# Rodney Davis Republican U.S. Representative for central Illinois's 13th district (2013–2023). He was one of the three [[Kevin McCarthy]] picks for the [[House Select Committee on the January 6th Attack]] that [[Nancy Pelosi]] accepted, but he never served on it because McCarthy pulled all five. The next year he lost his House seat in a primary to a Trump-endorsed fellow incumbent. ## Background Born January 5, 1970, in Des Moines, Iowa. He graduated from Millikin University (1992) and spent his early career on the staff of Rep. John Shimkus, managing his 1998 campaign and later serving as projects director. He won the 13th district in 2012. On June 14, 2017, Davis was at the Republican baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, when a gunman opened fire and wounded [[Steve Scalise]] and others. ## House Administration and the committee he didn't join From 2019 to 2023 Davis was the top Republican on the Committee on House Administration, which oversees Capitol security and federal elections. [[Zoe Lofgren]] chaired it. That made him a natural pick for the January 6 inquiry. On July 19, 2021, McCarthy named him alongside [[Jim Banks]], [[Jim Jordan]], [[Kelly Armstrong]] and [[Troy Nehls]]. Pelosi rejected only Banks and Jordan, but McCarthy withdrew all five rather than seat the three she accepted. Davis, the Republican whose committee had oversight of the Capitol, ended up with no seat on the January 6 investigation. ## The 2022 primary Illinois's post-2020 map put his Taylorville home in the redrawn 15th district with Rep. Mary Miller, whom Trump endorsed. On June 28, 2022, Miller beat him **57.4% to 42.6%**. ## After Congress In January 2023 he joined Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies as a managing director. In July 2024 he became head of government affairs at the [[US Chamber of Commerce]]. ## KB significance Davis shows what McCarthy's boycott cost the party's own institutionalists. Pelosi approved him, McCarthy took him off the panel, and the next year a Trump-endorsed incumbent removed him in a primary. He kept the House Administration post through the end of his term but lost the seat. See [[Trump Impeachments Timeline]] for the parallel fate of the defectors. ## Related - [[House Select Committee on the January 6th Attack]] - [[Kevin McCarthy]] · [[Jim Banks]] · [[Troy Nehls]] - [[Zoe Lofgren]]