Justin's Political Corner
Rodney Davis, an aide to Congressman John Shimkus, has been chosen by Republican leaders to be the GOP candidate for congress in the newly redrawn 13th Congressional District.
Davis, of Taylorville, will be the GOP candidate instead of U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Champaign. Johnson won the Republican nomination in the March primary election, but announced shortfly afterward that he would retire and not run in the general election.
That meant a new candidate had to be chosen by the Republican Party chairmen in the 14 counties of the congressional district. The chairmen met Saturday and chose Davis.
The district includes a midsection of Madison County, such as the Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Maryville and Collinsville areas.
Davis was chosen from among four finalists. The three other finalists were:
* Jerry Clarke, who previously served as Johnson’s chief of staff;
* Former Miss America Erika Harold, an attorney and Urbana native;
* Kathy Wassink, of Macoupin County, who owns a business that serves students with special needs. She also is an organizer of a local Tea Party-type group.
Davis serves as projects director for Shimkus, R-Collinsville.
h/t: BND.com
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. • Illinois Republican officials have narrowed the field to four candidates for the November ballot spot of retiring U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana.
Johnson, a six-term Urbana incumbent whose newly reconfigured 13th District includes parts of the Metro East, easily won the GOP nomination for re-election in the primaries. Three weeks later, he stunned Illinois and Washington political establishments by announcing he would step down at the end of his current term, citing family issues.
Johnson’s replacement on the Nov. 6 ballot will be chosen by a weighted vote of the Republican county chairmen in the 14 counties encompassed by his district. A committee for the nominating process narrowed the field Saturday night to our finalists: Former Johnson Chief of Staff Jerry Clarke; congressional aide Rodney Davis; former Miss America-turned-attorney Erika Harold; and businesswoman Kathy Wassink.
Erika N. Harold (born 1980) was Miss America 2003, having qualified for the pageant by being selected Miss Illinois 2002. Her official platform was “Preventing Youth Violence and Bullying: Protect Yourself, Respect Yourself.” This platform choice was said to have grown out of personal experience; she recounts having been the subject of racial and sexual harassment while growing up. However, in the first week of her reign, she also adopted a dual platform for Sexual Abstinence, causing some pageant observers to accuse her of harboring a hidden agenda. She held a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington during which she claimed the Miss America organization was bullying her.
Harold’s ethnic background is extremely varied. On her father’s side, she has Greek, German and Welsh ancestry, and on her mother’s side, Native-American, African-American and Russian descent.
Harold was born in Urbana, Illinois. She attended University High School.
H/T: CapitolFax
