Democrat Betsy Dirksen-Londrigan is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. She spoke with St. Louis Public Radio’s Eric Schmid and Jaclyn Driscoll about her race against U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District, which includes a portion of the Metro East.

Dirksen-Londrigan ran against Davis in 2018, narrowly losing to the incumbent Republican by 2,058 votes. The race is again expected to be close on Nov. 3. Davis won reelection in 2014 and 2016 by nearly 20 percentage points each time.

Here’s what Dirksen-Londrigan talked about during the program.

• Why she’s running for a second time to unseat Davis.
• The status of the Affordable Care Act and her support of “Medicare-X,” which would add a public option to the health care marketplaces.
• The national response to the coronavirus pandemic and her vision for how the federal government can help Americans make it to the other side of the pandemic.
• College costs and her ideas for how to make higher education more affordable.

Dirksen-Londrigan was born and raised in Springfield. She was formerly a teacher and the director of Alumni Affairs at the University of Illinois in Springfield. She also worked on downstate fundraising for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.

Davis appeared on Politically Speaking earlier this month.

Follow Jaclyn Driscoll on Twitter: @DriscollNPR

Follow Eric Schmid on Twitter: @EricDSchmid

Follow Betsy Dirksen-Londrigan on Twitter: @BetsyforIL

Music: “On the Loose” by Europe