Metro-east Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski will face this Republican challenger in November

Republican Joshua Loyd of Virden will run against U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski for her seat in Congress in the Nov. 5 general election, according to unofficial Republican primary election results.

Loyd faced Republican Thomas Clatterbuck of Champaign in Tuesday’s primary for the 13th Congressional District, which stretches from southwestern to central Illinois. The Associated Press called the race shortly after 11 p.m. while votes were still being counted.

With more than 60% of the votes counted, Loyd was leading Clatterbuck by 12 percentage points:

• Loyd: 15,209, or 56% of the votes.

• Clatterbuck: 11,978, or 44% of the votes.

Counties may receive additional mail-in ballots until April 2. The results are unofficial until local election authorities complete their canvass of results next month.

Budzinski, a Democrat from Springfield, is seeking a second term in Congress in November. She didn’t have a Democratic challenger in the primary.

The Democratic-controlled Illinois General Assembly redrew the map of congressional districts in 2022 to favor a Democrat in the 13th, creating a challenge for Loyd in the matchup with Budzinski. The district includes cities like East St. Louis, Springfield, Decatur, Champaign and Urbana that lean Democratic.

In Budzinski’s last general election, she had a 14-point lead over her Republican challenger Regan Deering, with about 57% of the vote compared to Deering’s 43%.

Three of the seven counties in the district, Macoupin, Macon and Piatt counties, preferred Deering, but they accounted for just 14% of the votes.

In a Tuesday night statement, Budzinski re-emphasized her mission as the 13th District’s representative: to work across the aisle on issues that matter to southern and central Illinois.

“I’ve been so honored to champion the needs of workers, veterans, family farmers and communities that have been left out and left behind for far too long,” Budzinski stated. “As the Democratic Nominee for Illinois’ 13th Congressional District, I look forward to highlighting the strong record of results I’ve been able to achieve, and the bipartisan approach I’ve taken to get things done for the people I serve.”

Loyd said in response to the BND’s candidate questionnaire that he wanted to run for office because he has seen government inefficiencies from both working in government and trying to receive help from the government. He said the top three issues in the 13th District are “education, civic involvement and development, and law and order.”

“These are the base layers for every other issue we may have in society,” Loyd wrote. “Let us fortify our foundation before we build so we do not make a house on sand.”