Rep. LaHood, who is running in newly-drawn 16th Congressional District, will join Mike Pence at Lincoln Day dinner

LaHood’s district will include La Salle, Livingston, Putnam, Bureau counties

FILE - Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, Nov. 30, 2021. Pence said Friday in a speech in Florida that the former president is simply “wrong" when he says Pence had the right to unilaterally “overturn the election.” (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Dunlap) announced Vice President Mike Pence will join him as a special guest and the keynote speaker for the joint 2022 Lincoln Day Dinner with the Peoria and Tazewell County Republican Central Committees.

The dinner will be Monday, June 20. The Peoria-Tazewell Lincoln Day Dinner is one of the largest events in Illinois Republican politics, with Republican activists, leaders, officeholders, and prospective candidates from across Illinois coming to speak to voters.

“Vice President Mike Pence is a conservative champion who has been on the frontlines to defend our Midwest values and promote Republican candidates across the country. I am honored that he will join us as the keynote speaker for the 2022 Peoria-Tazewell Lincoln Day Dinner,” LaHood said in a press release. “As a former governor and House Republican, Vice President Pence understands the importance of firing Speaker Pelosi for good and defeating Gov. JB Pritzker. Illinois will be a key battleground for taking back the House this November, and I look forward to welcoming Vice President Pence to Peoria.”

LaHood, who is the National Finance Chair for the National Republican Campaign Committee and a co-chair of the Trump-Pence campaign in 2020, is running for reelection in the 16th Congressional District, which includes La Salle, Marshall, Bureau, Livingston and Putnam counties. The district seat, which is held by U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Channahon), was reconfigured after the latest census. Kinzinger is not running for reelection in the House.

“President Biden and Gov. Pritzker’s radical left agenda are leading Illinois and America down a path of decay and decline,” Pence said in a press release. “With conservative leaders like Darin LaHood and Esther Joy King in Congress, we can restore American energy independence, reestablish strong American leadership, and revive the economy that was the strongest in American history during the Trump-Pence administration. I look forward to joining Peoria and Tazewell conservatives to discuss our shared vision for the future of Illinois.”