Grabowski Grabs GOP Nod for 3rd District in Decisive Win
Hometown materials-supervisor faces Congressman Dan Lipinski in 3rd Congressional race in November.
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Materials-supervisor Rich Grabowski handily won the Republican nomination in the Illinois 3rd Congressional District. Grabowski, a constitutional conservative, faces Democratic Congressman Dan Lipinski in November.
The Hometown man beat Western Springs-attorney Jim Falvey in a 2-to-1 landslide. Perennial fringe candidate and Holocaust denier Arthur J. Jones of Lyons came in a distant third.
Grabowski won 59 percent of the vote with 20,536, followed by Falvey with 29 percent or 10,287, and Jones capturing 10 percent with 3,797.
Asked what he was going to do next, Grabowski answered, “sleep.”
“I haven’t done that for awhile,” he continued. “Tomorrow I will start work at 6:30 a.m.”
Grabowski won endorsements from Orland, Worth and Palos Township Republicans, and the support of Tea Party groups in Lemont, Homer Glen and Lockport.
He credited his grassroots campaign that included spending entire nights putting up his signature navy blue and orange campaign signs throughout the 3rd District, and social media.
“I spent about $2,500,” Grabowski said. “A lot of it was Internet-based, with people passing [my campaign] on through Facebook and Patch.”
He did not know if he would receive funding support from the National Republican Party or Illinois Republicans.
Grabowski has run unsuccessfully for Hometown alderman, the local school board, and in 2010, the Illinois state legislature.
“I was happy with how it turned out,” Grabowski said. “Win or lose, I was going to pick up and move on,” he said.
Falvey called to congratulate Grabowski on his decisive win.
“I said, ‘great job, good luck and go get Dan Lipinski,” Falvey said. “I told him I’d be happy to help in any way he saw fit.”
In the middle of his campaign, Falvey underwent surgery for thyroid cancer which he said he kept “on the low key” during the race. His prognosis for a full recovery is “excellent.”
“The race put into perspective for me in terms of what’s important in life,” Falvey said, “your family, your health. I think that’s why I’m responding as well [to the loss] as I am.”
