca Cooke, the Democratic candidate challenging Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin's Third Congressional District, received more than $30,000 from two left-leaning organizations with financial connections to billionaire investor George Soros, according to personal financial disclosures released after the state's August primary.
Cooke, who works as a waitress and has built her campaign around being a working-class outsider from a dairy farm background, received the payments from Third Way and the Pipeline Fund. Both organizations have received significant funding through Soros' Open Society Foundation network.
Third Way, a moderate Democratic think tank, confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Cooke was paid $30,000 for what a spokesperson described as "a project focused on elevating the voices and concerns of working-class Americans that have too often been missing from the rooms where decisions are made."
The Pipeline Fund, which trains and supports progressive candidates in state and local races, confirmed Cooke worked as a contractor in 2025. The organization said her work helped advance their mission of building "a reflective democracy where working-class people, women, people of color, and other underrepresented communities are fully supported to run for office."
Financial records show the Open Society Foundation awarded $1 million to Third Way's research arm between 2023 and 2024, while the Pipeline Fund received $1.4 million directly from the Open Society Action Fund in 2024.
Cooke's personal financial disclosure was not released until two days after the August 13 primary, following an extension she requested from the U.S. House clerk in April. All candidates who raise or spend more than $5,000 in a House race must file disclosure forms 30 days before an election.
Van Orden criticized the delayed release, saying voters deserved transparency during the campaign.
"For months, Democrats and Republicans across the Third District called on Cooke to release her financial disclosures," Van Orden said. "She had every opportunity to be transparent with voters. Instead, she chose to keep them hidden until after the primary. That tells Wisconsin voters everything they need to know about Rebecca Cooke's character."
The National Republican Congressional Committee seized on the disclosures, with spokesman Zach Bannon calling Cooke "a paid political operative for far-left liberals."
Cooke pushed back against the criticism, saying her work history demonstrates she is exactly who she claims to be—a working-class American juggling multiple jobs.
"I've always worn multiple hats to make ends meet and in addition to waitressing I worked on two projects related to getting more working class people to run for office and conducted research for an organization about how to better connect with working class voters," Cooke said in an email to the Journal Sentinel.
She noted the unique financial challenges facing candidates with hourly-wage jobs who run full-time campaigns. "I'm one of the thousands of people in this district who can't afford health insurance," Cooke said. "I've been proud to help make it easier for the next generation of working class leaders to step up and take our fight to Washington D.C."
The Third District race is considered competitive, with Van Orden winning the seat in 2024 after previously losing it in a closer contest. Both candidates will face off in the November general election.
