Davis wants to return to Congress to 'stop the mess' created by Biden administration

Incumbent Congressman Rodney Davis of Taylorville said Thursday he wants another two-year term to help Republicans retake the U.S. House majority and “stop the mess that’s been created” by the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden.

Davis, 51, who said this week he will seek a sixth term in the November 2022 election, told The State Journal-Register in a phone interview from Washington, D.C., “My goal as part of the majority is to make sure that we do everything we can to force the Biden administration to address the inflationary crisis that’s grappling our economy right now.”

Davis, who plans to run in the newly created 15th congressional district, said he also will work with Republicans to “fight for a solution to the border crisis where we’ve seen 11,000 people at one time living under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas.”

And without being specific, Davis said Republicans also want to “hold the Biden administration accountable on addressing the violent crime crisis that we have in this country.”

There are no other announced candidates for the Republican or Democratic nominations for the 15th District seat. That could change in January when prospective candidates can start circulating petitions for the June 28 primary. Davis has more than $1 million in his campaign coffers, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Davis was considered a potential Republican candidate for governor and said he was contemplating various options for public service, without being specific. His announcement to run again for a U.S. House seat, which carries a $174,000 annual salary, came after Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, signed a congressional map into law Nov. 23 that was drawn by Democrats.

The new map of 17 congressional districts eliminated one district because of population loss in Illinois and population changes elsewhere in the country.

Based on demographics and previous voting patterns, the map could reduce the number of Republican members of the U.S. House from five to three and increase the number of Democratic members by one, from 13 to 14.

The new 15th District includes Taylorville and the rest of Christian County, but Davis will represent less of Springfield. The district extends to Indiana on the east, southwest to Highland and then into northwest Illinois, near Rockford.

Republicans have contended the central Illinois portion of the map, which puts U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap, in a new district that doesn’t include the Springfield area, was drawn mainly to create a Democratic-leaning 13th District for Democratic challenger Nikki Budzinski of Springfield.

Previously: Rep. Rodney Davis is seeking reelection for US House in Illinois' newly drawn 15th district

The new 13th District, where Democrat David Palmer of Champaign also has announced his intention to run, covers most of Springfield, Champaign-Urbana and parts of the Metro East area near St. Louis.

Davis said his “first preference” was always to run for reelection, and he decided to do so despite “this new, gerrymandered mess of a map.” He said he looks forward to “represent the great people of central and southwestern and now eastern and northwestern Illinois.”

The home of U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Oakland, was drawn into the same district as Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, though U.S. House candidates don't have to live in the House districts they represent.

Miller lives near the new 15th district border but she hasn't said whether she will run for reelection. A Miller aide didn't return a call seeking comment.

Terry Redman, a resident of Wapella in DeWitt County who serves as on Illinois' Democratic State Central Committee in the current 13th District, said he suspects Davis will have at least one Democratic challenger for the new 15th District seat.

Redman, a state government employee, said Davis has “voted against just about everything that would help the working people.”

Included in the legislation Davis opposed was the Build Back Better human infrastructure bill and the American Rescue Plan, Redman said.

He noted that Davis, a former co-chairman of former President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, voted with most Republicans against the creation of the select House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.

Shortly before the 2020 election, Davis wouldn't say whether he would vote for Trump's reelection even though Davis was Illinois co-chairman of Trump's campaign. Davis voted against Trump's impeachment both times.

Davis said he is familiar with many parts of the new 15th District, including the 80% he said is in the “Springfield-Decatur media market” that he has represented for 10 years.

He estimated more than $100 million has been spent “for and against me” as he defeated Democrats in the current 13th District, which was drawn by Democrats to be more competitive for a Democratic candidate.

“The constituents in this district are very familiar with who I am, what I have promised to do and what I’ve been able to accomplish here in Washington,” he said.

Congress: Sen. Dick Durbin gives endorsement to Nikki Budzinski in congressional primary

Davis noted he has traveled often to Quincy, the largest city in the new 15th District, with LaHood, whose current district includes Quincy. Davis said Quincy was part of Collinsville Republican John Shimkus’ district when Davis worked on Shimkus’ staff.

Davis said he has represented central Illinois residents well, and he defended his House votes against both federal infrastructure votes — the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the $2 trillion Build Back Better bill.

He said he supports brick-and-mortar improvements, which were the focus of the infrastructure bill signed into law by Biden. But Davis said Democrats spearheading both bills “intertwined” their commitments for both pieces of legislation.

The Build Back Better bill, which passed the House with no Republican votes and now is being considered by the Senate, includes “spending even more trillions on tax increases and policies that will continue to exacerbate the inflationary crisis that we see in our country, and I couldn’t stand for it,” Davis said.

He criticized Democrats who control the Illinois General Assembly for passing criminal justice reform legislation this year that eliminates cash bail in January 2023 and beyond.

It’s not clear how Congress would be able to stop such a change in Illinois, but Davis said eliminating cash bail would “lead to criminals getting out of jail when they should be in jail to commit more crimes.”

He added, “If states like Illinois continue to encourage criminals to able to go out and commit more crimes, that’s certainly going to be a problem begging for a federal solution unless the legislators in Illinois can solve the problem themselves by not implementing those crazy policies that would encourage that.”

If Republicans win the U.S. House majority in 2023, Davis said he will become chairman of the House Administration Committee, for which he currently serves as the highest-ranking Republican member.

Davis said he would push to eliminate “proxy voting,” which House Democrats instituted a year ago to allow members to vote remotely in response to health risks associated with gathering in person during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I believe you need to come to Washington to do your job,” he said.

Davis said he supports COVID-19 vaccinations and has been vaccinated himself, but he said he disagrees with mandatory vaccinations imposed by the Biden administration on certain types of businesses, including health care employers.

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Court challenges have temporarily stopped the vaccine mandates for health care workers and federal contractors. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has suspended its planned vaccine mandate for large private employers.

Vaccine mandates would be “devastating to many industries in and around central Illinois,” Davis said.

He said some health care workers’ doctors have advised them to not be vaccinated at this time. The doctor-patient relationship should have been Biden's "the first priority," Davis said.

Contact Dean Olsen: dolsen@gannett.com; (217) 836-1068; twitter.com/DeanOlsenSJR.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Rodney Davis would vie for 6th term in November; no challengers so far