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* Press release…
Betsy Dirksen Londrigan is continuing to show her strength by raising almost $300,000 more than incumbent Congressman Rodney Davis in the latest FEC fundraising quarter, which ended June 30. Dirksen Londrigan now has just under $2.25 million cash on hand, while Congressman Davis lags behind with $1.85 million. This is the third quarter in a row that Dirksen Londrigan has outraised Congressman Davis, a sign that momentum is on her side heading into November.
Betsy refuses to accept corporate PAC money during her campaign or when in Congress because she refuses to be beholden to any corporation, unlike Congressman Davis who has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from the insurance and pharmaceutical industries and votes for their interests instead of the needs of his constituents.
“This campaign is powered by the people and I am beyond thankful for the support our campaign has received,” said Dirksen Londrigan. “While Congressman Davis puts politics and his allegiance to his big pharma funders first, I am refusing corporate PAC money and am committed to fighting for quality, affordable health care and lower prescription drug costs for Central Illinois families.”
* Press release…
Public records reveal that Democrat Betsy Londrigan formed a Joint Fundraising PAC with the Democratic Party of Illinois, whose longtime chairman is House Speaker Mike Madigan. Madigan uses his position as state party chairman to funnel campaign contributions to his chosen candidates and maintain his grip on power. Londrigan has remained silent on Madigan’s corruption for years, even as she benefits from his political machine.
“Londrigan benefits from Madigan’s political machine, yet remains silent on his corruption and failed leadership. She can’t have it both ways. It’s time for Londrigan to finally come clean about her close ties to Madigan and tell voters where she stands on Madigan’s disastrous agenda.” – Aaron DeGroot, Davis campaign spokesperson
Londrigan continues to remain silent on Madigan’s tax-and-spend agenda and longtime control over State government
Madigan has controlled the Illinois House for all but two years since the early 1970s. He has been called “the man behind the fiscal fiasco in Illinois.” Madigan has voted to raise income taxes multiple times, supported unbalanced budgets and disastrous pension holidays, and continues to push job-killing policies. Londrigan hasn’t said a word on Madigan’s failed leadership.
Londrigan is working hand-in-hand with Madigan’s political machine
In 2018, the Madigan-controlled Democratic Party of Illinois spent over $293,000 on behalf of Londrigan’s campaign for Congress. Also in 2018, the Londrigan-Madigan Joint Fundraising PAC contributed over $91,000 to the Madigan-controlled Democratic Party of Illinois and $5,400 to Londrigan’s campaign committee. Londrigan’s campaign will rely on significant support from Madigan again this year.
A corrupt Madigan associate and powerful lobbyist is funding Londrigan’s campaign
Madigan’s right-hand man, Mike McClain, has been involved in several scandals, including his knowledge of an unreported rape in Champaign. News reports reveal that McClain “lauded a state worker who ‘kept his mouth shut’ about an unspecified ‘rape in Champaign…’” McClain has made two financial contributions to Londrigan’s campaign for Congress.
* This is a good take by Politico, but it’s incomplete…
This race is a repeat of 2018, when Davis, now a four-term congressman, just barely edged out Londrigan. She has a much stronger ground game this time, but Covid-19 could play a role in the outcome. The 13th District includes the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, and if left-leaning students aren’t available to vote, that could impact the race.
The district also includes, Illinois State University, Illinois Wesleyan, SIU Edwardsville, Millikin, Blackburn College and UIS.
Londrigan likely needs every student vote she can to win. A massive vote by mail/early vote push as soon as students arrive on their campuses is likely a must-do. And, even then, it may not be enough.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 9:57 am
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Serious question, to the average voter, is Madigan really on their radar? I get it, he is the one constant in State government and our state is about bankrupt, but using him as a constant bogeyman to the voters hasn’t worked and I doubt if it will ever work. He is a sophisticated good looking dude who doesn’t say crazy things, hard to make him into evil incarnate.
Comment by 44th Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:04 am
Going to be interesting race. Expect it will be close, maybe even recount close if Londrigan can put together a good social media game.
Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:08 am
So in November will voters accept Betsy’s premise that merely corporate PACs are foul?
Comment by Al Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:15 am
Davis’ cammpaign is so lazy, like so many Republican candidates. Because Madigan! Because Pelosi! Socialism! Issues? Never
Comment by Former Downstater Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:16 am
If Londrigan ekes out a win that can be tied to vote by mail I can already hear the GOP’ers screaming.
Comment by efudd Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:20 am
Save the bit about tax and spend liberals for when you finally do something about borrow and spend “conservatives”, Rodney.
Outside of the students, this district has a sizable # of college-educated professionals in it that have soured on Republicans in the Trump era too. Will be interested to see how this all plays out.
