Mary Miller declared winner in Illinois 15th District race, sending her back to Washington

Prohibitive favorite and incumbent U.S. Rep. Mary Miller will return to Congress, easily outdistancing Democrat challenger Paul Lange Tuesday in the Illinois 15th District race.

With nearly 91.69% of the votes counted, Miller had 71.4% of the vote to 28.6% for Lange.

Miller, a 63-year-old Oakland cattle and grain farmer backed by former President Donald Trump, all but ignored Lange in the general election after a brutal six-month Republican primary in which she ousted five-time incumbent, U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis of Taylorville.

The win sends Miller to a second term.

Mary Miller:Trump-backed Miller, off hotly-contested primary, takes on Lange for 15th District seat

Miller was at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield with Republican governor candidate Darren Bailey Tuesday. The Associated Press called the governor's race for incumbent Gov. JB Pritzker shortly after the polls closed.

Miller did not make remarks to the media.

Miller portrayed Davis as "a Republican in name only" and the two jostled about who was more conservative before a late primary visit from Trump to the Adams County Fairgrounds all but handed her the nomination.

Davis was ensconced in the Illinois 13th District and rebuffed overtures to run for Illinois governor before challenging Miller in the redrawn and largely rural 15th, which includes parts of Springfield and encompasses 35 counties running the entirety of the state from Quincy to the Indiana border and north to the Iowa border.

Miller, who resides just outside District 15, refused to acknowledge Lange's request to debate on Oct. 18 on WGEM-TV in Quincy. Miller also refused to debate Davis during the primary.

Quincy is the largest city in the congressional district. Lange, a 67-year-old former commodities trader, is from nearby Mendon.

In the months after the primary, Miller continued to challenge President Joe Biden's policies, including voting against additional funding for Ukraine's war with Russia "while our own border remains wide open for terrorists, fentanyl smugglers (and) human traffickers to walk freely across."

Miller, who voted against certifying Biden's election, continues to support articles of impeachment against the president.

Miller was cited in an Oct. 22 New York Times article showing current House representatives who fought the election certification used polarizing language on Twitter "about 55 percent more often than other Republicans, and nearly triple the rate of Democrats."

John T. Shaw, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, told The State Journal-Register that Miller had decided on "a tone of speech and a way of talking about politics that she's going to take and run with. I don't doubt that it's going to resonate with some parts of the Republican base. What I do doubt is that it's an effective strategy for solving problems and making the country better."

Miller also took to Twitter to back Bailey's gubernatorial run against Pritzker and called for a repeal of the Pritzker-backed SAFE-T Act.

Lange lost twice in bids to unseat Illinois state Rep. Art Tenhouse, a popular Quincy-area farmer, in 1994 and 1996.

Lange ran a grassroots campaign, attending fairs, local meet-and-greets and town square rallies, but it never caught traction issues-wise or financially.

"We fought so hard," Lange said, in a statement to The State Journal-Register. "We visited every county in this district.  We put in a lot of miles. The best part of that is the people we met.

"I challenge Mary Miller to indeed represent all constituents. Not to merely represent an ideology but represent the people of the 15th District of Illinois."

Lange said he supported abortion and "a woman's right to choose her own health care." Lange also favored a single-payer health care system.

Miller received $1.8 million in contributions while Lange received just under $34,000, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Mary Miller beats Paul Lange in Illinois 15th District race