By Patrick Martin

“The district has a 15 percent unemployment rate, three times the national average, and I just didn’t think it was appropriate for the people of this district to have to accept the status quo for yet another two years,” said Thomas Day, an Iraq War veteran and candidate for Congress.

Day is in the Democratic primary race for the Illinois 7th District. This area includes the Loop, the West Side, part of the South Side and the near west suburbs. Day is challenging Representative Danny Davis who has served in Congress for 20 years.

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Congressman Davis is in Washington D.C. this week, but Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin has known Davis for years and defended the representative’s record.

“He’s brought billions of dollars to the district,” Boykin said. “He knows all the players, he’s well respected and well regarded on both sides of the aisle…there’s no way we would take that chance and replace 20 years [of experience] with somebody new, a political novice.”

Democrats in the Illinois 7th District will get the chance to decide between Day and Davis in the March 15th primary.