Illinois primary contest tests Democrats' leftward shift on abortion amid 2020 attention
When progressive activist Marie Newman fell just over 2,000 votes short of unseating one of the few remaining pro-life Democrats in Congress last year, she cemented Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District as the site of one of the starkest examples yet of the intra-party fight unfolding in the party over abortion.
I'm so thankful to receive @Marie4Congress's endorsement here in Chicago tonight, and I'm proud to endorse her to be the next congresswoman for IL-03. Illinoisans deserve leaders who will truly fight for all of them, including women seeking reproductive healthcare. #BraveWins! pic.twitter.com/0WHaMQqHS8
A Quinnipiac poll from May found that 60% of voters said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, with 28% saying abortion should be legal in all cases, matching the highest level of support since the question was first asked in 2004. "I’m thrilled and incredibly grateful for the support," Newman told ABC News in an interview last week, also arguing that the recent election of progressive Lori Lightfoot as Chicago’s first African-American and first openly gay mayor is further evidence of the area’s changing politics.
"I think one of the interesting things is that for a while now, Democratic moderates have still had a place within the Democratic Party, and there's been a lot less room for them within the Republican conference," Rubin said."I think an open question for political scientists and for political observers more generally is whether the Democratic Party is going to polarize in the way that the Republican Party has.
"It's interesting that the top issues of the nation are not very different from the top issues in my district," Newman, who is an ardent supporter of reproductive rights, said."I am in alignment with my district 100% ... Dan is dramatically out of alignment with his district and has been for quite some time."
Newman’s progressive bonafides make her a formidable rival to Lipinski, as she returns to the political ring, no longer a newcomer to campaigning or the district, and more aware of where she fell short in 2018. "While Congressman Lipinski and I do not agree on women's reproductive health care, this does not change how I will work as DCCC chair to protect our big tent Democratic caucus," she said in a statement announcing her decision to cancel.
"Dan Lipinski is taking away women's rights at every turn, he has not only anti-choice, he is anti-birth control," Newman said."He will go as far to say that he supports health care for all when he voted against Obamacare." That question will see its first test in one of the three gubernatorial elections in 2019, where Louisiana’s Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards is running for re-election amid a contentious political battle over abortion rights.
"This is not an easy issue to pigeon hole people, especially me on at least, because I don’t think the labels really work," he added.
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