Conservative Democrat Rep. Lipinski struggles to fend off liberal primary challenge

Aamer Madhani | USA TODAY

LYONS, Ill. – Rep. Dan Lipinski, a conservative-leaning Democrat unaccustomed to close elections, came to make his pitch at the St. Patrick's Day party for seniors just as the retirees finished their corned beef and cabbage.

Before the seniors got to their dessert, the veteran lawmaker facing a liberal insurgency brewing in his party touted his commitment to bringing federal dollars to the district.

He reminded the group that his staff stood ready to assist them as they navigate Social Security and Medicare. Lipinski even made sure to thank the veterans in the crowd.

And then he got to the matter at hand: He desperately needs their vote in Tuesday's Illinois primary.

“There’s been a lot of money spent — almost $2 million — to try to knock me down,” Lipinski said. “You know me. You know we share the same values, so I ask you to come out and vote for me. And if you don’t always take a Democratic ballot, if you can do it just this one time for me.”

The lawmaker is fighting for his political life in a congressional primary garnering national attention as a faction within the Democratic Party argues for a more liberal and diverse cadre of candidates for November's general election.

The Illinois race comes a week after a Pennsylvania special election, in which moderate Democrat Conor Lamb appears to have narrowly defeated Republican Rick Saccone for a House seat in a deeply conservative district.

Lipinski hasn’t faced much challenge since following the footsteps of his father William Lipinski to Congress in 2004.

He is now deadlocked with a well-funded Democratic challenger, Marie Newman, a marketing consultant and first-time political candidate. She has received the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., plus left-leaning abortion rights groups and alumni of President Obama’s two campaigns for the White House.

Newman and her backers argue that Lipinski is a relic and a Democrat in name only. Lipinski, 51, is part of the dwindling breed of Democrats who oppose abortion in almost all cases.

He was also the only Democrat in the Illinois congressional delegation to vote against Obama’s signature health care law, because it required organizations to provide employees with contraception even if that clashed with a religious group's beliefs.

"Mr. Lipinski is so anti-choice he doesn’t support birth control. That’s a problem,” Newman told USA TODAY.

The primary between Newman and Lipinski could be an early ideological battleground for Democrats as they map their strategy to loosen the Republicans' grip on the House and Senate.

Illinois' 3rd Congressional District provides an intriguing test case for Democrats. The district, which includes parts of Chicago’s South Side and bisects several southwest suburbs, has long trended toward Democrats. It also had a conservative social streak by electing Lipinski and his father, both pro-union Democrats who staunchly oppose abortion.

The district has changed over the years. Millennials and young professionals have flocked to the city’s hip Bridgeport neighborhood — once the working-class backyard of former mayors Richard J. and Richard M. Daley that’s increasingly known for bistros and art galleries.

The district, which had been home to some of the Chicago area’s largest Polish and Irish enclaves, also has become more ethnically and racially diverse with an influx of Hispanic and Arab residents in recent years.

Lipinski holds a slim 43%-to-41% lead over Newman, according to a Public Policy Polling survey taken in March. The poll was conducted for NARAL Pro-Choice America, which has endorsed Newman, along with other abortion rights groups, Planned Parenthood American and EMILY's List.

Those groups as well as LGBT advocates at the Human Rights Campaign, the Service Employees International Union and MoveOn have poured more than $1 million into ads tearing into Lipinski and bolstering Newman.

She’s also been endorsed by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Reps. Luis Gutierrez and Jan Schakowsky, both Illinois Democrats, as well as feminist icon Gloria Steinem.

Newman refers to Lipinski as a “Trump Democrat” and insists he has more in common with the president than the Democrats he caucuses with in Congress.

Newman, who previously served as a spokeswoman for the Illinois chapter of the gun-control group Mom's Demand Action, said Trump's election prompted her to jump into politics to try to defeat Lipinski.

Only one candidate is running in the Republican primary for the seat — Holocaust denier and white supremacist Art Jones, a seven-time candidate who has been disavowed by the Illinois Republican Party.

“Dan Lipinski is for all intents and purposes to the right of most Republicans on the issues,” Newman said. “It’s more than he is out of step with the district. He is a radically right Republican.”

The congressman said his suddenly tight race shows that the Democratic Party is in danger of falling into the grips of a “Tea Party of the left.”

“The Democrats keep forgetting we’re down about 1,000 elected officials across the country. Four years ago in the House, we were at our lowest point since Herbert Hoover was president,” Lipinski said in an interview. “We got to be a big tent party, and unfortunately some people learned the wrong lesson.”

Lipinski has some powerful, key supporters, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and two influential unions — the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the AFL-CIO.

The SBA List, a Virginia-based group that typically works to elect Republicans opposed to abortion, sent 70 college students into the district to campaign for Lipinski.

Grace Enright, 21, a University of Notre Dame student from Chicago, said she spent part of her spring break volunteering with SBA because she admired the congressman for staying consistent on abortion despite political pressure.

As USA TODAY followed Enright for about 90 minutes Friday as she canvassed in suburban La Grange, she found several people who said they planned to vote in the Republican primary.

That ended the conversation, because SBA decided not to press Republican voters to take Democratic ballots. The group has also endorsed Republican state Rep. Jeanne Ives, who is challenging incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner in the GOP primary.

“We also don’t want to hurt Ives,” SBA spokeswoman Mallory Quigley said.

More: Pennsylvania special election between Rick Saccone and Conor Lamb too close to call

More: Dean Heller loses primary challenger after Trump urges Tarkanian to run for House instead

More: Illinois Democrats wage brutal, pricey primary fight in governor's race

Last week's apparent Pennsylvania primary victory for moderate Democrat Conor Lamb looms large. To be certain, the Illinois district that has voted for a Democrat in 24 of the past 25 U.S. House races is far different than Lamb's district, which voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016.

Newman backers said the Pennsylvania race may offer Democrats some clues about issues that matter to voters. Exit polling showed more than half of the Pennsylvania district voters said they disapproved of the Republican push to repeal Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

In campaign ads and on the stump, Newman has also questioned Lipinski’s commitment to LGBQT issues. He co-sponsored legislation that would prohibit the federal government from retaliating against a person who opposes same-sex marriage. And he opposed raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour.

Alumni of Obama’s two presidential campaigns denounced Lipinski last week after a Super PAC supporting the congressman, United for Progress, sent campaign mailers that included an image of the former president. One side of the mailer showed Obama with the caption, “Known for leading;” the other side had Newman's photo with the caption, “Known for misleading.”

In fact, Lipinski was one of the few Democrats who voted against the Affordable Care Act, which makes the Obama mailer even more galling. — David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) March 14, 2018

David Axelrod, a top adviser to Obama, called the mailer “galling.” Lipinski not only opposed the health care law, but he also declined to endorse Obama's 2012 re-election.

Lipinski noted that his campaign has nothing do with the outside group’s advertising and is prohibited by federal election law from coordinating with the Super PAC. He suggested that the gripes from the Obama team were overblown.

“Nowhere in there am I mentioned, and no way am I being linked to Barack Obama,” Lipinski said.

Follow USA TODAY correspondent Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad