Davis wins rematch with Londrigan, gets 5th term

Nov. 4--U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville Tuesday defeated Springfield Democrat Betsy Dirksen Londrigan for the 13th district congressional seat in a race that was watched nationally.

With more than 96 percent of the votes counted, Davis had 61.1 percent to 38.9 percent for Londrigan.

"I'm humbled by the support of the people that know me best right here in Christian County and the surrounding counties," said Davis, who appeared with family members at Knights of Columbus Council 2120 in Taylorville after 11 p.m. "I'm humbled by the support that I've gotten everywhere in this district. We left no stone unturned. My team did a phenomenal job knocking on every door, making sure everybody got multiple phone calls."

He also thanked Londrigan for "a very spirited race." He also thanked his congressional staff for handling constituent issues, and said he looks forward to continuing his work in Washington, D.C.

"We've got to attack this virus and defeat this virus," Davis said. He also wants to work on issues including agriculture and infrastructure.

Londrigan was at Lincoln Land Community College Tuesday morning. She appeared with two of her children -- Will, 22, who voted on the campus, and Kathryn, 20. Londrigan told reporters she was excited Election Day had arrived.

"There is a lot of momentum," she said. "I think people really, truly believe in their bones that everything that we care about is at stake in this election -- our health care, our economy, our democracy."

Londrigan did win her home county of Sangamon, getting more than 54 percent of the vote there.

But the result Tuesday was a far cry from 2018, when she came within a percentage point of Davis.

Davis told reporters that President Donald Trump is popular in the district.

"You saw a surge in areas that were supporting the president, and that surge actually helped me," Davis said. I'd like to think that we helped each other in a lot of the areas in this district."

Like in 2018, Londrigan tried to make health care the focus of the race, noting that her son, Jack, years ago had a life-threatening illness brought on by a tick bite, and it drove home for her family the value of good insurance. She has consistently attacked Davis for wanting to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Londrigan says it was Davis celebrating on the White House lawn with Trump following a vote for legislation that would move toward repealing and replacing the health care law signed by former President Barack Obama that catapulted her into the 2018 race. Davis says Londrigan is wrong when she says he would take away protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. Davis again Tuesday night noted his wife is a cancer survivor, and said he wants to make sure Congress ensures protection for people with pre-existing conditions.

"This isn't a Republican or a Democratic issue," he said. "This issue is a personal issue to me."

He has said premiums and deductibles under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, often price people out of the market.

Showing the national nature of the race, just last week, Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, appeared on video for Londrigan, saying "she will fight for your family as hard as she has fought for her own."

"Joe (Biden) and I need someone with her experience and her values to help us contain this pandemic and build back a better America," Harris said in the video.

Davis and his campaign consistently linked Londrigan to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who also chairs the Democratic Party of Illinois. They also painted her as part of the left wing of the Democratic Party.

"I need your help," Davis said in a fundraising video on social media as Election Day approached. "November 3rd, we are still fighting the most corrupt, radical left opponent I've ever had."

Davis and Londrigan and their allies ran vicious ads, with Davis being painted as beholden to special interests who donate to his campaign, and Londrigan as part of the "Madigan machine."

At times, Londrigan noted that Davis was an honorary co-chair of Trump's Illinois effort. Davis often pointed to his work to reach across the aisle in Washington, but at a debate, Londrigan said that while Davis "talks about bipartisanship," he "stood by and said nothing" to Trump's "divisiveness" and "ugliness."

Davis said before the 2016 election that he couldn't vote for Trump because of what Trump said about grabbing women in an old video revealed just before that election. But Davis said Trump got elected, and he has worked well with the president and his appointees. He said he hoped election totals would give Trump another four years.

"I look forward to working with his administration," Davis said. "We've accomplished so many good things."

Among policy differences between the candidates, Londrigan favored abortion rights, and Davis would only allow the procedure in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.

Contact Bernard Schoenburg: Bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com, 788-1540, twitter.com/bschoenburg.

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