Former Primary Foe Supports Lipinski Over GOP Neo-Nazi Candidate

LA GRANGE, IL -- Marie Newman, who lost the Democratic congressional primary in Illinois’s 3rd District, is throwing her support behind Congressman Dan Lipinski in the upcoming November election. Lipinski won by a whisker in the contentious March primary, beating the LaGrange anti-bullying advocate and marketing consultant by just 2,100 votes. The congressman faces avowed Nazi Jew-hater and holocaust denier Arthur Jones of Lyons, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

“Yes, I am supporting Dan Lipinski in the general election and I want all of you to do the same,” Newman said on her Facebook page. “We absolutely have to beat an avowed Nazi.”

Jones is on record as denying that the holocaust, during which 6 million Jews were exterminated in the Nazi-run mass genocide during World War II. Jones participated in the 1977 Nazi marches in Skokie, then a predominantly Jewish suburb, and in the Marquette Park march on the city’s South Side in 1978. Jones accrued 20,615 votes in the March 20 Republican primary. He’s been transparent about this National Socialist roots.

"There's a lot of controversial stuff about my past and I'm not trying to hide anything," Jones told Patch in an earlier interview. "I'm proud of my past."

The Illinois Republican Party has denounced Jones and his candidacy on the GOP ticket in Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District. Jones endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, but has dismissed President Trump’s Orthodox Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is married to the president’s daughter Ivanka, as a punk. Since Trump’s election, which seems to have emboldened white supremacists and neo-Nazis, Jones has become a much in demand speaker at various alt-right rallies.

Lipinski has also taken steps to remind his constituents that his Republican opponent is a Nazi and has used to galvanize his campaign fundraising.

“The Republican party has lurched towards the extreme and dragged a whole swath of the country with them, but in November we’re going to make our voices heard again,” Lipinski wrote in a recent email to constituents. “We’re facing off against Art Jones in November -- an openly antisemitic Trump supporter who ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.”

Lipinski faced his first real challenger in the recent primary, with Newman running on a progressive pro-choice, universal healthcare for all, livable wages and tax relief for working families platform, as opposed to Lipinski’s more centrist platform. Many viewed Illinois 3rd’s primary face as a “battle for the heart and soul of the Democratic Party.

As Lipinski and Newman waited for returns to trickle in the night of the March primary, Newman wished the congressman a “very painful evening.” She conceded early the next morning via Facebook.

Since her primary loss, Newman has remained visible in the 3rd District, standing with Muslim neighbors in Palos Township, who continue to badger trustee Sharon Brannigan for her anti-Muslim remarks on social media. Brannigan has since apologized. Newman says she is focusing her efforts on help Democrats win the general election, supporting Sean Casten in IL-6, Lauren Underwood in IL-14 and Betsy Londrigan in IL-13, as well as J.B. Pritzker’s campaign for governor. She is also doing advocacy and volunteer work in various 3rd District communities. She explained that she tried to change the name of her “Newman for Congress” Facebook page, but that Facebook wouldn’t allow it without her losing all her followers.

As for whether she’ll make another run in two years for Congress, Newman told supporters that she hasn’t made up her mind.

“That is a huge decision... I think there is still a good bit we can all achieve together, so I think I will keep this page up so we can keep chatting and problem-solving together.”

Main photo: Marie Newman Campaign