Duckworth's bid for Kirk's U.S. Senate seat promises costly battle
Rep. Tammy Duckworth's challenge to Republican Sen. Mark Kirk portends a costly battle in what figures to be one of the most closely watched 2016 Senate contests.
Duckworth, 47, a two-term Democrat from Hoffman Estates who lost her legs in the Iraq War in 2004, announced her bid Monday in a two-minute video. While other Democrats could enter the race and force a primary election, Duckworth is the first to declare her candidacy and would counter Kirk as a veteran and a survivor of physical challenges.
Kirk, 55, of Highland Park, was elected to the Senate in 2010 after nearly 10 years in the House of Representatives. He recovered from a massive stroke in 2012 that kept him out of Congress for nearly a year.
Illinois has had 48 U.S. senators in its history, only one a woman: Carol Moseley Braun, a one-term Democrat elected in 1992. Duckworth will be running in a presidential election year in a state that last favored a Republican for the White House in 1988.
One possible rival for the Democratic nomination, Rep. Cheri Bustos of East Moline, on Monday said she won't run and offered a tacit endorsement of Duckworth. Bustos said in a statement that she can't see "jumping into a race at this time when we already have such a strong fighter for working men and women and veterans."
That leaves Democratic Reps. Bill Foster of Naperville and Robin Kelly of Matteson as Duckworth's most likely rivals. Foster had no comment Monday. Kelly will make a decision on the race soon, spokeswoman Kayce Ataiyero said.
Kirk was one of the most vulnerable GOP senators nationally even before Duckworth announced her candidacy, said Nathan Gonzales, editor of The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, a biweekly newsletter.
Duckworth has never run for statewide office, he noted.
"We'll find out how good a candidate Tammy Duckworth is in the next 12 to 15 months," said Gonzales, who sees the strong possibility of a race animated by "millions of dollars in TV ads."
Kirk began the year with $2 million in campaign funds while Duckworth had more than $1 million. Winning Senate candidates in 2014 spent an average of about $9.65 million each, The Campaign Finance Institute in Washington said. And that money was dwarfed by tens of millions that outside groups poured into fiercely fought races, led by the more than $73 million in outside money spent in the North Carolina race.
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Duckworth's bid for Kirk's U.S. Senate seat promises costly battle