U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski is feeling optimistic about reelection in Illinois' 13th

Illinois U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, said she’s not taking anything for granted in her first reelection bid this November.

“We're working really hard throughout the district to tell the story of the work that we've been doing in this first term and making the case for the work that I want to continue to be doing,” Budzinski said on the latest episode of the Politically Speaking podcast.

While Illinois’ 13th Congressional District could be a swing district, stretching from a majority of the Metro East to Springfield and Urbana-Champaign, electoral analysts have it rated as a safe or solid Democratic seat this election cycle.

Challenger Joshua Loyd, R-Virden, will need to overcome a steep fundraising disadvantage to beat Budzinski. She has collected more than $3.3 million while Loyd has raised nearly $27,000, according to the latest reports from the Federal Election Commission.

Before running for office, Budzinski worked in the Biden administration, serving as the chief of staff in the Office of Management and Budget. The Peoria native also was a senior adviser to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. Before that, she worked for a number of unions in Washington, D.C.

After running uncontested in the primary, Budzinski is hoping a track record of bipartisan work will propel her to another two-year term.

Here are some of the topics discussed on the podcast:

• She believes winning federal funding, like a U.S. Department of Transportation grant for Edwardsville, and her work on legislation affecting veterans and agriculture are some of her biggest accomplishments in her first term.
• She addressed waning working-class support for Democrats nationally after some unions declined to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
• Like many politicians, she’s in favor of blocking the sale of U.S. Steel, which owns Granite City Works in the Metro East, to the Japanese-based company Nippon.

Loyd appeared on STLPR's Politically Speaking last week. Both his and Budzinski's podcasts can be found at stlpr.org.