When freshman Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) chewed out a group of high school-aged Senate pages last week in a bizarre and swear-laden tirade, he did more than tarnish the Capitol experience for teenagers excited about Congress and public service.
He also gave his Democratic foes political ammunition.
Van Orden won his seat last year by less than 4 points, and even before news of Van Orden cursing out teens for taking pictures of the Capitol got back to his district Democratic campaign arms were already heavily targeting him for 2024.
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Last cycle, Democrats painted Van Orden as an extremist who lacked the temperament for public office. They pointed to his presence on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, as well as an incident where he shouted at a teenage library staffer over a Pride Month display of books.
Now, as Democrats hope to flip the seat next cycle, party operatives say Van Orden spewing obscenities at adolescent pages fits right into their narrative—and pushes it forward.
“His latest outburst is not only inappropriate, but it’s part of a pattern of disqualifying, mean-spirited and bullying behavior,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Mallory Payne told The Daily Beast in a statement.
“These brutal headlines aren’t going away,” Wisconsin Democratic Party spokesperson Joe Oslund wrote in a statement. “Van Orden’s ‘physically aggressive’ conduct towards teenagers at the U.S. Capitol is just one episode in a troubling history of bizarre and disturbing incidents, and confirms what we’ve long known here in Wisconsin: Derrick Van Orden lacks the temperament to serve.”
“The smartest thing Congressman Van Orden could have done with his first term in Congress was play against type… The reason that this I think is really resonating, is it plays to type,” said Joe Zepecki, a Wisconsin Democratic strategist. “It is sort of an opportunity for Democrats to make the case: He is who we thought he was.”
The incident, as it’s widely being referred to on Capitol Hill, occurred last week in the Rotunda, where a group of Senate pages were lying on the ground taking photos of the spectacular Capitol dome that marks the center of the building. Pages come from across the country to don dark blue suits and help with administrative tasks throughout the Senate, marking a beginning in public service for many ambitious high schoolers.
Van Orden approached the pages as they took photos late at night and called them “little shits,” “pieces of shit” and “jackasses.” He told them to “get the fuck out” in an aggressive manner, per NBC News.
Minutes after the incident, one page took notes on what Van Orden said to them. “Wake the fuck up, you little shits... What the fuck are you all doing? Get the fuck out of here! You are defiling the space, you pieces of shit,” the page reported to The Hill.
“Who the fuck are you?” Van Orden reportedly asked. When one teen told the congressman they were pages, he allegedly said, “I don’t give a fuck who you are. Get out!”
“You jackasses, get out!” he said.
He was reportedly “inches” from their faces, “physically aggressive,” and by the end of the exchange, the pages were “visibly shaken.”
Members of both parties have condemned Van Orden’s behavior. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he was “shocked” to learn about Van Orden's behavior, and “further shocked at his refusal to apologize.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said “everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way,” and Speaker Kevin McCarthy said last week that he plans to talk with Van Orden about the incident.
One photo shared by Punchbowl News allegedly showed alcohol on a table in Van Orden’s Capitol office prior to the outburst, which prompted Van Orden to ridicule the reporter who first posted the photo as someone who must have “never been to Wisconsin.”
(The reporter subsequently shared a photo of himself as a child at a Wisconsin camp decked out in University of Wisconsin Badgers gear.)
While Van Orden is right that a photo of alcohol in his office is unlikely to offend his voters—41 of the top 50 drunkest counties in the United States are found in Wisconsin, and three of the top 10 are in Van Orden’s district—the swearing could actually be more of a factor. A comprehensive 2015 study on swearing across the United States showed that Wisconsin shares some Upper Midwest sensibilities on words like “fuck,” particularly in Van Orden’s more swearing-averse southwestern district.
Regardless, as of Monday, Van Orden had not denied shouting at pages or apologized for his conduct. Instead, he suggested the Rotunda should be treated with respect since it was once a Civil War field hospital.
That argument could probably have a better messenger than Van Orden. He was, after all, trespassing on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6. And while Van Orden has consistently said he didn’t participate in the Capitol riots, photos taken of him on Jan. 6—and recreated by The Daily Beast—show that he was standing on an exterior wall near the Capitol, past where the public was allowed to be on that day. (Van Orden also subsequently charged that trip to D.C. for the Jan. 6 protests to his campaign.)
Van Orden’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment on how the incident could impact his chances of re-election. The National Republican Congressional Committee also didn’t respond.
But already, the congressman is dodging his constituents.
Van Orden was slated to speak on federal funding for chemical contamination at an event in his district on Monday but canceled the event, according to WKBT News 8, a local news station.
Even some fellow Republicans have seen an opening to deride Van Orden over his behavior. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX)—who previously got into it with Van Orden over Freedom Caucus floor tactics—posted a photo of himself lying on the Capitol Rotunda floor, taking a picture of the dome.
Amid all the turmoil, Van Orden’s lone Democratic challenger sees an opening.
Rebecca Cooke—a local business owner who ran in the Democratic primary last cycle—launched her campaign just three weeks ago. Cooke also has concerns about Van Orden’s temperament for the district. She says the latest incident only exacerbates them.
“He’s very much not an adult in the room at all and people are really upset. And I think this continues to be something that pushes people more and more away from him,” Cooke told The Daily Beast in an interview Monday.
Cooke has also been fundraising off the incident and says she’s seen a “tremendous donor response,” including a bump in out-of-state donors. According to a source familiar, Cooke’s campaign has raised more than $40,000 since Van Orden’s outburst was first reported, including over 700 new donors who had not previously donated to her campaign.
Van Orden is not currently facing any GOP primary challengers. Other Democrats have also been floated as potential primary contenders, including retired CIA officer Deb McGrath and Wisconsin Economic Development Council CEO Missy Hughes, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
To be sure, ousting Van Orden will still be a tough battle for Democrats, even as groups like DCCC place it on their early targets list. Wisconsin’s 3rd congressional district was held for years by former Rep. Ron Kind (D), who originally beat Van Orden when he was the 2020 Republican nominee. Kind opted to retire in 2022.
Wisconsin Democrats made a heavy play at the seat last cycle—and blamed their losses in part on national Democrats backing off of fundraising in the final weeks of the race. Nowadays, Democrats like Zepecki recognize the district, which Trump won in 2020, could be among the tricker seats for House Democrats to win in 2024.
Next year, Wisconsin down-ticket candidates will be dealing with the headwinds of a presidential election and a highly competitive Senate race.
But to Zepecki, flipping Van Orden’s seat is definitely worth shooting for.
“There are absolutely persuadable voters there,” Zepecki said. “And while I’m not gonna sit here and say that it’s as ripe a target as those Biden districts that are held by Republicans, it should 1 million percent be in the next tier—that next tranche of seats that Democrats contest next fall.”
