Conservative Democrat Rep. Lipinski struggles to fend off progressive primary challenge
LYONS, Ill. — Rep. Dan Lipinksi, a conservative-leaning Democrat unaccustomed to close elections, came to make his pitch at the St. Patrick’s Day party for seniors just as the retirees finished their corned beef and cabbage.
Before the seniors got to their desert, the veteran lawmaker facing a progressive insurgency brewing in his party touted his commitment to bringing federal dollars to the district.
He reminded the group that his staff stood ready to assist them as they navigate social security and Medicare. Lipinski even made sure to thank the veterans in the crowd at the celebration.
And then he got to the matter at hand: He desperately needs their vote.
“There’s been a lot of money spent—almost $2 million—to try to knock me down,†Lipinski said. “You know me. You know we share the same values, so I ask you to come out and vote for me. And if you don’t always take a Democratic ballot, if you can do it just this one time for me.â€
The lawmaker is fighting for his political life ahead of Tuesday’s primary in Illinois, a race garnering national attention as the progressive wing of the Democratic Party makes their case to fill November’s general election ballots with a more liberal and diverse cadre of candidates.
Lipinksi hasn’t faced much of an electoral challenge since following the footsteps of his father William Lipinksi to Congress in 2004.
He now finds himself deadlocked with a well-funded challenger, Marie Newman, a marketing consultant and first-time political candidate who has received the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left-leaning abortion rights groups, and alumni of President Obama’s two campaigns for the White House.
At the center of Newman and her backers’Â argument for throwing out Lipinski is that the congressman is a relic and a Democrat in name only. Lipinski is part of the dwindling breed of Democrats who opposes abortion in almost all cases.
He was also the only Democratic member of the Illinois delegation to vote against President Obama’s signature health care law, because he opposed that the bill requires organizations provide contraception for employees even if doing so clashed with a religious institution’s tenants.
“My mom and sister are pro-life,†Newman told USA TODAY. “Mr. Lipinski is so anti-choice he doesn’t support birth control. That’s a problem.â€
The primary battle between Newman and Lipinski could prove to be an early ideological battleground for Democrats as they try to find the pulse of the electorate and begin mapping their strategy to try to loosen the GOP’s grip on the House and Senate.
The 3rd Congressional district provides an intriguing test case for Democrats.
The district, which includes parts of Chicago’s South Side and bisects several southwest suburbs, has long trended towards Democrats. But in the past, it also has had a social conservative streak with the elections of Lipinski and his father, both pro-union Democrats who staunchly oppose abortion.
The district, however, has changed over the years.
At one end of the district, millennials and young professionals have flocked to the bungalows and lofts around the city’s hip Bridgeport neighborhood—once the working-class backyard of former mayors Richard J. and Richard M. Daley that’s increasingly known for its bistros and art galleries.
The district, once home to some of the Chicago area’s largest Polish and Irish enclaves, also has become more ethnically and racially diverse as suburbs like Bridgeview, Berwyn and Cicero, have seen an influx of Hispanic and Arab residents in recent years.
A Public Policy Polling survey taken earlier this month, conducted by NARAL Pro-Choice America, showed Lipinksi holding a slim 43%-to-41% lead over Newman. NARAL, Planned Parenthood America and Emily’s LIST—all groups that support abortion rights—have endorsed Newman.
Those groups as well as the LGBT advocates at the Human Rights Campaign, the Service Employees International Union and MoveOn have poured more than $1 million in direct mail, digital persuasion ads, a peer-to-peer texting campaign and TV ads tearing into Lipinski and bolstering Newman.
She’s also been bolstered by endorsements from Sanders, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, Reps. Luis Gutierrez and Jan Schakowsky, both Illinois Democratic lawmakers, as well as feminist icon Gloria Steinem, have also thrown their support to Newman.
Newman, and her surrogates, have persistently hammered at Lipinski over his abortion stance. She refers to Lipinski as a “Trump Democrat†and insists he has more in common with the president than the Democrats he caucuses with.
For her part, Newman, who previously served as a spokeswoman for the Illinois chapter of the gun-control group Mom’s Demand Action, said Trump’s election clarified to her the need to jump into politics and try to defeat Lipinski.
Only one candidate, Holocaust denier and white supremacist Art Jones, is on the ballot in the GOP primary—a seven-time candidate for the seat that the Illinois Republican Party has disavowed.
Newman says she feels so strongly about Lipinski that she will leave her ballot unfilled for the congressional race in the general election if Lipinski defeats her in the primary. Newman said she’s confident that Jones has no chance of winning. Lipinski says he will vote Newman in the general election if she wins.
“Dan Lipinski is for all intents and purposes to the right of most Republicans on the issues,†Newman said. “It’s more than he is out of step with the district. He is a radically right Republican.â€
The congressman says that his suddenly tight race shows that the Democratic Party is in danger of falling into the grips of a “Tea Party of the Left.â€
“The Democrats keep forgetting we’re down about 1,000 elected officials across the country, four years ago in the House we were at our lowest point since Herbert Hoover was president,†Lipinski said in an interview. “We got to be a big tent party and unfortunately some people learned the wrong lesson.â€
Lipinski still has some powerful, key supporters.
The congressman received the endorsement of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and he’s received the backing of two influential unions—the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the AFL-CIO.
The SBA List, a Virginia-based group that typically works to elect anti-abortion Republicans, sent 70 college students into the district to campaign on behalf of Lipinski. SBA plans to knock on at least 17,000 doors in the district before Election Day—households that have someone who has voted Democratic in the past and also has expressed opposition to federal funding for abortions.
Grace Enright, 21, a University of Notre Dame student from Chicago who was knocking on doors on behalf of Lipinski, said that she decided to spend part of her spring break volunteering with SBA because she admired the congressman for staying consistent on abortion despite the political pressure he faces.
But as USA TODAY followed Enright for about 90 minutes as she canvassed in suburban La Grange on Friday, the volunteer canvasser came upon several voters who said they planned to vote in the Republican primary when they go to the polls Tuesday.
That effectively put an end to the conversations, because SBA has decided not to press Republican voters to take Democratic ballots. The group has also endorsed state Rep. Jeanne Ives, a Republican lawmaker who is challenging incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.
“We also don’t want to hurt Ives,†said SBA spokeswoman Mallory Quigley.
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The Illinois 3rd District voters will go to the polls just days after Conor Lamb, a moderate Democrat, appears to have narrowly defeated Republican Rick Saccone in a special election for a House seat in the deeply-conservative 18th district of southwest Pennsylvania.
To be certain, the Illinois district that has voted for a Democrat in 24 of the last 25 U.S. House races is far different politically than the Lamb district, which voted overwhelmingly in favor of Trump in 2016.
Newman backers, however, say that the Pennsylvania race may be instructive in informing what issues are resonating with voters. Voters in the Pennsylvania district disapproved 53% to 39% of the Republican efforts to repeal Obama’s Affordable Care Act, according to exit polling.
In campaign ads and on the stump, Newman has questioned Lipinski’s commitment to LGBQT issues (he previously co-sponsored legislation that prohibits the federal government for retaliating against a person who opposes same-sex marriage) and his previous opposition to raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour.
Newman and her surrogates also have attempted to keep the spotlight on Lipinski’s ‘no’ vote on Obamacare, because he opposed funding for contraception in the bill.
Alumni of Obama’s two presidential campaigns denounced Lipinski this week after a Super PAC supporting the congressman, United for Progress, sent out campaign mailers to residents in the district that included an image of the former president. On one side of the mailer was a picture of Obama with the caption “Known for leading;†the other side had a photo of Newman with the caption “Known for misleading.â€
In fact, Lipinski was one of the few Democrats who voted against the Affordable Care Act, which makes the Obama mailer even more galling.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) March 14, 2018
David Axelrod, a top adviser to Obama, called the mailer “galling.†Other Obama alumni slammed the advertising as hypocritical. In addition to his opposition to Obama’s healthcare law, Lipinski declined to endorse Obama’s 2012 reelection effort.
Lipinski noted that his campaign has nothing do with the outside group’s advertising and is prohibited by federal election law from coordinating with the Super PAC. Still, he suggested that the gripes from the Obama team were overblown.
“Nowhere in there am I mentioned, and no way am I being linked to Barack Obama,†Lipinski said.
Follow USA TODAY correspondent Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad