When Bustos and Pelosi formulated the excuse for the DCCC's vile new anti-progressive "no primaries" diktat, they claimed it was to protect freshmen in swing districts, but that was a typical Pelosi lie. If they wanted to protect endangered freshman, they could have formulated a rule to protect endangered freshmen. Instead their incumbent-protection racket is trying to protect conservative incumbents-- like what was once Joe Crowley-- from insurgent progressives like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. It's unaccountable status quo conservatives in solid blue districts, like Henry Cuellar (D+9), Steny Hoyer (D+16), Stephen Lynch (D+10) and Dan Lipinski (D+6)-- all of whom have primary challenges this cycle-- who Pelosi and Bustos are trying to protect. In fact... Pelosi also has a primary challenge in her super-safe D+37 seat.Yesterday, Marie Newman, who nearly beat Lipinski last cycle, made it official: she's running again. Lynn Sweet: "The 3rd Congressional District race comes in what may well be a different political climate, with Newman’s progressive wing of the party gaining strength. At the same time, the House political operation, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, led by Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL) is committed to supporting incumbents, a policy some activist freshmen Democrats oppose. In 2018 Lipinski had the biggest fight for his political life, which began when his father, former Rep. Bill Lipinski (D-IL) maneuvered to hand his long-held seat to his son. In a release, Newman pointed out that Lipinski’s ultra conservative views are way out of step with his district.'"In a district like IL-03, the winner of the Democratic primary is, in effect, the person who will represent the district in Congress. The last Republican who ran there, Nazi-Republican Arthur Jones only took 25.9% of the vote. Trump lost the district with 39.9%. These were the primary results in 2018, skewered at the last minute by hundreds of thousands of dollars from Republican donors-- through the No Labels web of corrupt super-PACs backing Lipinski-- by smearing Newman.Last time a number of progressive members of Congress-- like Jan Schakowsky and Luis Gutiérrez, not to mention Bernie, endorsed and campaigned for Newman. This time Pelosi has been making it clear that she will deal with anyone harshly who tries that again. She's becoming a real monster-on-wheels.Yesterday, Marie's campaign e-mailed supporters that "After coming within 2,145 votes of toppling one of the last remaining Chicago political dynasties in 2018, Democrat Marie Newman today formally announced her campaign to again challenge conservative Dan Lipinski in the 2020 Democratic Primary."
“I’m running for everyone’s every day issues-- for everyone who struggles to pay for health care and pay their bills, for everyone who believes we’re made stronger by welcoming immigrants and for everyone who has seen their rights under assault by conservatives like Dan Lipinski and his Republican allies,” said Newman.Newman noted that 80% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and her background of having worked her way through college and starting her own small business puts her more in touch with people than Lipinski, who has failed to support efforts to expand healthcare to working families, including the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare.“Dan Lipinski’s original sin is having his father hand him this congressional seat with its taxpayer funded health care, then voting against Obamacare, making him the only Democrat from Illinois to say no to covering millions more Americans. He’s just not a real Democrat,” said Newman.Newman also argued that Lipinski has sold out working families in Chicago and the suburbs and sided with Washington corporate PACs, not just with his vote against Obamacare but also with his refusal to support Paid Sick Leave and strengthening Social Security.“My grandfathers were both proud union members-- one worked as a machinist at Midway Airport and the other was a carpenter. I worked my way through college scrubbing floors, worked at the Orland Square mall, and started my own successful small business. Like most people in this district, nothing was handed to me. Lipinski’s father handed Dan this seat and corporate PACs in Washington have spent millions to keep him there,” said Newman.“This race is a choice between someone who remembers where she came from and someone who sells out Illinois working families in Washington,” added Newman.As she did two years ago, Newman pointed out that Lipinski’s ultra conservative views are way out of step with his district.“I trust women to make decisions about health care, but Dan Lipinski would outlaw abortion and even restrict access to birth control. I support the Equal Rights Amendment, Dan Lipinski doesn’t. I support equal rights for everyone, no matter who they love, but Dan Lipinski is the only Democrat in the entire U.S. House of Representatives who does not support the Equality Act and protections for LGBTQ Americans,” said Newman, whose daughter is a member of the LGBTQ community.“It’s time for a real Democrat to represent us in Washington, not the conservative son of a ward boss. Those days are over,” concluded Newman, who noted that the landslide election of Lori Lightfoot as Chicago mayor and the recent losses of longtime aldermen and political bosses show Chicagoans are hungry for progressive change.
Blue America, hardly a group that worries about Pelosi's and Bustos' threats, has enthusiastically endorsed Newman. Please consider contributing to her campaign by clicking on the ActBlue 2020 congressional thermometer on the right. Remember this: the 3 most important bills working their way through Congress right now-- each of which Lipinski has pointedly refused to support-- Pramila Jayapal's new and improved Medicare-For-All Act (H.R. 1384), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal Resolution (H.R. 109), and John Larson's Social Security 2100 Act (H.R. 860) are all bills that Newman has told me she would have been an original co-sponsor on had she beaten Lipinski in 2018. Let's take sure she beats him in 2020; she is looking forward to voting for each of them when she's in Congress, starting in January of 2021.