IL U.S. Rep. Davis To Seek Re-Election, Won't Challenge Pritzker

TAYLORVILLE, IL — After toying for months with the notion of opposing Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Illinois U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, (R-Taylorville) announced instead on Tuesday that will seek re-election to Congress after districts were recently remapped.

Davis will seek a Congressional seat in the newly drawn 15th District, which includes Taylorville and much of the district where he currently resides, Davis said in a news release on Tuesday. Davis is the only remaining incumbent to reside in the district after the Congressional map was re-drawn.

The announcement ended speculation that he may run for governor, which he had hinted at earlier this year. But he said Tuesday that he will instead focus on the challenges in Washington as Republicans look to recapture the House of Representatives.

“Democrats in Washington have put our nation in crisis with their big government, socialist schemes and dreams,” Davis said in the statement issued by his campaign. “Republicans are primed to retake the House next year, and I’m ready to work with a new Republican majority to finally fire Nancy Pelosi and hold the Biden Administration accountable for their massive failures. I look forward to campaigning hard and earning every vote in this district over the next year.”

Tuesday's announcement removes a potentially challenger for Pritzker, who registered a 51 percent approval rating among registered voters, according to a Morning Consult poll released last week. Davis will be seeking a sixth term in Congress and should, according to media reports, have an easier time winning re-election now that the remapping has taken place.

Last week, Republican Adam Kinzinger announced he would not be seeking another term in Congress and is considering running against Pritzker. He has yet to make a formal announcement, but said in a podcast with Crain's Chicago that the current field of gubernatorial candidates is "less than stellar" and claimed he is the only person of unseating Pritzker.

While Davis was not among those who challenged the election results that placed President Joe Biden in the White House, he was among those Republicans who voted against Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, NPR Illinois reported.

Davis picked up endorsements from former 15th District Congressman John Shimkus, Congressman Darin LaHood (18th District) and Congressman Mike Bost (12th District) who said that efforts from “strong Republicans” like Davis will be needed to “finally retire Nancy Pelosi,” Bost said in the release announcing Davis’ re-election plans.

Mary Miller, the freshman U.S. Representative (Oakland) is the lone incumbent not to announce her plans. Miller made a name for herself earlier this year when she invoked the name of Adolf Hitler in a pro-Donald Trump rally in Washington the day before the insurrection took place at the U.S. Capitol.

NPR Illinois reported that with Congressional districts redrawn, will either face Bost in the 12th District or would go head-to-head against Davis in the 15th District. In Miller’s speech, which came just two days after she was sworn into office, said that “Hitler was right” in talking about whomever captures the youth “has the future.”