Wed. March 21, 2018
Chicago, IL -
Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, released the following statement on the primary election results in Illinois' 3rd Congressional District.
"This should be a wake up call to Dan Lipinski," said HRC Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs JoDee Winterhof. "A politician who has fought against the rights of LGBTQ people, women, and immigrants for more than a decade in Congress went from a 24 point lead to barely holding on to his job. Now, our task is to continue holding him accountable. The people of Illinois want and deserve a representative in Congress who will stand up for their fundamental rights — not undermine them and rubber stamp the Trump-Pence agenda. If Dan Lipinski continues down the wrong path, he will not get a second chance the next time his constituents head into the voting booth."
Rep. Lipinski has an abysmal record on LGBTQ equality and the shameful distinction of being the worst-scoring Democrat in the U.S. House and Senate on HRC's Congressional Scorecard. The Illinois congressman sponsored the so-called First Amendment Defense Act, which could allow widespread discrimination against LGBTQ people, and earlier this year he stated in an interview that he doesn't support marriage equality. In 2007, Lipinski voted against a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act on the House floor, and he is one of only two House Democrats who have not expressed support for the Equality Act — federal legislation that would finally provide consistent and explicit non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people.
HRC, NARAL Pro-Choice America, SEIU, MoveOn, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and EMILY's List launched an unprecedented joint independent expenditure campaign against Lipinski to educate voters about his anti-LGBTQ, anti-choice, anti-worker, and anti-immigration record. The coalition spent more than $1.6 million to expose Dan Lipinski's record through a relentless omnimedia and on-the-ground voter persuasion and mobilization campaign, including direct mail, digital persuasion ads, peer-to-peer texting and TV ads. In partnership with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights ( ICIRR ) Action, HRC also invested an additional $50K into a $130K Latino Outreach program, targeting Spanish-speaking voters in the district through canvassing and in ads over radio and TV.
HRC staff and volunteers also spent over 1,500 hours mobilizing our thousands of members and supporters in the district to vote. They knocked on over 2,000 doors and made over 70,000 calls to voters, helping close a huge gap between the sitting member of Congress and his challenger, Marie Newman. The close race sent a clear message to Lipinski that this district, and the country, want their representatives to champion Americans' fundamental rights and freedoms — not undermine them.
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