Democratic candidate surrounding herself with veterans

Posted on November 3, 2018
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said Republicans who repeal “Obamacare” are not people Illinoisans need in Washington. (Dave Dahl)

 

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Politically, it is good to have veterans on your side, and that is what Betsy Dirksen Londrigan is trying to accomplish.

She’s the Springfield Democrat hoping to oust U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) on the strength of her passion for health care, something she says the Republicans want to pull away from the middle class.

At a news conference at her Springfield campaign office Friday afternoon, she was accompanied by many veterans, including perhaps Illinois’ most famous — U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.)

The Republicans’ health care ideas are “nice things that sound like they were for health care, but really they were all for gutting health care protections,” Duckworh said. “I watched as Rodney Davis celebrated – celebrated! – on the White House lawn after voting to rip health insurance from 35,000 of his own constituents.”

Londrigan, whose son survived a life-threatening health crisis, has also said that White House event spurred her into the race. Davis has a personal health care story of his own, as his wife is a colon cancer survivor.

The Davis campaign provided the following response to Londrigan’s event:

It’s disappointing to see Londrigan try to politicize veterans health care since this is an area Congress has really been able to come together on. Davis voted for the VA Mission Act, and so did Senator Duckworth, to help streamline and improve veterans’ access to health care. Congressman Davis plans to continue his bipartisan work to fight for our veterans. He’s made that a big part of this campaign by running an ad featuring a long-time veterans advocate from Decatur and the Palmer family who Davis has helped navigate the DoD bureaucracy after they lost their son aboard the USS McCain last year.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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