In other central IL congressional news, I was shocked to get a robocall inviting me to a telephone town hall for Darin LaHood the other night. I don’t think Dems have even bothered to slate opposition for him so still baffled what that was about. It’s not like he gave a crap about anyone but his most right-wing constituents before the pandemic but maybe he thinks he has to shore some things up before redistricting shuffles the deck?
Comment by hisgirlfriday Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:21 am
I think Davis wins this one again. If he doesn’t, it’s likely that Londrigan is a one-termer, as the next remap will combine 12, 13 and 15, into two districts. And the 13th will only become more conservative.
Comment by Downstate Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:24 am
Deeply cynical , I know, but also depends on how many of “Where’s Rodney”’s voters are still in thrall of the Orange Monster at the top of the Republican ticket.
The old, rural, white voters”Where’s Rodney?” relies on are becoming fewer and fewer, and if Covid-19 starts cutting a death through them, he may be in trouble.
It may be fascinating after the election to compare candidate totals in various areas to whether or not those areas had any Black Lives Matter demonstrations. There were at least 96 in Illinois, and in small towns that I would not have expected (Taylorville, Tuscola, Effingham, Gibson City).
I’m on Team Betsy; hoping for the best, fearing the worst
Comment by Lynn S. Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:28 am
* swath, not death
Flipping predictive text (multiple banned punctuations).
Comment by Lynn S. Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:31 am
If Londrigan ekes out a win that can be tied to vote by mail I can already hear the GOP’ers screaming.
And rightly so, given the corruption within Champaign County government . That Ammons family is quite the crew.
Comment by Birds on the Bat Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:32 am
I take it back.
She hasn’t won anything and they’re already screaming.
Comment by efudd Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:37 am
Even if all the universities reopen, some percent of the students will not be returning for a variety of reasons. Can this help Davis improve even slightly from his 2018 31% total in Champaign County and 38% in McLean?
Comment by Oldtimer Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:39 am
=== I take it back.
She hasn’t won anything and they’re already screaming.===
I laughed out loud, first at the tin foil hat hand wringing… then your retort.
Priceless.
When you question the process of fair and free elections *before* an election, maybe self-reflection is in order.
Granted, Ammons’ record is one to raise eyebrows, to already set a table, priceless.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:40 am
Dems can’t do much better in the 13th than they did in 2018. Add in less students in campus due to Covid and higher GOP turnout than last time around, my money is on Davis.
Comment by CubsFan16 Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:44 am
Congressman Davis’ and Trump’s failure to fight the spread of COVID-19 seems to be setting the stage for a blue wave.
Comment by Agatollah Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:46 am
Ask Lee Daniels, Tom Cross, Jim Durkin and Bruce Rauner how blaming Madigan worked out for them..
Comment by Howard Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:50 am
===If Londrigan ekes out a win that can be tied to vote by mail===
Hey, doofus, have you any idea how many Republican wins in this state are tied to vote by mail?
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 10:56 am
Davis likely wins this race. The rural areas will come in overwhelmingly for the Congressman and the University vote in relation to COVID is very problematic.
Seriously unlikely that K-12 or University students will be participating in in-person instruction in November (or even by mid-September). The spikes in positive testing already implicate the twenty-something crowd; wait until school starts on campus.
What will be interesting is Rodney being herded into an overwhelmingly rural District with Mary Miller after the re-map. He will never be able to out Trump her. Folks will be longing for the good old days of Rodney. LOL
Comment by Upon Further Review Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 11:05 am
doofus
Why? You always ask folks to play nice. I get it. It’s your blog. Bite you.
Comment by Birds on the Bat Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 11:13 am
==What will be interesting is Rodney being herded into an overwhelmingly rural District with Mary Miller after the re-map.==
It’s also possible that if Davis wins again, he could be remapped with Bost (as long speculated) or LaHood instead of Miller. Even Kinzinger’s seat post-remap could take in some of the rural parts of the current IL-13 (e.g, DeWitt, Piatt counties and parts of McLean and even Champaign).
Comment by Chatham Resident Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 11:18 am
DeGroot (on behalf of Davis - a co-chair of the Trumpsters IL campaign) saying “… yet remains silent on his corruption and failed leadership” is too rich.
Comment by We'll See Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 11:50 am
=== “Londrigan benefits from Madigan’s political machine, yet remains silent on his corruption and failed leadership. She can’t have it both ways. It’s time for Londrigan to finally come clean about her close ties to Madigan and tell voters where she stands on Madigan’s disastrous agenda.” – Aaron DeGroot, Davis campaign spokesperson===
How would Mr. DeGroot say Trump has done?
Will Mr. DeGroot say Davis supports Trump? So the district knows…
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 11:54 am
Davis is one of only a few incumbent Republicans I think who has not only been outraised by his opponent, but also has a disadvantage in terms of cash on hand.
