(Image from Betsy Dirksen Londrigan and Wikimedia)
By Dave Dahl
CHAMPAIGN– With the candidates being the mother of a boy who nearly died from Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and a COVID-19 patient married to a cancer survivor, it shouldn’t be a surprise that healthcare is front and center in any debate between Democrat Betsy Dirksen Londrigan of Springfield and U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville).
When Londrigan accused Davis of voting eleven times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Davis said, “Procedural votes that have no impact on a replacement or on the bill that’s passing don’t count as eleven votes.”
Londrigan said as COVID-19 patients, Davis and President Trump “both have access to excellent healthcare,” the linchpin of her campaign. Davis said the real shame is that the people who work to keep the Capitol clean “don’t have access to the same testing, and (U.S. House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), her supporter, is the one holding that back, while I’ve been leading the charge.”
The two also bickered over which one is more beholden to corporate interests. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which does take money from corporate PACs, supports Londrigan. Davis Monday tried to distinguish Commonwealth Edison – embroiled in a bribery scandal – from donor Exelon, Com Ed’s parent company.
Monday’s debate aired on Illinois Public Media and Channel 3. Two more debates are expected.
