Rebecca Cooke, the Democrat challenging Rep. Derrick Van Orden in one of the nation’s hottest House races, raised more than $2.4 million in the first quarter of 2026, according to her most recent Federal Election Commission filing.

Cooke’s latest campaign-finance report also indicates that she entered April with more than $4.4 million of that in cash — a massive amount at this point in an election year for any U.S. House candidate, particularly a nonincumbent.

Of the more than $2.4 million Cooke’s campaign took in during the first three months of this year, about $1.67 million came in the form of contributions from individual people.

The rest mostly came from other political committees. The largest contribution to Cooke’s campaign was $633,000 from the Wall Street-backed House Victory Project in March. The next biggest donations were $21,000 and $16,000 from the joint fundraiser Dem Rising 2026, a new group backing swing-district challengers, and the Blue Dog Victory Fund, respectively.

Van Orden, who represents Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District in the central and southwest sections of the state, reported more than $1.3 million in receipts in the first quarter of the year. The congressman has $3.8 million in cash on hand and about $194,000 in debt entering April.

Individuals contributed more than $753,000 to Van Orden’s campaign. Political action committees gave about $204,000, and authorized committees transferred around $363,000.

Van Orden’s three largest donations came from Speaker Mike Johnson’s Grow the Majority joint fundraising committee, totaling nearly $241,000. The next largest contribution was $51,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP

Cooke, a small-business owner who ran a nonprofit supporting women entrepreneurs, outraised Van Orden by more than $200,000 in the last quarter of 2025, though he previously outraised her.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has declared the race a “toss up,” meaning either candidate is equally likely to win.

Cooke, who lost to Van Orden in 2024 by fewer than 3 percentage points, reported the largest first-quarter fundraising haul of any candidate in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue organizing program as of Wednesday evening. The next highest fundraiser, Janelle Stelson in Pennsylvania, who is challenging Rep. Scott Perry, brought in $2.17 million during the first quarter.

The Red to Blue program selects Democratic candidates in highly competitive districts for DCCC organizing and fundraising assistance.

Before running for Congress, Cooke was appointed to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. She previously ran a political consultancy from 2015 to 2025 that reported more than $190,000 in payments from campaigns and committees, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Van Orden, a Navy veteran, is a member of the House Agriculture Committee, House Veterans Affairs Committee and House Armed Services Committee.

This article has been updated to include new fundraising numbers from Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s campaign.