Rodney Lee Davis (born January 5, 1970) is an American Republican politician who served as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 13th congressional district from 2013 to 2023. Davis's tenure ended when redistricting led to a primary race in the Illinois's 15th against fellow incumbent Mary Miller.
Early life and education
Davis was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He graduated from Millikin University in 1992 with a degree in political science.
Early political career
In 1996, he lost a race for the state legislature. 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.
In 2000, Davis lost his campaign for mayor of Taylorville, Illinois. Davis served as Shimkus's projects director while running for Congress.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2012
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. Davis was coaching his sons' little league baseball game when he was informed that he had been nominated. 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%).
2014
On June 13, 2013, former Miss America Erika Harold announced she would run against Davis in the March 18 Republican primary.
The Republican field included Davis, Harold, and Michael Firsching. Davis won the primary with 55% of the vote.
Davis faced Democratic nominee Ann Callis in the November 4 general election. He was reportedly a top target for the Democrats but won with 59% of the vote.
2016
Davis was reelected in 2016, defeating Ethan Vandersand in the primary and Democratic nominee Mark Wicklund and independent David Gill in the general election. He received 59.7% of the vote.
2018
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.
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."
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.
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."
2020
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. 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.
Trump's 2020 presidential campaign named Davis one of four "honorary state chairs."