Cougar Won Illinois Primary With Chump Change...Ready to Rip Jerry Costello to Shreds

​Teri Davis Newman, one of the RFT's Ask A Cougar! columnist competition also-ran, says she won the GOP primary in Illinois' Twelfth Congressional District last week with less than $2,000.

And now Newman says fiscal responsibility will figure big in her platform this year as she tries to oust Rep. Jerry Costello in the November election. "We need lower taxes, we need to stop borrowing money we don't have, we need to educate our kids so they can get ahead, and we need to kick out illegals that are sucking up social services in a huge way. I mean, look at California! What part of 'illegal' do these people not understand?!"

Reeow!

Newman says she and her fellow conservative challenger, Theresa Kormos, had "a ladies' agreement" not to get too catty during the primary. (Though Kormos did raise the, uh, cougar issue once or twice...)

But now Newman is sharpening her nails in the fight against Costello, a Congressman for more than two decades. "I think I just might pull this off," she confides. "I've talked to about a thousand people -- I know this because I had a thousand business cards -- and of all the people I talked to, I think six had something nice to say about Jerry. The rest of them are like, 'He's scum! Beat him!'"

Newman plans to hire a campaign manager, but otherwise doesn't expect the stumpin' life to change much from primary season. She has a roster of brides lined up for her wedding planning business....just in case.