Nikki Budzinski, a trade unionist and former Biden Administration official, and Regan Deering, a scion of the family that ran ADM for decades, face off in the Central Illinois-based seat.
Brenden Moore at Decatur Herald and Review:Â
SPRINGFIELD â When U.S. Rep. Bill Enyart, D-Belleville, lost his bid for reelection in the 12th Congressional District in 2014, Illinois was left without a Democratic congressperson south of Interstate 72 for the first time since at least World War II.
Though the party twice came exasperatingly close â 1,002 votes in 2012 and 2,058 votes in 2018 â to defeating Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, in the neighboring Central Illinois-based 13th Congressional District, that effort proved futile amid a shifting political terrain.
But after a decade of tough losses, false starts and unfulfilled hopes, Democrats believe 2022 is the year and Nikki Budzinski is the candidate to finally return a downstate Illinois congressional seat to the blue column.
Budzinski, a Peoria-born political consultant and labor activist, is running against Republican Regan Deering, a Decatur community activist and scion of one of the most prominent families in American agribusiness.
The pair are competing in the newly reconfigured 13th Congressional District, which was drawn by Springfield Democrats during the once-a-decade redistricting process last year with the intention of giving the party a foothold in central and southern Illinois once more.
They did this by narrowing the geographic size of the district, cutting out several conservative rural communities and consolidating the most urban, liberal portions of the Metro East region, previously split three ways, into one district.
As a result, the string bean-shaped district stretches from East St. Louis to Champaign-Urbana, picking up Springfield and Decatur in between â a mix of college towns and communities with a blend of blue- and white-collar industries. Not to mention a sizable Black population that forms an influential bloc.
This also shifted the district's partisan lean from voting for President Donald Trump by three points to one that voted for President Joe Biden by an 11-point margin in 2020. It also cut Davis out of the district, leaving it open and perhaps making for an easier path for Budzinski.
The district includes a mix of the increasingly cosmopolitan, urban base that has come to define the modern Democratic Party along with remnants of the coalition made up of unionized coal miners, steel plant workers and workers in other heavy industries that had previously made the region a Democratic stronghold.
"I think when the rubber really hits the road â the makeup of the district and we do our job turning the vote out â she will be the next Congress member from the 13th district. No doubt about it in my mind," said Sangamon County Democratic Party chair Bill Houlihan. "But these elections have ebbs and flows."
Indeed, the district's fundamentals suggest it to be a Democratic-leaning district. However, low approval ratings for Biden, sky-high inflation and the poor performance the president's party typically faces in midterm elections have given Republicans hope that the race could be within reach.
The district's working class, blue collar constituency has come to define the campaign, with each candidate laser-focusing their messaging on "kitchen table" economic issues, such as bringing down inflation.
"I think, for sure, the defining issue of this campaign is going to be the cost of living," Deering told Lee Enterprises in an interview earlier this month.
"The question is always, are you better off today than you were two years ago?" she continued. "And the answer is no."
Deering, a first-time candidate, has blamed Biden policies and, by extension, Budzinski for the rise in prices, tying it back to significant government spending during the COVID-19 pandemic. Deering, however, has been short on specific policy proposals to address the issue.
Budzinski, though also a first-time candidate, has been around politics for more than two decades, serving most recently as chief of staff for Biden's Office of Management and Budget, where she played an integral role in crafting and implementing the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
[...]
Before her stint in the Biden Administration, Budzinski was a senior adviser to Gov. J.B. Pritzker's campaign and, later, administration. She also worked for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and was in the labor movement for 10 years with the International Association of Firefighters and later the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
While Budzinski may be most associated with labor, Deering's ties are decidedly business. She is a member of the Andreas family, which ran Archer Daniels Midland Co. for nearly four decades and, in the process, transformed it from a modest regional grain processor into a world-leading company.
Deering was born in Decatur but spent most of her adolescence in the Chicago region, moving back to Soy City after getting married. She has since been involved in various philanthropic endeavors and was a small business owner.
The IL-13 seat is a very critical seat for which party has the majority in Congress. Nikki Budzinski (D) and Regan Deering (R) are battling for the right to determine who gets to represent the district stretching from Cahokia Heights to Carlinville to Decatur to Champaign/Urbana.
If Deering wins, then the GOP will have long past clinched the majority. Budzinski must win if the Dems are to have any chance at keeping the majority.
Vote Budzinski if you live in the district.
