Ding Dong, Dan Lipinski Is Gone!

Marie Newman, a badass progressive woman, won her primary against one of the worst Democrats in Congress.

JLC

Mar 18, 2020

297

Marie Newman is great. She has promised to fight for abortion rights, single-payer healthcare, a $15 minimum wage, and gun control. And last night, she successfully primaried Dan Lipinski, who's basically a right-wing Republican who happens to have a "D" next to his name.

Dan Lipinski inherited his seat in Congress from his daddy and has represented Illinois's Third District since 2005. This is a reliably blue district that encompasses part of the Southwest Side of Chicago and the southwest suburbs. Newman's primary win ends almost four decades of Lipinski rule of this district.

In 2018, after narrowly defeating Newman in the primary, Lipinski won reelection by 48 points . So this seat is probably not in danger of going Republican any time soon.

Lipinski has a long history of voting against women, immigrants, LGBTQ people, workers, and people who need healthcare. He vocally opposed and voted against the ACA. He voted for DOMA, opposed marriage equality, and was the only House Democrat who wouldn't co-sponsor the Equality Act. He voted against the DREAM Act. In January, Lipinski signed on to a Republican amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade . In 2012, he refused to endorse incumbent president Barack Obama.

So yeah, he's just a gem.

But now, he's gone! And that's not all — he lost to a badass, qualified, progressive woman!

Lipinski is basically the Joe Manchin of the House of Representatives. Except worse. And unlike Manchin, who at least is a blue dot in a sea of red, LIPINSKI REPRESENTS A LIBERAL DISTRICT.

Lipinski's opposition to Marie Newman was straight out of the Republican playbook, with him saying things like:

[Newman's] socialist ideology might be popular w/ her coastal elite friends but working families in IL03 have no time for her leftist fantasies. America is a country that values hard work & enterprise, not gov't overreach & taxation into oblivion. This district can't afford Marie Newman.

Yikes.

But luckily, Democrats in Lipinski's district disagree. Despite results showing him losing by around two points, Lipinski was true to form and refused to admit defeat.

"As we close this evening, there are still votes to be counted in this race. It is very close," Lipinski said in a statement. "We may have to wait overnight or into the morning for the final vote count."

TL;DR: Dan Lipinski sucks.

Marie Newman, on the other hand, is a progressive queen who has promised to fight for all of the things Lipinski hates, like women having "rights" and people being able to get healthcare.

While Lipinski opposes women having any kind of bodily autonomy, Newman is a vocal supporter of a woman's right to choose. Last year, she told BuzzFeed:

This type of legislation is authoritarian and totalitarian. There's no other way to describe it. Let's be honest about what it is. It's taking us back 100 years, and that's not exaggerating.

Despite being an objectively better person and candidate than Lipinski, Newman faced an uphill campaign. Last year, the DCCC announced that it would blacklist anyone who worked with primary challengers to Democratic incumbents. As a result, Newman lost consultants, pollsters, a communications firm, and mail firms.

Luckily, other backers stepped up to help a liberal woman defeat a man who wants to go back to the 1950s. Despite the DCCC's bullshit, Newman was endorsed by the likes of Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pramila Jayapal, Planned Parenthood, Justice Democrats, Indivisible, NARAL, Move On, Emily's List, NOW, Our Revolution, Women's March Illinois, and a whole bunch of unions and other politicians.

In 2018, Newman came within 2.5 points of defeating Lipinski in the primary. This time, she won by 2.4. And honestly, we couldn't be happier.

Things are rough right now. And that makes it even more important for us to step back, take a minute, and really appreciate Marie Newman's victory.

Dan Lipinski is a bootlicking POS who felt entitled to a seat in Congress that was gifted to him by his dad. He has spent his political career voting against the rights of the people he represents. And now, he will be replaced by a woman who will fight to preserve and expand the very rights Lipinski tried to take away.

Dan Lipinski sucks. Marie Newman is awesome. And we can't wait to see her sworn in as a member of Congress.

Congratulations, Marie!

As for Lipinski ...