The two Democratic candidates competing to face Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden this fall brought their campaigns to La Crosse on Tuesday night.

Emily Berge and Rebecca Cooke answered 22 questions during a fast-paced forum that lasted about an hour and a half. 

The event, driven by questions submitted by Democrats across Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, covered a wide array of topics, ranging from protecting clean water and immigration to funding for Medicaid and SNAP.

Among the issues raised was the current state of the U.S. Supreme Court, specifically addressing its partisan divide and how justices are appointed.

Emily Berge suggested implementing 18-year term limits for the high court, followed by a system where new justices are selected every two years.

"President Trump, he's appointed three justices to the court and I think Biden did, he appointed one,” Berge told the audience at the Concordia Ballroom. “And so every two years would allow a more — though there's probably still be some holes — but it would allow more regular appointments and more fairness and equality that way." 

Cooke agreed with the call for term limits but focused her response on tightening the ethical guidelines for the bench.

"Creating a code of ethics for justices,” Cooke said. “II think you've seen an incredible culture of corruption on the Supreme Court. The way that folks have been lining their pockets with special interest dollars from all sorts of people to be influenced to the way that they're voting — or that they're ruling on cases."

The candidates were also asked about what Congress can do to help with affordable housing and support homeowners in Wisconsin.

Cooke emphasized leveraging federal grants to spark new construction.

"Things that I can be supportive of in Congress,” Cooke said, “is that I can advocate for more federal community black grants, which incentivize developers to build affordable housing, making it, again, more affordable for them to build,so that we can get working families there."

Berge talked about the benefits of accessory dwelling units (ADUs), but also stressed maximizing existing federal channels.

"But we do need funds, so we can do that though through HUD, through CDBG funding, which is Community Development Block Grant,” Berge said. “And right now, what the city of Eau Claire does, is that hands out to a lot of nonprofits, but we can do it for — if we had more. We have almost $1 million through CDBG funding — but if we had more funds, we could spread out that, uh, to for more solutions."

While the primary for this race is scheduled for August, voters will have a few more opportunities to hear the candidates debate. Before the August vote, the pair will square off in two more forums — one in Platteville on June 18, followed by an Eau Claire forum July 16.