Updated March 27, 12:45 p.m.
Incumbent Daniel Lipinski cruised to an easy victory in the race for the Democratic nomination in the 3rd Congressional District over Farah Baqai, his challenger from Chicago’s South Side.
In both the city of Chicago and suburban precincts, Lipinski won the March 20 primary election by an overwhelming margin, claiming 87.5 percent of the total vote with all precincts reporting.
The 3rd Congressional District includes the tip of Riverside’s First Division, which is part of Lyons Township, and Brookfield south of Southview Avenue. The redrawn district now extends from the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago all the way southwest to Lemont.
Baqai, a nine-year veteran Chicago police officer ran as a liberal alternative to Lipinski, who has made his mark as a conservative Democrat in a district which has elected a member of the Lipinski family since 1992. The elder Lipinski was the congressman of the 5th District from 1983 until the district boundaries were redrawn after 1990 census.
William Lipinski was the longtime congressman in the 3rd District until 2004, when he bowed out after winning the primary that year. Dan Lipinski, at the time a professor of political science at the University of Tennessee, was placed on the ballot in place of his father.
Dan Lipinski then easily won in the general election against a write-in candidate and a weak GOP challenger, and he has rarely faced a serious challenge in his three bids for re-election.
Baqai, a political neophyte, had little cash to wage a campaign, while Lipinski, a Western Springs resident, has taken in hundreds of thousands of dollars, particularly from transportation interests. He sits on the House Transportation Committee, a body in which his father served before him.
Grabowski takes GOP primary
In November, Lipinski will face off in the general election against Hometown resident Richard Grabowski, a conservative Republican whose positions align with the Tea Party wing of the party.
Grabowski, who ran and lost a bid for state representative in 2010, was a strong winner over two challengers, Western Springs resident James Falvey and Lyons resident Art Jones.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Grabowski had 16,644 votes (65 percent of the total) to Falvey’s 8,190 (32 percent). Jones, a perennial candidate with a past that included ties to Neo-Nazi groups, ran a distant third with 3,057 votes (12 percent).
