Newman claims victory over Lipinski in 3rd Congressional District
Marie Newman, a progressive Democrat, is being hailed as the victor in the tough-fought battle for the 3rd Congressional District seat, defeating five-term incumbent Dan Lipinski, a conservative Democrat. The winner of the Democratic Primary will easily win the election on Nov. 3, 2020 as the district is overwhelmingly Democratic.
UPDATED Wed March 18, 2020
Marie Newman claimed victory over incumbent Congressman Dan Lipinski on Tuesday night, wit unofficial vote totals showing her maintaining a strong lead of more than 3,300 votes. Lipinski has held the seat since 2005 when he was appointed to succeed his father, Bill Lipinski who held the since between 1983 and 2005.
Although the vote totals were not complete, unofficial totals show that Newman has 40,611 votes to Lipinski who has 37,235 votes in 461 precincts counted out of a total of 500 precincts. The difference of 3,376 votes means that Lipinski would d have to win 86 votes in each of the remaining 39 precincts just to break even, an insurmountable task.
As of Wednesday, with 494 of 500 precincts reporting, Newman held a lead of 48,042 votes to Lipinski who had 45,677 votes. Lipinski reportedly told media he will not concede until all mail-in ballots have been counted.
Candidates Rush Darwish, who was listed on the ballot in first position, had 5,983 votes, and Charles Hughes, had 2,344 votes; together, they received less than 8,000 votes out of 102,046 votes counted. Darwish was viewed as a spoiler that many people believed would draw votes away from Newman to help Lipinski win. Rush received only 5.9 percent of the vote in a race in which he raised more than $781.883 for his campaign with about $85,000 remaining. Data shows Darwish spent more than $131 for each vote he received (compared to Newman who raised $1.7 million and spent about $39 per voter).
Newman issued this statement about her victory:
“In spite of all the challenges and obstacles thrown in our way, this team came through and pulled off something incredible. Going toe to toe with an entrenched incumbent and all of the power structures that exist to protect the status quo is among the hardest things to do in politics,” she said.
“I couldn’t have done this without you. And while I wish we were all celebrating in person, I want you to know that the support you all have shown me over the last few days — as the world changed all around us and forced us to constantly adjust our plans — is something I’ll never, ever forget. Your dedication to the cause is heroic.”
Darwish issued a short statement hoping that Newman will work with him, and Lipinski did not issue a public statement.
Newman was considered the main challenger to Lipinski. She came within 2,200 votes in unseating Lipinski in the Democratic Primary in 2018.
Most observers credit Newman’s victory to growing anger with Lipinski over the issue of abortion. Lipinski was accused of seeking to reverse the historic Roe vs Wade Supreme Court decision imposing severe restrictions on a woman’s right to choose.
Lipinski was hailed as having supported the needs of the district’s municipalities, despite his conservative leanings. Newman had the backing mostly of officials and leaders from outside of the district.
On Tuesday night, Newman released the following statement on the Illinois Third Congressional District election results:
“This campaign has always been about workers and working people and advocating for better healthcare and an economy that works for everybody. I look forward to working with this amazing coalition over the next seven months to continue spreading that message. I want to thank all my amazing supporters and volunteers who knocked thousands of doors and made many more phone calls. I am so proud of the work we have done and I look forward to working together to continue solving problems and fighting for better solutions,” Newman said.
“In the weeks and months ahead I want to call on everyone in this district, both those who ran with me and those who did not, to come together. In the face of this uncertainty, I know that we can get through this together, arm in arm. This community is strong – I’ve been in every single corner of this district and I know that we can get through just about anything when we take it on together.”
In other races, Tammy Wendt easily won the nomination to challenge Republican Dan Patlack in the November 3, 2020 General Election, Wendt easily defeated “Our Revolution” candidate Abdelnasser Rashid by a landslide vote of more than 10 percent, according to unofficial vote returns. Wendt received 100,446 votes or 54.7 percent votes cast and Rashid received 83,201 votes or 45.3 percent of the votes cast with 1,116 precincts of 1,146 counted.
Wendt was the attorney who represented Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke who was prosecuted for shooting and killing a young Black man associated with local streets gangs who was on drugs and carrying a weapon late at night but refused repeated demands by police to surrender. Van Dyke defenders believe his conviction as unjust and that the legal system in Cook COunty protects the criminals and not the public.
Iris Martinez won the Democratic Party nomination for Cook County Clerk succeeding retiring clerk Dorothy Brown.
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
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