Illinois Progressive beats one of the last pro-life Democrats in House primary contest

Illinois Rep. Dan Lipinski, a conservative Democrat and pro-life supporter, was defeated Tuesday night in a party primary by progressive Democrat Marie Newman.

Lipinski, who has served in Congress since 2005, is known best for his anti-abortion stances – including voting to defund Planned Parenthood - and voting in 2010 against the Affordable Care Act.

Newman nearly defeated Lipinski in 2018, in the race for Illinois’s third congressional district seat.

The race was called in her favor shortly after 10 p.m. on Tuesday night, with 68% of precincts reporting, and the vote tallied at 47%-44% in her favor.

Though Lipinski was technically supported by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Newman was enthusiastically backed by powerful political action committee’s including Emily’s List, NARAL, and the Justice Democrats, who helped Alexandria Ocasio Cortez defeat incumbent Democrat Joe Crowley in 2018.

Lipinski was one of the last pro-life Democrats left in Congress.

Illinois suffered from low voter turnout and failure to provide basic voting materials at some polling stations due to fear and chaos caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus.