Democrats ready to help 12 candidates unseat Republicans. One is in Southern Illinois
A candidate for the Illinois 13th Congressional District attracted national support this week as part of an effort to widen the Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The campaign arm of House Democrats considers Betsy Dirksen Londrigan’s candidacy strong enough to earn a spot in its “Red to Blue” program. Londrigan lost to Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis in 2018 but drew 49.6% of the vote.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee program provides fundraising and organizational support to candidates in districts the committee believes could be flipped. Davis has held the district that stretches from Edwardsville across central Illinois since 2013.
Much like in her first campaign, Londrigan is focusing in 2020 on access to health care and ending tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. Her son nearly died from a rare illness in 2009, an experience she frequently cites as her motivation for health care reform.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has pegged Londrigan as a partisan socialist “out of step with Midwest values.” Ashley Phelps, a spokeswoman for Davis’ campaign, criticized Londrigan for accepting DCCC money despite the fact that she has promised to refuse donations from corporate political action committees, or PACs.
“It’s incredibly disingenuous to tell voters that you won’t accept corporate PAC donations, but then take money from the DCCC,” Phelps said.
While not a PAC itself, the DCCC accepts PAC donations.
Londrigan had $721,806 cash on hand while Davis had $905,657, according to federal filings.
Committee Chairwoman Cheri Bustos (D-East Moline) praised Londrigan’s campaign.
“Betsy is running for Congress to champion access to affordable health care, lower the price of prescription drugs and to end the corruption that has plagued our political process,” Bustos said.
The committee chose 11 other candidates from across the country for the program.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
