Second Democrat in race to unseat Rep. Rodney Davis

Posted on August 25, 2021

SPRINGFIELD – A Peoria native is the second Democrat to announce a challenge to 13th District Republican Congressman Rodney Davis.

Nikki Budzinski is a labor activist, former senior advisor to Gov. JB Pritzker, and most recently worked at the Office of Management and Budget in the Biden Administration.

“Rodney Davis isn’t getting the job done,” Budzinski said in a prepared statement.

“The stakes are too high for middle class families like the one I grew up in to have ineffective leaders in Congress and I plan to go to Congress and deliver for Illinois,” she said.

The other Democrat in next year’s race is David Palmer, a retirement planning advisor for Bloomington-based Country Financial and a former professional basketball player.

Speculation has centered around Davis running for governor, although he’s said he would prefer another term in Congress. Davis has yet to formally announced his intentions.

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