Economic Hardship and Small Business Closures Shape Wisconsin's Third District House Race

Small business closures in Eau Claire signal a shift in Wisconsin’s third district

Erin Klaus is closing her storefront. After 18 years of operating Tangled Up in Hue, a handmade artisan market in downtown Eau Claire, she will shutter the doors at the end of this year. While she survived a previous recession, pandemic-era lockdowns, and local construction, the current economic climate has proven insurmountable. Klaus has spent the last two years watching sales trend downward, eventually reaching a point where she was using her own salary from her role as executive director of the non-profit Downtown Eau Claire Inc. to cover her staff’s wages.

"Derrick's running his race in his district because he's talking about his record, not rhetoric." House Speaker Mike Johnson in Platteville, WI this afternoon when asked if GOP congressman like Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil should pretend President Trump is on the ballot: pic.twitter.com/d49zFc0qT2

— https://x.com/mattsmith_news/status/2115927796904317207

The struggle of local entrepreneurs is becoming a central fault line in the high-stakes race for the US House of Representatives in western Wisconsin’s third district, as reported by The Guardian. The district, which includes Eau Claire, is a battleground where the Republican incumbent, Derrick Van Orden, is defending a record aligned with Donald Trump, while Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke is centering her campaign on the economic anxieties of farmers, workers, and small business owners. For many in the district, the choice on Tuesday is no longer just about ideology, but about whether federal policies are making it impossible to stay afloat.

The economic pressures squeezing local entrepreneurs

The financial strain on small businesses in the district is not limited to a single sector. In Chippewa Falls, Amy Burke Lepper, owner of One Of A Kind Interior Design, describes a compounding series of costs. She has relied on a Canadian cabinet maker for over two decades, but new tariffs have significantly increased the price of her supplies. Simultaneously, her retail shop, Lagom, has seen a marked slowdown in customer traffic. Burke Lepper also faces a personal crisis: for the first time in her life, she has no health insurance because her monthly premiums spiked from roughly $1,000 to nearly $3,000.

Economic Hardship and Small Business Closures Shape Wisconsin's Third District House Race

The intersection of trade policy and personal cost is creating a volatile environment for the district’s middle class. The following factors have been cited by local business owners as primary drivers of their current instability:

A Lifeline to Wisconsin Small Businesses

Trade Tariffs: Increased costs on imported goods, such as T-shirts for Klaus’s shop and cabinetry for Burke Lepper’s clients.
Healthcare Costs: The expiration of Affordable Care Act marketplace subsidies, which has left many small business owners without affordable coverage.
Inflation and Cost of Living: A general reduction in consumer spending as households prioritize essentials over retail and dining.
Infrastructure and Local Policy: Local shifts, such as a new paid parking program in downtown Eau Claire, which some owners feel added unnecessary pressure to an already fragile ecosystem.

Klaus expressed a sense of isolation regarding these struggles, noting that the messaging from the Trump administration often suggests these hardships are not occurring or are not as severe as they feel on the ground. “It feels almost like we’re getting mocked for the hardships that we’re enduring,” she said.

A clash of political identities and economic visions

The race for the third district represents a fundamental disagreement over how to interpret the current American economy. Incumbent Derrick Van Orden, a retired Navy SEAL, maintains that the administration’s accomplishments outweigh the current economic friction. He has remained a steadfast supporter of Donald Trump, even attending the January 6 rally at the US Capitol in 2021. During a campaign stop in Platteville on October 29, 2026, House Speaker Mike Johnson rallied for Van Orden, describing him as “one of our fighters.”

Van Orden has dismissed the idea that economic pain should dictate the election outcome, telling WISN 12 News, “At some point, we have to look at accomplishments and put aside the emotional sway.” He pointed to the fact that Donald Trump has won this district three times with increasing margins as evidence of the current platform’s success. His campaign has taken a combative tone against Cooke, whom he has referred to as “The Crooked One” and criticized for her alignment with figures like Bernie Sanders.

Rebecca Cooke is positioning herself as a direct alternative to this approach, leaning into her background as a dairy farmer’s daughter and a former small business owner. She argues that her lived experience allows her to speak to those “in the trenches.” Her platform focuses on several key economic interventions:

“The first thing Democrats should do is expand the Affordable Care Act tax credit premiums that were allowed to expire, for three more years to ‘stop the hemorrhaging,'” Cooke stated, regarding the rising cost of healthcare.

Cooke is also advocating for the expansion of Medicare to include dental, vision, and hearing services, as well as the implementation of a public healthcare option. To address the cost of goods, she has called for stricter enforcement of antitrust laws to break up corporate conglomerates and an end to the Iran war to help stabilize prices.

The political stakes for the midterms

The third district was once a Democratic stronghold, represented by Ron Kind for more than 20 years before Van Orden’s victory in 2022. While the district has swung between parties—backing Obama twice and Trump three times—the current economic climate has turned it into a primary target for outside spending. Tens of millions of dollars have flowed into the race as both parties attempt to capture the shifting sentiment of rural and suburban voters who are feeling the pinch of gas costs, fertilizer increases, and tariffs.

Wisconsin's Spike in New Small Businesses | Here & Now

The demographic impact of these economic shifts is profound. As people lose the ability to spend, the “culture of consumerism” that sustained downtown areas like Eau Claire is eroding. Cooke noted that even in the service industry, where she still works as a waitress, fewer people are dining out because they simply lack the discretionary income. While Van Orden argues that the Republican record is “amazing,” the reality for business owners like Klaus is a forced exit from the market.

For Klaus, the election results on November 3 will not provide an immediate reprieve. Her business will remain open only long enough to sell down inventory and ensure her local artists receive their earnings during the holiday season. “This is just a long journey ahead and it’s not going to be a quick fix,” she said, noting that while she hopes for leadership that listens, the economic recovery will take much longer than a single election cycle.