News Local/State

Rodney Davis Wins Second Term In 13th Illinois Congressional District

 
Rodney Davis

Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis has defeated former judge Ann Callis to hold on to his seat representing Illinois' 13th Congressional District.

With all precincts reporting, Davis received 122,661 votes or 59%, to Callis' 86,126 votes, or 41%.

Davis is a first-term congressman from Taylorville. Callis is a Democrat from Edwardsville and former Madison County chief judge.

The race was seen early on as one of the most competitive in the nation, but there were signs as Election Day approached that Davis was pulling away. He is a former projects director and campaign manager for U.S. Rep. John Shimkus. Callis worked to portray him as a Washington insider who's part of the dysfunction in Congress.

Davis says that in his second term, he wants to focus on the rapidly disappearing federal road fund.

"Well, I want to make sure that I go back to my Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and work on rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure", said Davis on election night. "I want to make sure we work on ending the dysfunction in Washington D.C."

Replenishing road funding has been stalled for years. Davis did not have a prediction on what a solution would look like or which new revenue sources could make up a package, but says he looks forward to the debate. 

In an election night statement, Callis wished Davis and his family the best, and thanked her supporters. And she said that "I'll continue to look for opportunities to help struggling families, individuals, and communities."

UPDATE: This article has been revised to include additonal comments from Callis and Davis - 11/5/14