That’s not an enviable position to be in.
Comment by Nick Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 12:18 pm
Also while redistricting is interesting it’s conceivably not that difficult to get two downstate Democratic districts if Dems are forced to protect both Bustos and Betsy.
Especially because there’s no reason to have the 12th anymore monopolize the Democratic parts of Metroeast, given how noncompetitive it’s become.
Comment by Nick Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 12:23 pm
DeGroot (on behalf of Davis - a co-chair of the Trumpsters IL campaign) saying “… yet remains silent on his corruption and failed leadership” is too rich.
I can’t seem to locate your similar comment in the Madigan thread. Is Madigan’s comments “too rich” too?
Comment by Birds on the Bat Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 12:43 pm
Good to see Rodney not wasting a lot of cash on research as he continues his exit interview tour
Comment by Annonin' Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 12:47 pm
=== I can’t seem to locate your similar comment in the Madigan thread. Is Madigan’s comments “too rich” too?===
What does this mean… I mean, outside “because Madigan”?
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 1:10 pm
===Also while redistricting is interesting it’s conceivably not that difficult to get two downstate Democratic districts if Dems are forced to protect both Bustos and Betsy.===
This is the right take, especially if you take 13 down to the Metro East.
Also, considering the geography, it wouldn’t be all that hard to map Davis (assuming he wins) in with both Bost and Miller. That would be fun.
Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 1:16 pm
===Also while redistricting is interesting it’s conceivably not that difficult to get two downstate Democratic districts if Dems are forced to protect both Bustos and Betsy.===
==This is the right take, especially if you take 13 down to the Metro East.==
Plus Carbondale (but not Murphysboro, Bost’s hometown) and all the way down to Cairo.
And it would be funny to see Bustos’ new 17th remapped to include both the precincts of David Gill (Bloomington or Normal) and Stefanie Smith (Urbana).
Comment by Chatham Resident Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 2:11 pm
Honestly think this election will be a nail biter for sure. This seat is dependent on a Biden wave. If Biden is winning by 10 points on Election Day, I’d say odds are in favor of Betsy. The GOP only won the district by 4 or 5 points in 2016 due to Trump’s over performance in the rural parts, and those parts have not seen population growth like in Champaign. Also, Davis could lose support in rural areas assuming or COVID hits home and votes of professionals.
Lastly, I think Betsy needs to run a strong ground game with the absentee vote assuming if students do return on campus(Wet dreams at this point). She needs to PR the fact students can register to vote at their dorms and have absentees mailed at home.
Comment by 13thPoli Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 2:37 pm
Davis was invoking Trump at every turn up until the last few weeks. Now he doesn’t say he’s proud to be IL Trump reelection chair. He talks about medical care reform and how the ACA needs to go but his party refuses to put together an alternative that actually covers everyone with coverage that isn’t full of holes. How affordable is coverage that doesn’t cover you?
Best one on Davis is that the Spire pipeline project has ruined thousands of acres of high dollar farmland. It can’t be developed and Spire has fought making landowners whole. Davis met with landowners in Carrollton and said he’d get to work on things. Davis evidently has been discussing things with Spire instead of holding them accountable. It has recently been discovered that he has essentially ghosted constituents while consulting with Spire. Guess Spire is indirectly putting more money in his campaign that his constituents. You can look up all of the money that various fossil fuel and pipeline organizations have thrown his direction. Now Trump want to pretty much eliminate all oversight of pipeline projects and is crowing about how we are going to go baqck to like 1950 something! FERC and Davis have done nothing for District 13 constituents so far and possibly some new blood in office can change things. Davis should be fearful as he has not stepped up and acted in the interest of his district’s residents on issues of importance. He has instead taken money from interests that harm his district.
Comment by District 13 Resident Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 3:41 pm
I’ve always sighed at Republican state representative/senators who try to make Madigan an issue in their campaign. That argument may help with raising money, but I’ve never knocked on a door where someone asked me about him (and I’ve knocked on a lot of doors, and been asked a lot of strange questions).
Comment by Just Me 2 Thursday, Jul 16, 20 @ 8:05 pm
2020 Londrigan is not 2018 Londrigan. She is a seasoned campaigner and much more of a force. While Davis HIDES from the people, Betsey has been everywhere in Il-13th and she will gain in the rural areas of district mark my words. Davis has tied himself to the worse president of all time and now has recently gone silent in praise of trump. Wonder why?
Comment by truthteller Friday, Jul 17, 20 @ 7:06 am
“ And rightly so, given the corruption within Champaign County government”
Clearly you weren’t around when Denny Bing would deliberately make sure student precincts only had 1-2 voting booths while the reliably GOP parts of the county had more than they needed. No line no waiting.. student areas? 1 hour wait
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jul 17, 20 @ 12:10 pm