Tammy Duckworth Beats Mark Kirk: Illinois U.S. Senate Election Results

Minutes after the polls closed in Illinois, Tammy Duckworth was named the projected winner over Republican incumbent Mark Kirk for the Illinois U.S. Senate seat.

"Tonight, we showed a campaign that respects the voters and is focused on practical solutions rather than shopworn slogans can be successful," Duckworth said during her acceptance speech Tuesday. "We showed that a relentless focus on rebuilding Illinois' middle class and respecting hard work rather than wealth can be successful, too."

In her speech, Duckworth thanked her campaign and staff, as well as Sen. Dick Durbin. She also continued to give her support to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

"And while it’s still early and the big race is yet to be called, we are filled with hope that history will be made tonight," she said. "A win for Secretary Clinton is also a win for inclusiveness, and for the American values we hold dear. … Our hope is that tonight’s result serves as a new birth of freedom — and also a reminder that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

About 90 minutes after Duckworth was declared the projected winner, Kirk called his Democratic challenger to concede. He then spoke to his supporters in Northbrook and invited Duckworth to a "beer summit" at the Billy Goat Tavern. He made the offer in order to show that "opponents can peacefully bury the hatchet after a tough election."

RELATED: Tammy Duckworth Celebrates Victory in U.S. Senate Race

Duckworth accepted Kirk's invitation, and the two will most likely meet Friday.

Exit polls by ABC News declared Duckworth the winner. NBC News and the Chicago Tribune also projected a victory for her. With 94 percent of precincts reporting, Duckworth had 55 percent of the unoffical vote (2,790,435), while Kirk had 40 percent (2,041,229).

The win means the seat now belongs to the Democrats, which puts the party a step closer to gaining control of the U.S. Senate.

UPDATED (11:18 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8)

ORIGINAL STORY

Political observers knew the race to fill the Illinois U.S. Senate seat up for election this year would be contentious, given how important it is to both parties. But the battle between incumbent Republican Sen. Mark Kirk and his challenger, Rep. Tammy Duckworth, has almost beeen as fiery and brutal as the presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Democrats targeted the Illinois seat early as a state the party could win in an effort to take back control of the Senate. Because of that, Republicans have been keen to ensure a Kirk victory and keep the office for the GOP.

Throughout his campaign, Kirk has tried to attract moderate and right-leaning Democrats and independents. He was one of the first GOP leaders to distance himself from Trump and has continued to speak out against him. Kirk also was one of only a handful of Republican lawmakers to meet with President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, a move that received praise from Obama.

Early on, Kirk even received endorsements from the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT advocacy group, and Americans for Responsible Solutions, a gun legislation organization founded by former Arizona Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabby Gifford.

But for every step forward taken by Kirk's re-election campaign, it's been knocked back a mile. The senator's public denouncements of Trump only came after Duckworth's camp aired TV ads with audio of Kirk supporting a Trump presidency. The GOP presidential nominee didn't take Kirk's criticism lightly, calling the senator a loser in a closed-door meeting with Republicans. Kirk also has had to apologize for overstating his past service in the U.S. Navy.

The most devastating blow to his campaign, however, came from a comment Kirk made during an Oct. 27 televised debate that mocked Duckworth's Thai heritage and her family's history of military service. Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, and her mother is of Chinese ancestry. Her father was a World War II veteran, and Duckworth is an Army veteran who lost both legs in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on the Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting while serving in Iraq in 2004.

The incumbent candidate apologized for the remark the next day, but the damage had been. Not only was Kirk widely criticized for the remark, but he also lost the endorsements of the HRC and ARS, with both groups giving their support to Duckworth.

Along with her opponent's gaffes, Duckworth has benefitted from being a featured speaker during this summer's Democratic National Convention. Her profile also has been bolstered thanks to high-profile stumping from the likes of President Obama and even former late-night TV talk show host David Letterman.

But a workplace retaliation lawsuit has been hanging over the congresswoman's campaign for much of this year. The legal action was filed by two employees of Anna Veterans' Home who claimed Duckworth, who was in charge of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs at the time, retaliated against them in 2007 for speaking out against their supervisor.

