Yes, Progressives Can Win In Districts Where Trump Beat Hillary-- Meet Dr. David Gill

In 2012 David Gill was one of the candidates Blue America was most enthusiastic about. He nearly defeated conservative Republican Rodney Davis in a swing district in central Illinois that begins up in Normal, western Bloomington and Champaign and heads south through Decatur to Calhoun and Jersey counties in the suburbs north of St. Louis. All or part of 14 counties make up the sprawling district but just 4 have the big bulk of the voters-- Champaign (where Dr. Gill beat Davis 57-37%), Sangamon (where Gill beat Davis 50-42%) and two counties where a third party progressive drew more votes than the difference between Gill and Davis-- Macon and Madison. If Dr. Gill wins those four in 2018, one of the most progressive candidates to run for Congress in Illinois in several decades will beat a worthless right-wing backbencher. Last year IL-13 was Bernie country. He won the district handily and beat Clinton in 3 of the 4 of the big counties:

• Champaign- Bernie 65.9%, Hillary 33.8%
• Sangamon- Bernie 52.6%, Hillary 46.9%
• Macon- Hillary 53.8%, Bernie 45.2%
• Madison- Bernie 54.5%, Hillary 44.6%

In November, Democrats were disheartened after a terrible campaign and Trump narrowly won the district 49.7% to 44.2%. Although Trump lost Champaign he won Sangamon, Macon and Madison.

In 2014 the DCCC was absolutely delighted to run one of their worthless Blue Dogs, Ann Callis, who they spent around a million dollars on but who ran a horrible campaign and was beaten badly taking just 41% of the vote. Last year Mark Wicklund was the candidate and the DCCC had already written off the district. Wicklund only managed to raise $26,683 to Davis' $2,626,499. The DCCC spent ZERO. Progressives have been begging Dr. Gill to run again, uniting Bernie-supporters and Hillary supporters in a referendum against Trump and the Republican agenda Davis supports in the most knee-jerk fashion. He's in and he's endorsed by Blue America and you can contribute to his campaign by tapping the ActBlue thermometer on the right. We asked Dr. Gill to re-introduce himself. Here's his website and below is his guest post:


Beating Back Trumpism In The Heartland
-by Dr. David Gill,
candidate, IL-13

I am not your standard politician-- I am a physician, board-certified in Emergency Medicine and Family Practice. I am a 25-year member of Physicians for a National Health Program, a single-payer advocacy group. I have long demonstrated a passion for improving the lives of all people; that passion drives my work as a physician, and it motivates me to become a leader in the U.S. House. And thanks to the support of progressives around the country, I nearly won Illinois’ 13th District U.S. House seat back in 2012. I ultimately lost by 0.3%, but our progressive ideas won handily. Unfortunately, a liberal independent candidate on the ballot supported the very same principles that I have long trumpeted: single-payer healthcare, aggressive action against climate change, campaign finance reform, LGBTQ rights, women’s reproductive freedoms. That third candidate garnered 7.2% of the vote, splitting the progressive majority just enough to allow Republican Rodney Davis to escape with the narrowest of victories and to become to what some refer to as an “accidental congressman.” The majority of voters in IL-13 wound up with a representative who opposes their values.

The time has finally come to correct that injustice. The citizens of IL-13 have been denied appropriate representation for nearly five years, and it is time to right that wrong.

I outperformed arguably the greatest politician of our time back in 2012 (President Obama), but the Washington D.C. Democratic establishment chose to go in a more conservative direction. The result: Democratic candidates lost IL-13 in 2014 and 2016 by nearly 20 points each time.

The schism between myself and national party leaders is so great that I attempted to run for Congress as an independent in 2016, after polling showed that I could be very competitive. I collected more signatures (more than 11,000) than any independent U.S. House candidate in Illinois history, but it was still not enough, given the way the deck is stacked in favor of the two major parties.

I have never made any secret of my differences with the Democratic Party leadership in Washington, D.C. I believe that their pursuit of campaign funding from Wall Street banks has played an important role in the economic injustice which has plagued the vast majority of Americans for nearly 40 years.

However, we now face an even graver threat: President Donald Trump. The dangers brought to the forefront by Mr. Trump are beyond any that our republic has ever faced, and those dangers require a Congress which will respond forcefully, to protect the well-being of all of us. Representatives such as Rodney Davis, who offer support and silence in the face of the Trump agenda, must be defeated.

I proved in 2012 that I can defeat Rodney Davis, and I intend to do so again in 2018 in a two-candidate general election. I have watched subsequent Democrats lose by nearly 20 percentage points, and it has become clear that my differences with party leadership must be set aside for the time being.

The recent introduction of the Republicans’ disastrous health care plan only serves to further demonstrate the need for a strong progressive physician’s voice within the halls of Congress. The time is long past due for a single-payer plan here in America, and it will finally come when we have leaders such as myself in Washington. Polls repeatedly demonstrate that 60% of Americans support single-payer; now all we need are politicians who are not beholden to the insurance industry.