Betsy Dirksen Londrigan Discusses 13th District Candidacy

Four Democrats are seeking their party’s nomination for the 13th District Congressional seat currently held by Republican Rodney Davis of Taylorville.

This congressional race is Betsy Dirksen Londrigan’s first attempt to win public office.  She’s a development officer with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield.

Londrigan has picked up two endorsements in the last week, the first from the political action committee EMILY’s List, which seeks to elect female Democratic pro-choice candidates; and the second from U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, for whom Londrigan worked as a fundraiser from 2007-2009.

Illinois Public Media’s Brian Moline spoke with Londrigan about the 13th District race, and why she decided to enter.

Londrigan is against the Republican tax plan being debated in Congress this week. She says taking away certain tax deductions will hurt many low and middle income households in the district, and that doing away with the tax deduction for medical expenses could be especially harmful.

“A huge portion of their income has to go to simply pay for their medicine, their ongoing hospitalization, or their care at home," Londrigan said. "And now they’re going to lose that, too. And what are they supposed to do?”

The other candidates seeking the Democratic nomination are Erik Jones of Edwardsville, David Gill of Bloomington, and Jonathan Ebel of Champaign-Urbana.