Election 2026

Independent, source-first accountability

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Issue record

Farms and dairy

In short

Van Orden's campaign cites dairy-business and whole-milk legislation. Cooke's backs farm antitrust action and tax breaks for smaller farms; Kent's and Provance's list no farm position on the pages checked. Parts of Van Orden's dairy bills passed the House in a farm bill that is not law. He cosponsored the House whole-milk bill; the Senate version became law. The tax law he backed raised the 2026 estate-tax exemption to $15 million per person, shared with lifetime taxable gifts; it did not repeal the tax.

Campaign positions

What each campaign says.

Derrick Van Orden

Says he is the first Wisconsin member in more than a decade on the House Agriculture Committee, and names the Dairy Business Innovation Act and the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act as wins he delivered.

Rebecca Cooke

Would enforce antitrust law against agricultural conglomerates, direct tax incentives to small and midsize farms rather than large ones, restructure the Farm Bill toward farming itself, and protect farmland from purchase by foreign nationals.

Alexander Valiensi Kent

No position on agriculture is stated, though he names farm policy as an example of an issue voters would decide directly under his proposal.

Rustin Provance

No position on agriculture is stated on any of the four pages his campaign site serves.

Evidence timeline

What the record shows.

  1. official action

    Derrick Van Orden: Record does not bear out the claim

    His campaign lists, among major wins for Wisconsin farmers, passing the Dairy Business Innovation Act to support the development, production, marketing and distribution of Wisconsin dairy products. He sponsored a Dairy Business Innovation bill twice, H.R. 4894 in the 118th Congress and H.R. 985 in the 119th; each was referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry and went no further. Two of the three changes his bill would have made — raising the number of regional initiatives from three to four in both places the statute sets it — did pass the House, inside section 1015 of the 2026 farm bill, which he voted for on April 30, 2026. That bill has not become law. The third change, raising the authorisation from $20,000,000 to $36,000,000, is not in it. The initiative itself is section 12513 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, four years before he took office. Limit: The label rests on the words he used: the Act he names did not pass, and the vehicle that carries two thirds of it is not law either. But the distance between the claim and the record is narrow: the operative text of one of his bills cleared the House inside the farm bill with his vote.

  2. official action

    Derrick Van Orden: Matches stated record claim

    He was one of 118 cosponsors of the House version, but the bill signed into law in January 2026 was the Senate version.

    Read the full check

    Full detail

    His campaign says he championed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which was signed into law by President Trump and ensures children have access to whole milk. He was an original cosponsor of the House bill, H.R. 649, on January 23, 2025, one of 118 cosponsors. That bill never left the Union Calendar. The measure that became law was the Senate companion, S. 222, which became Public Law 119-69 on January 14, 2026. Limit: The Act was signed into law, and he put his name to the House version on the day it was introduced. But the bill he cosponsored is not the bill that passed, and he was one of 118 cosponsors of it. A first check of this claim found the Act's name in no public law and would have called it false; the Senate bill had been enacted and not yet indexed, which is why the enacted text rather than the bill index settles it.

  3. official action

    Derrick Van Orden: Record does not bear out the claim

    Van Orden said the 2025 law got rid of the death tax so farms could pass between generations. He voted for H.R. 1. It raised the 2026 exemption to $15 million per person; the estate tax remains. Limit: The exemption is shared with lifetime taxable gifts. We did not count affected Wisconsin farms.

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Sources17 source records

How we use sources

  1. Van Orden for Congress, issueshttps://vanordenforcongress.com/issues/

    Van Orden for Congress · Reviewed Sep 22, 2026

    Captured 2026-09-22; 1,074 words. The campaign's own site, identified by its "Paid for by Van Orden for Congress" line. Note that derrickvanorden.com is a registrar parking page and is not this site.

    candidate statement

    For: Derrick Van Orden: campaign position; Derrick Van Orden: Record does not bear out the claim; Derrick Van Orden: Matches stated record claim

  2. Cooke for Wisconsin, prioritieshttps://cookeforwisconsin.com/priorities/

    Cooke for Congress · Reviewed Sep 22, 2026

    Captured 2026-09-22; 2,429 words across ten subject headings, the most detailed platform on any desk so far.

    candidate statement

    For: Rebecca Cooke: campaign position

  3. 2026 Candidate for the U.S. House, Alexander Valiensi Kenthttps://www.voterdirectednetwork.com/alexanderkent

    Voter Directed Network · Reviewed Sep 22, 2026

    Captured 2026-09-22; 7,855 words. His own platform, in the form of a keynote address. Note that kentforcongress.com is a registrar parking page belonging to someone else and is not his site.

    candidate statement

    For: Alexander Valiensi Kent: campaign position

  4. Rustin Provance for Congress, projectshttps://rustinforcongress.wixsite.com/website/projects-1

    Rustin Provance for Congress · Reviewed Sep 22, 2026

    Captured 2026-09-22. His platform: policing, Social Security, the Federal Reserve, health care, nuclear testing, the Department of Education, term limits, taxation, the military, veterans and relations with native nations. The page is at /projects-1; /projects returns 404.

