Newcomers battle over open seat in Illinois' 13th Congressional District

In the newly drawn 13th Congressional District, the field is wide open for a fresh face in the nation's Capitol. Six candidates, four Republicans and two Democrats, will appear on the June 28 primary ballot.

The district is currently represented by Rodney Davis, a Taylorville Republican. In 2021, the district was redrawn as part of the once-per-decade process of updating legislative maps to reflect changes in demographics.

The district was slimmed down to cut out large portions of central Illinois, including Davis' hometown. Davis is now running in the 15th district, meaning that his current seat is open.

The district includes parts of Champaign, Decatur, Springfield and the Metro East. It includes parts of Champaign, Macon, Madison, Piatt, Sangamon and St. Clair counties as well as the entirety of Macoupin County.

The new district will likely lean Democratic, according to the poll aggregation and analysis website FiveThirtyEight.

The candidates span a variety of professional backgrounds, including a political staffer, journalist, former basketball player and others.

Past coverage: Republican congressional candidates discuss immigration, inflation and more at UIS forum

There are four candidates running for the Republican nomination.

Regan Deering

Regan Deering is a philanthropist and former small business owner. She is the president of the board of directors for the Northeast Community Fund, a nonprofit in Decatur. She is the granddaughter of Archer Daniels Midland president and political megadonor Dwayne Andreas.

Deering was the first among the candidates to put out a television ad.

"To change Washington, we need to change the people we send there," she said in the ad, before citing immigration reform, police funding and inflation as key issues.

Q&A : Meet Regan Deering, 13th Congressional District candidate for Illinois

Matt Hausman

Matt Hausman is the former executive director of Feeding Our Kids, a Champaign nonprofit. He is also an aerospace engineer, holding an advanced degree in the subject from the University of Colorado. Hausman has also worked at SpaceX and Boeing.

"We can solve our country’s biggest and most pressing challenges by promoting innovation and new technology rather than the heavy hand of government imposing regulations," Hausman said when he announced his campaign.

Q&A: Meet Matt Hausman, 13th Congressional District candidate for Illinois

Terry Martin

Terry Martin is a political journalist, having earned a master's degree in the subject from American University before working at C-SPAN and WAND. In 2003 he founded the Illinois Channel, a nonprofit public broadcasting agency specializing in public affairs in Illinois.

Martin cites energy prices, border security, crime and national security as top issues, with a particular eye toward energy policy.

"Oil is critical to our economy, to our economy and to our national defense," Martin said at an April candidate forum.

Q&A: Meet Terry Martin, 13th Congressional District candidate for Illinois

Jesse Reising

Jesse Reising is a Harvard-educated lawyer who has worked in the Department of Justice's antitrust division and as a federal prosecutor and as a clerk for two federal judges before joining Kirkland & Ellis, one of the largest law firms in the world, where he was named a partner in 2021. He is also a founder and former president of the Warrior-Scholar Project, a nonprofit aimed at helping soldiers transition from military life to college.

"Americans are seven percent poorer today due to inflation, seeds of division are being sown in our children, and we’re facing skyrocketing crime rates – all while China and other foreign adversaries exploit our current administration’s weakness to gain economic and military advantage over us," said Reising when he launched his campaign.

Q&A: Meet Jesse Reising, 13th Congressional District candidate for Illinois

On the Democratic side, only two candidates will appear on the primary ballot.

Nikki Budzinski

Nikki Budzinski has spent more than 15 years working in politics and government at the state and national level, having most recently served as the chief of staff in President Joe Biden's Office of Management and Budget. She's previously worked with Gov. JB Pritzker's office and campaign, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, Chris Dodd's presidential campaign and with United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

Past coverage: Hundreds of candidates in Illinois line up to try for the top spot on the ballot

"I decided to run for Congress because I want to help rebuild our middle class and ensure that Central and Southern Illinois working families have a champion in Congress," said Budzinski in a statement. "I support middle class tax cuts and finding opportunities for working people to keep more of what they earn."

Q&A: Meet Nikki Budzinski, 13th Congressional District candidate for Illinois

David Palmer

Budzinski's primary opponent is David Palmer. Palmer is small business owner and former financial adviser from Champaign. After graduating from the University of Iowa in 2009, Palmer was a professional basketball player and played internationally for several years.

Palmer has made health care, citing his support for Medicare for All, a proposal in Congress to reform health care. He also points to support for the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and expanding the federal Child Tax Credit.

“It is long past time we put the health and safety of our neighbors ahead of for-profit insurance corporations. Medicare for All is about the economics of health care," said Palmer in a statement.

Q&A: Meet David Palmer, 13th Congressional District candidate for Illinois

The primary is June 28. The election is Nov. 8.

Voters will have two opportunities to cast ballots for someone to represent them in Congress. The first vote on June 28 is the primary election, where voters from each party select who appear on the ballot in the fall. In Illinois, anyone can vote in a primary, though you can only vote in contests from one party. On Nov. 8, all voters will be asked to select the election's winners from between candidates of different parties.

Contact Andrew Adams: aadams1@gannett.com; (312)-291-1417; twitter.com/drewjayadams.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Newcomers battle over seat in 13th Congressional District in Illinois