Seemingly endless flyers flood mailboxes (both physical and electronic ones); advertisements on social media, television and radio; video ads that may or may not be AI-generated and canvassers knocking on your door are all different ways to send you this message: Elections are near.

This season, it’s the midterm election that’s coming up next. These elections mark – you guessed it – the middle of a presidential term in the U.S. As we’ve described before, the midterms are something of a report card on how the current president is doing, as well as a quiz for voters: How much have they been paying attention? Do they know what’s at stake?

In this case, it’s not only the governor’s office and the state Legislature, but also Congress. Statewide politics felt especially difficult to juggle (or ignore) during the run-up to this year's midterms, with the 3rd Congressional District falling into the national spotlight.

The primary election drew Chippewa Valley voters’ attention, with 3rd District voters choosing campaign consultant and nonprofit founder Rebecca Cooke over former City Council president Emily Berge, as their Democratic candidate of choice. Cooke will face incumbent Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) – again – on the midterm ballot.

The primary hubbub may have led to some Chippewa Vallians tuning out of the gubernatorial race – the first open race for the top executive role since 2010, with Gov. Tony Evers set to retire at the end of this term – which will ask voters to choose between U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate, and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the Democratic candidate.

Both sets of candidates – in the gubernatorial and 3rd Congressional District races – offered voters just one opportunity to see them side-by-side, on the debate or forum stage.

Rep. Van Orden, left, and challenger Rebecca Cooke at the Oct. 20 forum hosted by the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce and WEAU 13 News. (Photo by McKenna Scherer)

For the first time ever – despite having faced off twice before; Van Orden squeezed out the win over Cooke by a less than three-point difference, in 2024 – the 3rd Congressional District candidates shared the forum stage on Oct. 20 in Eau Claire.

That forum, coordinated and hosted by the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce and moderated by WEAU 13 News, is available to view in full online.

The gubernatorial debate, held in Milwaukee on Oct. 21, is also available to view in full online.

NEED TO REGISTER OR FIND WHERE TO VOTE?

If you’re a first-time voter, if you’ve moved, or if you just want to double-check that you are actually registered to vote, visit myvote.wi.gov. There you can confirm your registration, request an absentee ballot, learn what kind of photo ID you’ll need, locate your polling place, and see what will be your your ballot. If you aren’t registered to vote already, it’s too late to do so by mail or online (the deadline was July 22). However, you can still register in person between 7am-8pm on Nov. 3, at your polling place. Find out where that is by putting in your address at myvote.wi.gov.

THREE STATEWIDE REFERENDUMS ON THE BALLOT

The easiest way to find out what's on your ballot is to go online to myvote.wi.gov, a handy website created by the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Click the “What’s On My Ballot?” icon, enter your address, and – voila! – you’ll get the rundown of all the candidates, referendums and amendments.

This year, it's important to note the three statewide referendums voters will be asked to vote on. Those measures focus on the governor's partial veto power, the freedom to gather in places of worship during an emergency, and "governmental entity discrimination." As explained by Wisconsin Public Radio, if approved by the majority of voters, those measures would change the state's constitution.

CITY OF EAU CLAIRE CITIZENS' ADVISORY HEALTHCARE ACTION COMMITTEE REFERENDUM

For Eau Claire county voters, a fourth referendum question will be on the ballot: “Shall an ordinance be enacted creating Chapter 2.53 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Eau Claire creating the Citizens' Advisory Healthcare Action Committee?”

This past summer, if you were walking around downtown Eau Claire, you may have been approached by petitioners seeking signatures for a healthcare-related measure. That effort, as Volume One reported in July, was spearheaded by Community Action Wisconsin (CAW), a newer organization in the Eau Claire and La Crosse areas. 

Those signatures supported CAW's “Local Healthcare Action Plan,” which proposes the City of Eau Claire create a commission to “diagnose local healthcare access and affordability, assess policy decisions driving these problems, and make recommendations for local leaders.”

If passed, the referendum would require a commission be formed to begin gathering new data on healthcare affordability and accessibility and make recommendations to the Eau Claire city council, among other things.

On Friday, Oct. 30, the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce put out a media release (shared down below) “raising concerns” regarding the proposal. 

The chamber questioned how a new commission would be funded and staffed, and its potential overlap with existing local advocacy efforts by groups including the Eau Claire Health Alliance. 

Find your polling place, check your registration status, view a sample ballot and more online at myvote.wi.gov.