Illinois
Democrat Duckworth to run for U.S. Senate in 2016
Send a link to a friend
[March 31, 2015]
By Emily Stephenson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative
Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, will run for the U.S. Senate in
2016, saying in a video posted to her website on Monday that she would
"fight my heart out" for constituents.
|
Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran who lost both legs in a helicopter
crash, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012. She
previously was an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs.
In Congress, she serves on armed services and government oversight
committees.
In the video, Duckworth, 47, said she sponsored legislation to keep
lawmakers from getting paid if they could not agree on a federal
government budget, and she said she returned $10,000 of her own pay
and cut her office's budget.
"It's time for Washington to be held accountable," Duckworth said.
Current U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, 55, a Republican who joined the
Senate in 2010, has said he will seek re-election in 2016. Democrats
had discussed Duckworth as a potential challenger because she is
well known nationally for her personal story and could be a
formidable fundraiser.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Mar/31/images/ads/current/charrons_bch041713.png)
The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which works to elect
Republicans to the Senate, on Monday called Duckworth a "partisan
politician."
[to top of second column] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Mar/31/images/ads/current/bassetts_lda_farm_2015.png)
"Senator Kirk's record of accomplishment and thoughtful independence
will outshine any candidate that emerges from the Democrat primary
in Illinois," NRSC spokeswoman Andrea Bozek said in a statement.
Duckworth said in the video on her website that her father had lost
his job at age 55 and that her family had gone on food stamps for a
period.
She called for a renewed focus on programs to help families, such as
more pre-kindergarten programs for children, cheaper college loans
and tax cuts for small businesses.
(Reporting by Emily Stephenson; Editing by Susan Heavey, Lisa
Lambert and Jonathan Oatis)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |