In 1996, he lost a race for the state legislature.[3] In 1998, Davis managed Illinois Congressman John Shimkus's first reelection campaign. After the successful campaign, he accepted a position on Shimkus's congressional staff.[4]
In 2000, Davis lost his campaign for mayor of Taylorville, Illinois.[3] Davis served as Shimkus's projects director while running for Congress.[5]
On May 19, 2012, the Republican County Chairmen for the 14 Illinois counties the 13th district comprises nominated Davis as the Republican candidate for Congress. This district had previously been the 15th, represented by six-term incumbent Republican Tim Johnson. Johnson had announced in April that he would not seek reelection, just days after winning the Republican primary. Other finalists for the nomination were Jerry Clarke, chief of staff to fellow U.S. Representative Randy Hultgren and Johnson's former chief of staff; Erika Harold, a lawyer and winner of Miss America in 2003; and Kathy Wassink, a businesswoman.[5] Davis was coaching his sons' little league baseball game when he was informed that he had been nominated.[6] His home in Taylorville had previously been in Shimkus's 19th District (which had been renumbered as the 15th). But the new 13th had absorbed much of the old 19th's northern portion, including Taylorville.
In the general election, Davis defeated Democratic nominee David M. Gill by 1,002 votes (0.3%). Independent candidate John Hartman received around 21,000 votes (7.2%).[7]
On June 13, 2013, former Miss AmericaErika Harold announced she would run against Davis in the March 18 Republican primary.[8]
The Republican field included Davis, Harold, and Michael Firsching.[9] Davis won the primary with 55% of the vote.[9]
Davis faced Democratic nominee Ann Callis in the November 4 general election.[10] He was reportedly a top target for the Democrats[11] but won with 59% of the vote.[12][13]
Davis was reelected in 2016, defeating Ethan Vandersand in the primary and Democratic nominee Mark Wicklund and independent David Gill in the general election.[14] He received 59.7% of the vote.[15]
On March 20, 2018, Betsy Londrigan won the Democratic primary in District 13 with over 45% of the vote, beating Erik Jones, David Gill, Jonathan Ebel, and Angel Sides.[16]
In May 2018, the American Federation of Government Employees endorsed Davis for reelection. AFGE District 7 National Vice President Dorothy James said, "We hope that Representative Davis will continue his good work on Capitol Hill for years to come and are happy to announce our support for him today."[17]
On November 6, Davis was reelected, 50.4% to 49.6%. He lost the district's shares of Champaign, McLean, and Sangamon Counties, but carried Christian and Macon Counties. His margins in both far exceeded his overall margin of 2,058 votes.[18]
During a debate, Davis said that The Washington Post fact-checker had found Londrigan's claims about the impact of Obamacare's repeal on preexisting conditions to be false. The Washington Post fact-checker responded, "Republicans are twisting an unrelated fact check and are misleading voters."[19]
Davis ran for a fifth term and was unopposed in the Republican primary. Londrigan ran again, and easily won the Democratic primary. Although most forecasters considered the race a tossup due to the close margin in 2018, Davis won reelection by 9 points.[20] His larger margin of victory was attributed to both an increase in turnout from the district's Republican-leaning rural counties, and a decrease in the district's college campuses. Londrigan attempted to tie Davis to President Trump, and he linked her to Illinois House Speaker and state Democratic Party chair Mike Madigan, who was broadly unpopular.[citation needed]
After the 2020 United States census, Illinois Democratic legislators gerrymandered new congressional maps that eliminated Republican-leaning districts. Davis' old district was made significantly more Democratic by adding East St. Louis, Illinois to the area. At the same time, his home in Taylorville was drawn back into the 15th district, represented by Shimkus' successor, Mary Miller. Although Davis' home was drawn into the district while Miller's home was drawn just outside of it, Miller handily defeated Davis in the Republican primary.[22][23]
Tenure
On June 14, 2017, Davis was one of several Republicans who were practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity at a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia, when a gunman opened fire, attempting to assassinate Republican members of Congress. Representative Steve Scalise and several others were injured, but due to the heroic actions of Capitol Police Officers David Bailey and Crystal Griner and the Alexandria Police Department, no members of Congress died that day. Since the shooting, Davis has made it his mission to promote more civility in politics.[24]
Since 2019, the Lugar Center and Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy’s Bipartisan Index has rated Davis the most bipartisan member of Congress from Illinois. For the First Session (2021) of the 117th Congress, he was rated the 22nd most bipartisan member of Congress nationwide. In the 116th Congress (2019-2020), he was rated the 14th most bipartisan member of Congress nationwide.[25]
Davis voted for H.J.Res.59 – Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014, which resulted in the government shutdown of 2013.[31] After the vote, Politico reported that Davis also intended to vote for a bill that would end the shutdown, stressing that an agreement needed to be made and that "Like most of those I represent, I remain opposed to Obamacare, but a government shutdown is absolutely unacceptable."[32][33][34][35]
