Marie Newman

Next year will mark the first time in 38 years that a Lipinski will not hold Illinois’ 3^rd District Congressional seat.

Marie Newman saw to that when she edged eight-term incumbent Dan Lipinski in the March 17 Democratic primary.

Newman captured 47 percent of the 103,859 votes cast in the race to Lipinski’s 44 percent. Newman lost to Lipinski by 2 percentage points in the 2018 Democratic primary.

Also, in this year’s Democratic primary were Rush Darwish and Charles Hughes, who got 6 percent and 2 percent of the vote, respectively.

In a Facebook post March 19, Newman thanked volunteers who helped her campaign over the past three years.

“Together, we won in the face of adversity,” Newman said. “We not only defeated a longtime incumbent, but we powered through (Get Out the Vote) in a public health crisis. This is the best team out there, period.”

A consultant and former partner in an advertising agency, Newman said her political team knocked on more than 100,000 doors, made more than 200,000 telephone calls, had 318 meet-and-greets, sent nearly 50,000 postcards and contacted thousands of neighbors in the 3^rd District.

“A new day has come to the Southwest Side,” Newman added. “Let’s finish the fight in November.”

Newman will face Republican Mike Fricilone in the General Election in the fall. Fricilone captured the Republican nomination for the 3^rd District seat with 57 percent of the 16,251 votes cast. He topped Catherine O’Shea who got 32 percent of the vote and Neo-Nazi Arthur Jones who got 10 percent of the vote.

Fricilone said he was elated to earn the Republican nod for the congressional seat.

“I’m thankful beyond words to receive the Republican nomination from the voters of the 3^rd Congressional District,” Fricilone said in an Election Night Facebook post. “Voters made their voices heard that they are ready for a real Republican candidate … not a Nazi and not a Democrat.”

O’Shea had admitted that she was a Democrat until 2016.

“With your support, we will bring fresh, bold conservative ideas to our district,” Fricilone told residents in his post.

Dan Lipinski has served as congressman of the 3rd District since 2005, taking over the post from his father, Bill, who had the seat from 1983 to 2005.

Newman had hammered Dan Lipinski for his votes against the Affordable Care Act and coverage for pre-existing conditions. She linked the incumbent with Republican efforts to dismantle the ACA and privatize Social Security.

She also went after Lipinski on supporting 54 different measures to restrict a woman’s right to choose.

Lipinski said his pro-life stance played a role in the election, noting that he was outspent at least 6:1 on television ads from pro-choice groups.

“I am never going to give up protecting the most vulnerable human beings in the world just to win an election,” Lipinski said in a post-election news conference March 18.

He said he was encouraged by the large number of people who approached him in the campaign’s final days and said they “appreciate what I stand for and for standing my ground.”

Lipinski said he has been shunned by Democratic colleagues and lost endorsements because of his pro-life stance.

“The pressure on the (Democratic) party has never been as great as it is now,” Lipinski said of the pro-life/pro-choice issue.

The congressman said the issue has become so black and white in people’s minds that “people don’t understand how you can be pro-life and a Democrat.”

He said he is proud of the work he and his father have done in Congress and that he plans to be an active member of Congress in his remaining nine months. Lipinski said he plans to push a public transit bill in his time still in Congress.

Lipinski won the Chicago vote, getting 50 percent of ballots cast to Newman’s 44 percent, but lost in the three-county suburban region of the district.

Newman won the most handedly, percentagewise, in DuPage County, getting 64 percent of the vote to Lipinski’s 29 percent. Newman also won the suburban Cook vote 48 percent to 42 percent, and the Will County vote 54 percent to 38 percent.