Both sides initially reached a settlement over the summer, but the plaintiffs rejected it because they felt they were dragged through the mud by Duckworth's campaign after the agreement was announced. Duckworth and Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office, which represented the candidate because she was a state employee at the time, have called the filing a "nuisance lawsuit. The case is still unresolved.

Kirk's camp has been trying to use the lawsuit to the GOP candidate's advantage, making sure voters don't forget about it. In September, the plaintiffs appeared in a TV commercial that repeated the lawsuit's allegations, as well as tied Duckworth to imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Kirk also invited the two women to sit in the front row during his Oct. 27 debate with Duckworth.

That's how the politics have played out during this campaign. Here's a look at the candidates' platforms.

Kirk on the Issues

JOB CREATION

Kirk touts his Small Business Bill of Rights — 10 measures designed to help that area of the economy — as the driving force behind creating new jobs in the state and the country. These policies "would immediately give companies and small businesses the certainty and economic environment they need to start hiring again," according to his campaign's website.

FEDERAL BUDGET AND THE ECONOMY

He wants to cut spending and "fix the broken budgeting process" to avoid creating more debt and risking a possible U.S. fiscal crisis. Entitlement reform is one of the areas Kirk would focus on to accomplish this.

NATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE

The U.S. and its allies need to continue to fight Al Qaeda in Afghanistan while rebuilding that country, according to Kirk. But he believes leaders can't ignore the threat of terrorism at home and in other countries, such as Yemen and Somalia.

Kirk has been critical of the Obama administration's deal with Iran at the beginning of the year. He contends the U.S. must remain vigilant and make sure Iran does not create a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

Strengthening the country's relationships with its key allies, especially Israel and South Korea, not only strengthen national security, it also could provide opportunities to create new markets for Illinois exports, according to the senator.

U.S. INFRASTRUCTURE

Kirk has proposed the Lincoln Legacy Infrastructure Development Act to help revitalize the country's aging infrastructure. The measure would use $100 billion in private money to build new roads, airports and railroads. The bill also would encourage more private-public partnerships by eliminating federal restrictions.

Go to Kirk's campaign website for more on her platform.

Duckworth on the Issues

JOBS AND THE ECONOMY

Duckworth also supports policies that help small businesses. As a U.S. representative, she has proposed bipartisan legislation that would eliminate many of the fines levied against first-time federal paperwork offenses, and she co-sponsored a measure that would let small businesses better compete for defense contracts.

She wants to continue to help the manufacturing sector by making it easier for those businesses to invest in equipment and facilities. She also wants to create more retraining initiatives for out-of-work individuals that would make them qualified candidates for manufacturing jobs.

NATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE

The congresswoman says her views on the country's defense are shaped by her time in the Army. Duckworth believes the U.S. "must galvanize every facet of American power — military, diplomatic, intelligence, law enforcement and our deeply-held humanitarian and democratic values — to lead a global campaign that degrades, destroys and ultimately defeats ISIL."

But she thinks the American people need to be more involved in the decision to use military and should be allowed to vote on such plans. Duckworth also believes there needs to be more oversight of ill-advised spending and waste when it comes to the defense budget.

U.S. INFRASTRUCTURE

More bipartisan solutions, such as long-term infrastructure investments, need to be developed to repair the country's eroding bridges and roads. These efforts will create new jobs across America and ensure the country's highway system is safe, according to Duckworth.

CURBING GUN VIOLENCE

Duckworth supports gun legislation that reduces U.S. gun violence "while still respecting and protecting the Second Amendment rights of responsible, law-abiding gun owners." She believes America's epidemic of gun violence is a public health crisis, and she has backed bills to restrict mass shooters from owning assault weapons and stiffen the punishment for stealing guns or illegally buying firearms.

The representative also is in favor of more extensive background checks that weed out people with mental illness, criminal records and other conditions restricting gun ownership.

Go to Duckworth's campaign website for more on her platform.

photo via Patch Archive

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