Rodney Lee Davis (born January 5, 1970)[1] is an American politician and lobbyist 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.
[9] On June 13, 2013, former Miss America Erika Harold announced she would run against Davis in the March 18 Republican primary.
[14][15] Davis was reelected in 2016, defeating Ethan Vandersand in the primary and Democratic nominee Mark Wicklund and independent David Gill in the general election.
[17] 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.
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.
[20] 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.
Although most forecasters considered the race a tossup due to the close margin in 2018, Davis won reelection by 9 points.
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] Trump's 2020 presidential campaign named Davis one of four "honorary state chairs.
Davis' old district was made significantly more Democratic by adding most of the core of Metro-East, the Illinois side of the St. Louis area.
At the same time, his home in Taylorville was drawn back into the 15th district, represented by Shimkus' successor, Mary Miller.
[38] 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.
[45] 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.
[47] 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 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.
[51][52] 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.
Davis highlighted unfair Chinese trade practices and noted the adverse effect on the domestic steel industry.
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.
[66] 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.
[68] 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.
[citation needed] Davis opposes abortion except in cases of rape or incest or to protect the health of the mother.
[76] 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.