Derrick Van Orden is the Republican incumbent representing Wisconsin's 3rd District since 2023. A Navy SEAL who retired as a Senior Chief after 26 years of service, he later worked as an actor and author, reopened the Butternut Cafe with his wife, and won the seat in 2022 after an unsuccessful 2020 run. He serves on the Agriculture, Veterans' Affairs and Armed Services committees and is seeking a third term.[1][2][3]
Van Orden was born September 15, 1969, in Hennepin County, Minnesota. According to Wikipedia, his family lived in Hartland, Wisconsin, before moving to the Portland, Oregon, area, where he attended Lakeridge High School, and his campaign website says he was raised in rural poverty by his mother.[1][4][3] He earned a bachelor's degree from Excelsior University, and his campaign website says he later attended law school.[1][3]
Van Orden joined the U.S. Navy in 1988 and served 26 years, retiring in 2014 as a Navy SEAL Senior Chief with multiple combat tours. His official biography lists service in the Horn of Africa, Asia, Europe, and South and Central America, and says he planned Special Operations contingency operations for Europe during a 2012 tour.[1][2][4] After the Navy he appeared in the 2012 film Act of Valor and in two later films, and wrote the book A Book of Man: A Navy SEAL's Guide to the Lost Art of Manhood, according to his campaign website, which also says he consulted with Fortune 500 companies.[3][4] He and his wife, Sara Jane, owned and operated the Butternut Cafe in Butternut, Wisconsin, from 2017 to early 2019, according to Wikipedia; his campaign website describes reopening the village cafe after they retired to their farm.[1][3][4]
Van Orden ran for Wisconsin's 3rd District in 2020 and lost the general election to Democratic incumbent Ron Kind, with 48.6% of the vote. He was elected to the U.S. House in November 2022, defeating Democrat Brad Pfaff 51.8% to 48.1% in the open-seat race to succeed Kind, and took office in January 2023.[1][4][2] He won re-election in 2024, defeating Democrat Rebecca Cooke 51.3% to 48.6%, and advanced unopposed from the August 2026 Republican primary.[1] He serves on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee (chairman of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee), the Agriculture Committee (Nutrition, Foreign Agriculture, and Horticulture; Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry) and the Armed Services Committee (Intelligence and Special Operations; Strategic Forces).[5] His official biography says he and Sara Jane live in Wisconsin and have four children and eleven grandchildren; his campaign website gives the grandchild count as 13.[2][3]
Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.
