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Londrigan Concedes To Davis In 13th Congressional District

Democrat Betsy Dirksen Londrigan speaking to her supporters Tuesday night in Springfield.
Sam Dunklau
/
IPR
Democrat Betsy Dirksen Londrigan speaking to her supporters Tuesday night in Springfield.

UPDATED 4:05 p.m. | Democrat Betsy Dirksen Londrigan conceded Wednesday in her closely watched race against U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis after it became clear his 2,700-vote lead would hold.

Davis won with 50.5 percent of the vote with all 602 precincts reporting. Davis claimed victory late Tuesday, though Londrigan waited for absentee and provisional ballots to be tallied before conceding. Londrigan’s campaign said she congratulated Davis on Wednesday.

“This outcome was not the one we had hoped for, it has been one of the greatest honors of my life to spend the last 16 months in this race. I put over 60,000 miles on my car, traveling across Central Illinois and meeting with thousands of hardworking people. We focused on issues that matter most to our neighbors and communities, like access to quality and affordable health care and protections for those with pre-existing conditions,” Londrigan said.

The 13th Congressional District includes parts of Bloomington-Normal, Champaign-Urbana, and Springfield, stretching to far southern Illinois. Davis was one of several Republicans targeted by national Democrats looking to win 23 seats to take control of the House. That happened despite Davis' win.

That means Davis, a Taylorville Republican who previously worked as a congressional aide, will be part of the minority party in the House for the first time since he was elected in 2013.

Davis issued a statement Wednesday after Londrigan's concession.

"I want to congratulate my opponent on a hard-fought race. Campaigns are difficult on families and I respect Betsy for running. This is what our democracy was founded on. Last night was bittersweet, but now it's time to put the campaign behind us and find a way for Republicans and Democrats to unite this country and solve the major issues facing this nation," Davis said.

"As someone who has a record of working across the aisle, I'm hoping we can pass a farm bill, invest in infrastructure, address health care costs while continuing to protect families with pre-existing conditions, and build on the many bipartisan successes we've already had," he said.

Londrigan, of Springfield, is a professional fundraiser and former teacher. She won a five-way Democratic primary in March to set up her contest against Davis.

Copyright 2018 WGLT

Ryan Denham started his career as a copy editor and later business and city government reporter at The Pantagraph in 2006. He later worked for WJBC radio in Bloomington. He now works in website development for Illinois State University and is a freelance reporter for WGLT.