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U.S. Rep. Johnson not seeking re-election

Story Created: Apr 5, 2012 at 5:20 PM CDT

Story Updated: Apr 5, 2012 at 5:20 PM CDT

By Andrew Thomason | Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Rep. Tim Johnson announced Thursday he would not run for re-election to the U.S. Congress.
 
It is now up to the Illinois Republican Party to choose the Urbana Republican’s replacement for District 13 in the Nov. 6 general election.
 
“This is 100 percent, nothing more nothing less, than a personal, family decision,” Johnson, 65, said, according to the Urbana-Champaign News-Gazette. 
 
Johnson has served in Congress since 2000. It was expected that he would have a hard time getting re-elected this year after the Democrats redrew the congressional map in the state after the 2010 U.S. Census.
 
But David Gill, a Bloomington doctor, beat Matt Goetten in the Democratic primary last month.
 
Gill is much more progressive than Goetten, who was also backed by many prominent Democrats, including Illinois senator and Democratic Whip Dick Durbin. Gill’s outspoken support of gay marriage and pro-choice stances are seen as liabilities in the downstate district.
 
Gill has run against and lost to Johnson three times.

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