Loading ...Darin LaHood wins GOP primary for Aaron Schock's seat
Illinois state Sen. Darin LaHood easily won the Republican primary to replace former GOP Rep. Aaron Schock on Tuesday, making him the strong favorite to win the special election in the heavily Republican district.
LaHood beat Mike Flynn, a Breitbart News editor who grew up in the district. With 56 percent of the precincts reporting, LaHood was leading with 70 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press, which called the race. Flynn had 28 percent.
LaHood had been the prohibitive front-runner in the race since he announced he would run in March, one day after Schock said he would step down following a series of damaging revelations about his spending while in office. A late endorsement on Monday from Ted Cruz, the Texas senator and GOP presidential candidate, and a spate of favorable Breitbart stories on the race were not enough for Flynn, who’d cast himself as more independent of the GOP establishment than LaHood.
A former federal prosecutor, LaHood benefited from his well-known last name — his father, former GOP Rep. Ray LaHood, represented the district for seven terms before President Barack Obama tapped him as transportation secretary — but also took pains to emphasize that he was more conservative than his father.
In the Democratic primary, Rob Mellon, a social studies teacher, was leading Adam Lopez, a Springfield school board member and insurance executive. Mellon had 61 percent of the vote to Lopez’s 39 percent with 56 percent of precincts reporting, though the AP hadn’t projected a winner.
The special general election is Sept. 10.
Source: www.politico.com