GOP’s Davis to welcome Obama at U of I

Posted on September 6, 2018

By Howard Packowitz

(URBANA-CHAMPAIGN) Locked in a reelection battle, Republican Congressman Rodney Davis announced he’ll be at the University of Illinois Friday to welcome former President Barack Obama to campus.

Obama is scheduled to address students and faculty after receiving the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government. Like Obama, Douglas was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Illinois.

In late July, Davis accompanied President Trump when he visited with Granite City steelworkers. Davis welcomed the president’s daughter, Ivanka, when she visited Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, near St. Louis.

Davis said in a statement that it’s an honor when any sitting or former president visits the 13th Congressional District, which covers parts of McLean County.

Davis is being challenged this November by Springfield Democrat Betsy Dirksen Londrigan.

Davis noted he participated three years ago in former Vice President Joe Biden’s rally against sexual assault on college campuses, Despite policy differences, Davis said he worked with the Obama Administration on issues like trade, transportation, human trafficking, and cancer research.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]

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