BND fact-checks TV ads for Rodney Davis and Mary Miller in Illinois congressional race

Any central or southern Illinoisan who has turned on the TV in the past few months likely couldn’t avoid seeing campaign advertisements in the primary race for the 15th Congressional District.

Ahead of the June 28 election, incumbent Republicans Rodney Davis and Mary Miller have both made claims that aren’t true or are only somewhat true in their ads and in their campaign rhetoric.

Here are five claims from each candidate along with context surrounding the claim.

Claim: Miller is a ‘fake conservative’

The entirety of Miller’s term has taken place in a Congress narrowly controlled by Democrats and under a Democratic president. Miller has proven to be the least cooperative member of the U.S. House of Representatives with those across the aisle, according to Georgetown University researchers.

Out of 435 U.S. Representatives in 2021, she was ranked the least bipartisan member of House in an analysis by the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy.

The Bipartisan Index ranked members on how often they introduced bills that members of the other party co-sponsored. The rankings also considered how often a representative co-sponsored a bill from a member of the other party, according to the index.

That means Miller showed virtually no appetite to work on issues with bipartisan support or with only support from Democrats. Instead, she almost exclusively supported legislation brought by Republicans.

Claim: Davis is ‘the most bipartisan member of the Illinois delegation’

Davis ranked 22nd among bipartisan members of the House, according to the Georgetown University analysis. According to that ranking, Davis was the most bipartisan Republican representative from Illinois.

Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger ranked 34th, U.S. Rep. Mike Bost 59th and U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood 64th.

Davis has become less bipartisan, according to the analysis. In his prior term, Davis ranked 14th most bipartisan.

Claim: Miller ‘coddles criminal illegals’

An ad for Davis claims Miller “coddles criminal illegals,” citing a 10-second clip from a video of Miller speaking.

“If there’s an illegal alien, or illegal immigrant that lives next door and they need something, it is our responsibility as individuals to help those people,” Miller said in the video.

The clips come from an Oct. 27 interview Miller did with the Family Research Council, an evangelical think-tank. Miller visited the American border with Mexico last summer.

“My heart goes out to the people that want to come here,” Miller said on the council’s program Pray Vote Stand. “I don’t blame them for wanting to come, but I do believe we’ve lost sight of the idea of jurisdictions.”

After the quote Davis uses in his ad, Miller goes on to say “the role of our government is to enforce our laws.”

Claim: Davis said he’d ‘vote for Liz Cheney to be president’

In a 2019 tour of the Old State Capitol in Springfield alongside Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney from Wyoming, Davis said he would support her if she ran for president.

House Republicans removed Cheney from her leadership position after she criticized former President Donald Trump’s failure to recognize the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Davis reversed his support last week during a campaign stop in Collinsville, the St. Louis television station KSDK reported.

“Rodney does not support a Cheney presidential bid,” DeGroot said in an email to the BND. “He has said that the Congresswoman isn’t the same person he met when she was first elected.”

Claim: Miller ‘hired a convicted pedophile’ on campaign

An ad from the Davis campaign claims Miller “knowingly hired a convicted pedophile” to work on her campaign.

Bradley Graven, a former contractor in the Illinois treasurer’s office, was convicted of soliciting sex from a minor in 2005. Former state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka’s office ended their contract with Graven after charges surfaced, The Chicago Tribune reported at the time.

Graven told KSDK he was an unpaid volunteer for Miller’s campaign. Photos and videos of Graven show him driving Miller campaign vehicles and appearing next to her at events.

Miller did not respond to requests for comment. Davis’ campaign has criticized her lack of transparency.

Claim: Davis embraces ‘the BLM agenda’

A video from Miller’s campaign claims Davis supports the Black Lives Matter, or BLM, movement citing a video.

“With the tragic death of George Floyd and the others that you mentioned, we know inequities and racism exist,” Davis said in the video.

The congressman didn’t comment on Black Lives Matter in the video.

“Mary Miller is lying about Rodney’s record,” said Aaron DeGroot, a spokesperson for Davis’ campaign. “Rodney opposes the BLM policy agenda, which includes defunding the police. He has repeatedly said that defunding the police is one of the dumbest ideas he’s ever heard.”

Davis has been endorsed by law enforcement groups that are traditionally opposed to criminal justice reforms supported by Black Lives Matter activists.

Claim: Miller ‘voted with the squad to defund our military’

One of Davis’ ads features Vietnam veteran Bill Buechsenschuetz, who says Miller voted with “the squad,” a group of progressive Democratic lawmakers, “to defund our military.”

Miller voted against the annual defense bill that outlines and authorizes spending for the armed forces. The $768 billion plan included a 2.7% pay increase for servicemembers. Miller was one of 19 Republicans and 51 Democrats who voted against it, including progressive Democrats such as U.S. Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

Davis voted for the bill.

Miller has said she voted against the bill because “to this day, no one in the Biden Administration has been held accountable for the withdrawal in Afghanistan,” and she opposed new diversity training requirements. Miller also disagreed with the Pentagon’s separate COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Claim: Davis voted for the ‘January 6th Witch Hunt Commission’

Following the attacks on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Davis introduced legislation that would have created a commission to investigate “what went wrong.”

Davis has said his idea would have established a “true bipartisan commission.” Davis’ proposal never went anywhere, but House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy named him to the group that did form. He later declined to participate when Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to seat some Republicans.

“My commission would have been a much less partisan, a much more effective way to address what went wrong, and clearly those questions are not being answered by this sham committee that we see in place that is nothing more than Pelosi’s partisan circus,” Davis told the BND in February this year.

As the U.S. House Select Committee began airing hearings in early June, Davis announced he intended to start an investigation into the committee. He claimed the committee has violated House rules and “citizens’ due process and privacy rights.”

Claim: Miller skipped the vote to protect Supreme Court justices

House lawmakers passed a bill in mid-June to provide extra protection to Supreme Court justices after a California man was indicted for attempting to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Miller previously criticized Democrats for failing to bring the bill to a vote. When the bill did come before lawmakers, Miller was in Illinois campaigning and missed the vote, according to House records.

Miller’s campaign did not respond to emailed questions about why she missed the vote.

Claim: Davis supports ‘red flag’ laws

A recent ad from Miller’s campaign says Davis voted “for red flag gun confiscation that allows the government to seize your guns.”

Red flag laws allow guns to be taken away from a person if they’re deemed a threat to themselves or others. A bill advanced in the Senate this week would give grants to states that put red flag laws into place. Fourteen Republican senators and all 50 Democrats supported the bill.

Davis voted against gun reform legislation passed in the House earlier in the month, though he indicated support for red flag laws in 2019 following a series of mass shootings in the U.S.

“The truth is Rodney is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and just voted ‘no’ on the Democrats’ gun control legislation in the House,” DeGroot said.