With the new map approved by the state Supreme Court today, Pennsylvania will see 2 very conservative Republican incumbents fighting it out for one seat: inconsequential backbenchers Glenn Thompson and Fred Keller. Illinois already has two incumbent v incumbent contests-- progressive Marie Newman vs corrupt New Dem Sean Casten and conservative Republican Rodney Davis vs QAnon sociopath Mary Miller. Late last year, we introduced Miller by noting that you could ask anyone who follows politics to name the QAnon supporters in Congress and they would probably give you the names of the two most mentally challenged imbeciles in the House, Lauren Boebert of Rifle, Colorado and Marjorie Traitor Greene, the blowjob queen of rural northwest Georgia. But they would likely forget another madwoman who is as devoted to the idiocy of QAnon as Boebert and Traitor Greene are, Illinois crackpot, Mary Miller. Whenever there's a small faction of drooling GOP fascists banding together to obstruct something useful or popular, Miller can always be counted on to be standing shoulder to shoulder with Boebert, Gaetz, Gosar, Traitor Greene, Cawthorn, Biggs, Jordan, etc. For example, when just 21 GOP fascists opposed the popular, bipartisan resolution to give the police who protected Congress from the 1/6 insurrectionists a congressional gold medal, Miller was part of the pack who voted against it. Same when repeal of the AUMF came up; Miller, an outspoken Nazi, is a forever-war kind of gal. She's also a vicious anti-Semite with ties to the violent domestic terrorists, the Three Percenters, and on her second day in Congress she was already quoting her beloved Adolf and inspiring other Illinois political leaders-- from both parties-- to demand she resign.
Since then, guess which imbecile has endorsed her. Here's his one-size-fits-all rote endorsement of another Republican he doesn't know from his maid or gardener.
Because of gerrymandering, she's been forced into a race with the much better-known, and much better-funded Davis and in a district (IL-15) that was mostly Davis' and where she doesn't live and is mostly a stranger to the voters. Of course, with Trump's endorsement, the calculus could change. Both the state GOP and the congressional leadership would all have preferred Trump stay out of it. But Trump spurned their advice and gave Miller the endorsement-- at the behest of Marjorie Traitor Greene-- possibly enough to win over GOP primary voters in the solidly red district, although I doubt it.
This morning, the Punchbowl crew took a look at the primary and pointed out that "Miller raised a paltry $164,713 in Q4 in comparison to Davis’ $420,699 haul. Davis is also outpacing Miller in cash on hand, $1.2 million to $414,795.
Leadership is making its preference for Davis known in fundraising. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s joint fundraising PAC, Take Back the House 2022, donated a sizable $33,242 to Davis in the last quarter-- and gave nothing to Miller. Miller did receive $9,185 from the House Freedom Fund, the fundraising arm of the House Freedom Caucus."
Davis presents himself as a conservative who gets things done and boasts the endorsements of a plethora of local officials, including Illinois GOP Rep. Darin LaHood. On the attack side, Davis slams Miller as a “Chicagoland” carpetbagger. Davis blasts Miller’s vote against the annual defense authorization bill as opposing a pay raise for troops. He also chides Miller for approvingly quoting Hitler, which is not something you often see in congressional races.
Miller is heavily leaning into Trump’s endorsement, featuring the former president’s backing in almost all of her ads. Miller’s campaign paints Davis as one of the “weak, timid RINOs who cozy up to Nancy Pelosi and Liz Cheney.”
The Freedom Caucus member also turns Davis’ pride in being one of the most bipartisan members of Congress into an attack line. In campaign ads, Davis is pictured hugging Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) in an effort to tie Davis to the anti-Trump wing of the party.
I wonder if any of this means anything to Republican primary voters in small-town southern Illinois-- and I wonder how they'll react when the Marjorie Traitor Greene circus comes to Illinois to campaign for Miller.