    candidate statement

    For: Rustin Provance: campaign position

  5. Rustin Provance for Congress, homehttps://rustinforcongress.wixsite.com/website

    Rustin Provance for Congress · Reviewed Sep 22, 2026

    Captured 2026-09-22; ninety words and a slogan. Reading only this page is what produced a first, wrong finding that he had published no platform.

    candidate statement

    For: Rustin Provance: campaign position

  6. H.R. 985, to reauthorize the dairy business innovation initiatives (119th Congress)https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/985

    Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 22, 2026

    Sponsored by Rep. Van Orden. Congress.gov summarises it as increasing the authorization of appropriations for the Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives and requiring a minimum of four regionally located initiatives instead of three. Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry; no further action.

    official legislative record

    For: Derrick Van Orden: Record does not bear out the claim

  7. H.R. 4894, to reauthorize the dairy business innovation initiatives (118th Congress)https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4894

    Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 22, 2026

    His earlier bill on the same subject, also sponsored by him and also referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry with no further action.

    official legislative record

    For: Derrick Van Orden: Record does not bear out the claim

  8. H.R. 7567, as passed the House, section 1015https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119hr7567eh/html/BILLS-119hr7567eh.htm

    U.S. Government Publishing Office · Reviewed Sep 22, 2026

    The 2026 farm bill as engrossed. Section 1015 amends section 12513 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 by striking "3" and inserting "4" in subsection (b) and in subsection (g)(1)(A) — the first two of the three clauses of Van Orden's own H.R. 985, word for word. His bill's third clause, raising the authorisation from $20,000,000 to $36,000,000, is not in it. Read from the GovInfo package text on 2026-09-22.

    official legislative record

    For: Derrick Van Orden: Record does not bear out the claim

  9. House roll call 154, 119th Congress, 2nd session (document)

    Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives · Reviewed Sep 22, 2026

    On passage of H.R. 7567, 2026-04-30. Passed 209-3. Van Orden voted Yea.

    official legislative record

    For: Derrick Van Orden: Record does not bear out the claim

  10. Public Law 119-37, Continuing Appropriations and Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Acthttps://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-119publ37

    U.S. Government Publishing Office · Reviewed Sep 22, 2026

    Read from the GovInfo package text on 2026-09-22. Under the Agricultural Marketing Service it provides that of the amounts made available, $13,750,000 shall carry out section 12513 of Public Law 115-334, "of which $11,250,000 shall be for dairy business innovation". Section 12513 is a provision of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018.

    official legislative record

    For: Derrick Van Orden: Record does not bear out the claim

  11. H.R. 649, Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025 (119th Congress)https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/649

    Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 22, 2026

    Read through the Congress.gov API on 2026-09-22. Van Orden is one of 118 cosponsors and an original one, dated 2025-01-23. The bill itself went no further than the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 111, on 2025-06-05.

    official legislative record

    For: Derrick Van Orden: Matches stated record claim

  12. S. 222, Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025 (119th Congress)https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/222

    Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 22, 2026

    Read through the Congress.gov API on 2026-09-22. The Senate companion, and the measure that became Public Law 119-69 on 2026-01-14.

    official legislative record

    For: Derrick Van Orden: Matches stated record claim

  13. Eau Claire Area Chamber forum, October 20: Van Orden on the death taxhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sCa_4llPFE&t=486s

    WEAU · Published Oct 20, 2026 · Reviewed Oct 22, 2026

    8:06. Paraphrased from YouTube's captions of the station's video; no second transcript was found to confirm the exact words.

    candidate statement

    For: Derrick Van Orden: Record does not bear out the claim

  14. Roll Call 145, H.R. 1, on passagehttps://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025145

    Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives · Published May 22, 2025 · Reviewed Oct 22, 2026

    Recorded vote of May 22, 2025 (215 to 214), read from the Clerk's roll-call XML by member ID V000135: Yea.

    official legislative record

    For: Derrick Van Orden: Record does not bear out the claim

  15. Roll Call 190, H.R. 1, on concurring in the Senate amendmenthttps://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025190

    Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives · Published Jul 3, 2025 · Reviewed Oct 22, 2026

    Recorded vote of July 3, 2025 (218 to 214), read from the Clerk's roll-call XML by member ID V000135: Aye. This vote sent the bill to the President.

    official legislative record

    For: Derrick Van Orden: Record does not bear out the claim

  16. Public Law 119-21 (H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act)https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-119publ21

    U.S. Government Publishing Office · Reviewed Oct 22, 2026

    Read from the GovInfo package text on 2026-10-22. Contains "SEC. 70106. EXTENSION AND ENHANCEMENT OF INCREASED ESTATE AND GIFT TAX EXEMPTION AMOUNTS" and "SEC. 83002. WORKFORCE PELL GRANTS".

    official legislative record

    For: Derrick Van Orden: Record does not bear out the claim

  17. Estate Tax: filing thresholds and taxable giftshttps://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/estate-tax

    Internal Revenue Service · Reviewed Oct 22, 2026

    The 2026 table lists $15 million. Lifetime taxable gifts enter the estate-tax calculation before the available unified credit.

    official office record

    For: Derrick Van Orden: Record does not bear out the claim