In a very rare move, two sitting members of the House endorsed a challenger to a colleague from their own party on Wednesday when Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Luis Gutierrez gave their backing to businesswoman Marie Newman, who is running against Chicago-area Rep. Dan Lipinski in the March Democratic primary. What's more, both Schakowsky and Gutierrez are also from Illinois, and Gutierrez's district even abuts Lipinski's (though demographically they are very different).
Schakowsky was completely blunt about why she's supporting Newman, repeatedly calling out Lipinski by name at a press conference on Capitol Hill:
Marie supports the Affordable Care Act and believes health care is a right; Dan Lipinski was the only Illinois Democrat to vote against the ACA. Marie supports the Dreamers and comprehensive immigration reform; Dan Lipinski voted to build a fence on the U.S.-Mexican border, voted against the DREAM Act, and said Donald Trump will be the champion of immigration reform. Marie Newman is an unequivocal supporter of a women's right to make her own health care decisions while Dan Lipinski championed over 50 bills to restrict a woman's right to choose and repeatedly voted to defund Planned Parenthood.
Right on! Gutierrez likewise harped on Lipinski for his hostility to DREAMers. Again, though, what's remarkable is not what was said but who's saying it. Lipinski must have worked pretty hard not to make friends with members of his own delegation, but there's something more at play here. As Gutierrez noted, "This is a very special, and I think dangerous, time in America." The old go-along, get-along rules of protecting fellow incumbents might just be a casualty of our present circumstances, though unlike most other norms, this would be a good once to chuck.
And for Newman, the fact that these two members of Congress have now rallied to her side could inspire others to do the same. This stamp of approval means that other potential supporters and donors who until now had been sitting this one out have serious cause to take a second look at this race and consider getting behind Newman themselves, and that would be a big deal for her campaign.
You can help Marie Newman now by donating $3 to her campaign so that she can send the anti-choice Lipinski packing!