Davis voted to lift a ban on travel to Cuba.[36] In June 2016, he cast the deciding vote on a bill to continue to allow undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to join the U.S. military. The program would give those who serve a quicker pathway to citizenship.[36]
During the presidency of Donald Trump, Davis voted in line with Trump's stated position 88.8% of the time.[38] As of September 2021, Davis had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 25.7% of the time.[39]
Davis voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.[42] He said the bill would improve the economy without increasing the deficit, and that Americans would see "more money in the pockets" by February 2018 as a result of the bill.[43]
In June 2018, Davis said, "we've got to stop this politicizing everything like dinner", adding, "Donald Trump was elected, in my opinion, because of this move toward making everything politically correct in this country."[44]
On January 6, 2021, Davis was at the U.S. Capitol to certify the Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the building. Davis and his staff went into hiding under police lockdown for over four hours during the attack.[46] After the Capitol was secure and Congress resumed session, Davis certified the election without objection.[47] As a result of the attack, Trump was impeached a second time. Davis voted against impeachment, saying, "there must be accountability for leaders who deliberately misled the public, but I fear that without thoughtful and clear-eyed leadership from both sides of the aisle, we are in danger of further violence and political unrest."[48] In the wake of the attack, Davis objected to metal detectors which were placed outside the House chamber.[49][50]
On May 19, 2021, Davis was one of 35 Republicans who joined all Democrats in voting to approve legislation to establish the January 6 commission meant to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol.[51]
In November 2021, Davis voted against censuring Paul Gosar, a House member who had shared an animated video of himself killing a fellow member of Congress and assaulting the president. When a majority of the House voted to censure Gosar, Davis criticized Pelosi, saying she had "torn the fabric of this House apart".[54]
In 2020, Davis introduced the Counting All Military Votes Act, which is designed to ensure the absentee votes of active-duty and deployed military personnel are returned by election day.[59]
Agriculture
Davis served on both the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bill conference committees. He authored a section of the latter bill which allowed farmers to choice between two risk management programs.[60]
Davis has a "B" rating from NORML for his voting record on cannabis-related causes. He supports veterans having access to medical marijuana if recommended by their Veterans Health Administration doctor and if it is legal for medicinal purposes in their state. He supports industrial hemp farming and medical marijuana research.[61][failed verification]
Economy
In April 2018, Davis expressed concern about the impact of proposed tariffs on Illinois soybean farmers and other Illinois agricultural workers, but was glad that Trump had given Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue "a lot of free rein". Davis highlighted unfair Chinese trade practices and noted the adverse effect on the domestic steel industry.[62] In June, he reiterated concern about some of Trump's proposed tariffs' impact on his constituents as well as their impact on certain foreign countries. Although he felt "the president was right to actually address the steel discrepancy that he saw from countries like China", he wished that Trump "would focus on...actors like China rather than punishing our allies".[63]
Gun policy
In March 2018, in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Davis said the shooting could have been prevented if the perpetrator had been charged with a felony for bringing a gun to school earlier. Davis said he believed more funding should be directed to mental health programs and that loopholes in background checks should be closed, but that he did not see banning guns as a solution.[64]
Immigration
In June 2018, Davis said he hoped to co-sponsor a bill that would address the separation of adult illegal immigrants at the Mexican border from the children accompanying them. He expressed optimism that Congress could come up with a compromise on the issue.[44]
Davis voted for the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, which authorizes DHS to nearly double the available H-2B visas for the remainder of FY 2020.[67][68]
Davis voted for the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2021. The bill helps create confidential, population-based databases that maintain a record of vaccine administrations.[73]
In 2015, Davis was one of 60 Republicans voting to uphold President Barack Obama’s 2014 executive order banning federal contractors from making hiring decisions that discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.[citation needed]
In 2016, Davis was one of 43 Republicans to vote for the Maloney Amendment to H.R. 5055, which would prohibit the use of funds for government contractors who discriminate against LGBT employees.[75]
In 2021, Davis was one of 29 Republicans to vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.[76] This bill expanded legal protections for transgender people, and contained provisions allowing transgender women to use women's shelters and serve time in prisons matching their gender identity.[77]
In 2021, Davis was one of 33 Republicans to vote for the LGBTQ Business Equal Credit Enforcement and Investment Act.[78]
On July 19, 2022, Davis and 46 other Republican Representatives voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law.[79]
Electoral history
2012 Illinois's 13th congressional district election[80]
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