Democrat Rebecca Cooke sent a cease-and-desist over a synthetic video she says misrepresents her; Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden pushed back on social media as the competitive race heads to November.
Cooke’s campaign says a synthetic video falsely attributes pro-corruption and free healthcare comments to her and has sent a cease-and-desist to Van Orden.
Van Orden responded publicly with a mocking video and posts accusing Cooke of lying and alleging heavy ad spending against him.
# What happened
Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden and Democrat Rebecca Cooke are clashing over a campaign advertisement created with synthetic-video techniques. Cooke's campaign announced on Oct. 1, 2026 that it sent Van Orden a cease-and-desist letter demanding he stop producing and sharing videos that it says falsely depict her making statements she never made.
# The contested video
Cooke's lawyers singled out an August post in which Van Orden shared a video showing Cooke campaigning alongside former President Joe Biden. The video includes an attributed quote saying Cooke wanted "to take advantage of as much corruption as possible and give every illegal alien free healthcare." Cooke's legal team says she never made those statements and does not support the positions the video ascribes to her.
Cooke's statement frames the posting as an attempt to "fool the voters of Wisconsin" and to damage her reputation for political advantage. Her campaign says it will evaluate "all legal options" if such synthetic videos continue.
# Van Orden's response
Van Orden replied with a new short video showing a duck walking by a pond quacking the words "cease and desist." He also posted on X, accusing Cooke of lying repeatedly and funding ads that put "$1,000,000's behind the lies." In the same post he wrote, "After further consideration, I am demanding a pony and a jaunty hat as compensation."
# Context of the race
# What this means for voters and campaigns
# Next steps to watch
# Bottom line
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