Daniel William Lipinski (born July 15, 1966) is an American politician and political scientist who served eight terms as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 3rd congressional district from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Blue Dog Coalition, Lipinski was one of the most socially conservative Democrats in Congress. A conservative, he did not endorse President Barack Obama in the 2012 United States presidential election. Lipinski opposed legalized abortion and embryonic stem cell research and was one of 39 House Democrats to vote against the Affordable Care Act. He served a district whose Democratic Party electorate became increasingly liberal during his time in Congress, leading to his defeat in the Democratic primary for the 2020 election by Marie Newman. Early life, education, and career Lipinski was born in Chicago, the son of Rose Marie (née Lapinski) and former U.S. Congressman Bill Lipinski. He attended St. Ignatius College Prep, graduating in 1984. He received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Northwestern University in 1988, an M.S. in engineering-economic systems from Stanford University in 1989 and a Ph.D. in political science from Duke University in 1998. In the summer of 1992, Lipinski interned at the United States Department of Labor. He interned for U.S. Congressman George E. Sangmeister from 1993 to 1995. From 1995 to 1996 Lipinski was a legislative staff member for U.S. Congressman Jerry Costello. He then served on Cook County State's Attorney Richard A. Devine's campaign during the 1996 election season, and later on Devine's transition staff. After a short stint on then-U.S. Congressman Rod Blagojevich's staff, Lipinski served as a communications staff aide to then-House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt. From 2000 to 2001, Lipinski taught at the University of Notre Dame. In 2001, he joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee, where he remained until his election to Congress in 2004. U.S. House of Representatives In 2004 Lipinski's father ran for re-nomination in the Democratic primary. After easily winning the nomination, the elder Lipinski announced his retirement. As the Democratic committeeman for Chicago's 23rd Ward—which is virtually coextensive with the Chicago portion of the 3rd district—he was able to persuade the state Democratic Party to select his son to replace him on the ballot. The move was somewhat controversial; since the younger Lipinski had not lived regularly in Illinois since 1989 or run for elected office before, but it allowed him to sidestep the Democratic primary—the real