While Budzinski has a head start, there are others running for new IL congressional seat
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More on Democratic candidates for the 13th Congressional District in Illinois
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While one Democratic candidate has scooped up support from most of the metro-east’s Democratic leaders, there are two other contenders for the 13th Congressional District hoping to sway southwestern Illinois voters.
David Palmer, a Democrat from Champaign, is running against Nikki Budzinski of Springfield in the June 28 primary. Jesse Reising, a Republican from Decatur, entered the race last week.
Palmer, 35, is a former professional basketball player who worked as a coordinator for the Boys and Girls Club in Champaign before becoming a retirement adviser. This is his first time seeking political office.
The 6-foot-9 Antioch, Tennessee, native attended secondary school and played basketball at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia before going to the University of Iowa where he graduated in 2009. He went on to play professional basketball in Warsaw, Poland, Detroit and Stockton, California.
Reising, 32, is an attorney for a Chicago law firm who said he has been living off and on during the pandemic in Decatur, home to six generations of his family. He graduated from Eisenhower High School before attending Yale University, where he played football. Reising planned to join the U.S. Marine Corps, but a serious neck injury from football prevented him.
He worked in Afghanistan as a military contractor instead, and later founded the Warrior-Scholar Project, a nonprofit that provides “academic boot camps” to prepare service members for a transition to college. Reising, who is running for his first elected office, went on to work as federal prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice.
Both candidates say they plan to get to know the metro-east.
Palmer said he has been in touch with local leaders, particularly in the East St. Louis area, but plans to start reaching out to voters within the next few weeks.
“We definitely plan to get down there and immerse ourselves in the community, figure out what’s really important to them,” said Palmer, a husband and father of two young children.
He wants to focus on investment in East St. Louis, especially education and youth programs. Palmer is an advocate for universal health care, union labor, free community college, affordable child care and erasing student debt.
Reising says he wants to get “reckless spending” by the federal government under control, reduce inflation, support law enforcement and reassert “American strengths.” Gerrymandering in Illinois following the 2020 U.S. Census contributed to his decision to run for Congress, he said.
“I knew that this would be the best way for me to continue serving,” Reising said.
Reising, who said he’s a Cardinals fan, hasn’t yet gathered any endorsements in the metro-east, but said he has started hosting events with voters and Republican leaders in Madison and St. Clair counties. He plans to continue.
“It’s an incredibly important part of the district that I’m going to be spending as much time in as I possibly can,” Reising said. “I’ve already started to develop some great relationships with folks in the area and I’ll continue working with them.”
This story was originally published January 26, 2022 at 5:15 AM.
