U.S. Rep. Miller has a challenger this time in Democrat Jennifer Todd

St. Louis Public Radio | By Katie Grawitch

[Originally published https://www.stlpr.org/government-politics-issues/2026-10-29/u-s-rep-miller-challenger-this-year-democrat-jennifer-todd]

U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Hindsboro, is facing a challenger in the general election for the first time since 2022.

The Trump-backed incumbent is up against Edwardsville resident Jennifer Todd on Tuesday to represent Illinois’ heavily gerrymandered 15th District.

The horseshoe-shaped 15th District wraps around the blue-leaning 13th District that snakes from East St. Louis through Springfield to Champaign-Urbana. The 15th is rated solid Republican by the Cook Political Report.

Miller won by 42 percentage points in her last contested general election.

Todd is a self-proclaimed political outsider and lifelong Metro East resident. She is a nurse, putting her among a nationwide surge of scientists and healthcare professionals running for office in the midterms. That group also includes fellow midterm challengers Republican Jeff Wilson in the 13th District and Democrat Julie Fortier in the 12th.

Todd said working as a nurse propelled her toward politics when she saw patients struggling to afford care. Her platform includes affordability for residents in her district, especially for farmers and veterans who face additional financial hardship.

Miller touts bipartisan rural broadband and crop insurance legislation as successes in her previous terms. In addition to serving on the Agriculture Committee, as well as Education and Labor, she is a member of the House Freedom Caucus that includes some of the most conservative members of Congress.

She has backed the president’s agenda on most issues and denounced the commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Miller did not respond to interview requests to discuss the race with Todd.

Todd said district constituents are braced for Medicaid work requirements that are slated to kick in next year. The cuts are expected to boot 10 million people from coverage nationwide by 2034 and cut spending by $911 billion.

Health policy nonprofit KFF reported that nearly half of all births and a fifth of inpatient discharges in rural hospitals are funded by Medicaid.

While affordability for Medicaid patients alone is important to Todd, she is also in favor of preserving the program to keep rural hospitals open.

“Any ancillary services, as in physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, the number of visits are getting cut,” Todd said. “A lot of the (rural) facilities rely on Medicaid. That's what pays the bills, that pays the employees, and you have to have that to be able to keep your doors open.”

Agriculture is the leading industry in the 15th District. Miller has voted to fund crop insurance and cut water runoff regulations for farmers and ranchers as a member of the Agriculture Committee. Miller pitches herself as a supporter of family farms, citing her own third-generation cattle and grain farm.

Todd said she would have voted against the Farm Bill that passed in the House earlier this year because of cuts to SNAP and agricultural research programs that she said are hurting farmers in her district.

“The Farm Bill does nothing, actually nothing, for family farms,” Todd said.

Farmers are also especially vulnerable to rising gas prices because they use diesel to fuel their equipment. Higher overhead costs for farmers translate to higher prices for groceries and other agricultural products used by the general public.

Todd said the Iran war is putting an unnecessary cost burden on farmers already squeezed by the long-stalled Farm Bill.

Miller is one of the staunchest Trump supporters in Congress. She has centered her campaign on supporting the president’s platform across the board, including his battle against “gender ideology” in schools and his efforts to arrest and deport people without legal status at higher rates.

Todd takes issue with Trump policies that she feels are exacerbating affordability concerns for her constituents.

She said she would vote to rein in Trump’s military action in Iran and the administration’s sweeping tariffs.

“We need to be able to have oversight,” Todd said. “We need be able say, ‘No, you can't spend money on that,’ or, ‘No, that's a vanity project.’”

Her stance on immigration includes strong border protections and dignity for families of incarcerated and deported people. Todd said she would like to see more federal immigration staffing to alleviate wait times for people seeking legal status.

“We need to have access to more immigration attorneys, more immigration judges, where there's not a backlog of people waiting to get their green card or waiting to become citizens,” Todd said.

Early voting is underway. Election Day is Tuesday.