Carbondale, Ill. – 12th District Congressional candidate Ray Lenzi today claimed victory in the race for the Democratic nomination moments after his opponent conceded the election.
“As the mail-in, absentee and provisional ballots were counted it was clear that Joel Funk would not be able to overcome our margin of victory,” Lenzi said.
Only a few counties have yet to produce their final ballot count, but the heavily populated counties such as St. Clair and Madison have finished and the few ballots that remain uncounted will not change the outcome.
“Joel ran a great campaign, and he and his supporters deserve to be congratulated on their efforts,” noted Lenzi. “But it was time for the process to move forward. We hope we can work with Joel in the future to unite the party as we approach the November election.”
This marks the first time in decades that the Metro-East candidate lost in the Democratic primary election.
“We ran an unconventional grass-roots campaign,” noted Lenzi. My congratulations to our staff our volunteers, and our supporters. We operated on a shoe-string budget which meant we had to be innovative and energetic in our campaign methods, in our efforts to reach out to voters, and do fundraising. We able to overcome the advantage of our opponent being from St. Clair County.
Lenzi said that the same unique style will continue. “We are going to stay safe and follow all the guidelines as far as social distancing goes,” Lenzi said. “But with the help of our staff, we will engage with voters in the 12th District because allowing Mike Bost to stay in Washington is unacceptable.
“Mike Bost has not served the people of the district, even refusing to meet with and engage the people. He has also voted against their healthcare needs, he voted for tax cuts for the super-rich, and he has ignored the needs of the region.”

Lenzi went on to say it’s time to win back the 12 District seat for the working families of Southern Illinois and the Metro-east. “It’s time to bring back a representative who really represents the people of the district, like former Democratic congressmen Kenny Gray, Paul Simon, Glenn Poshard, and Jerry Costello.”
“As we said throughout the campaign, ’The times they are ‘a changin’…It’s time to retire Mike Bost.’”

For more information, contact:
Rod Sievers
Communications Director
Ray Lenzi for Congress
618/521-9395