U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth was expected to sail to a second term Tuesday after her Republican challenger struggled to gain traction against the incumbent and rising political star in the Democratic Party.
The Associated Press called the race for U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth shortly after the polls closed Tuesday, and in other statewide contests, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza and Treasurer Michael Frerichs saw good early returns in their reelection against GOP opponents.
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In unofficial early results, Mendoza was leading her opponent, Shannon Teresi, with 62% of the vote and less than 1% of precincts reporting about 7:30 p.m. Meanwhile, Frerichs was leading Republican Tom Demmer with 60% of the vote with less than 1% of precincts reporting.
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In unofficial early results, Duckworth, a combat veteran who lost both legs in the Iraq War, was garnering 61% of the vote over her opponent Kathy Salvi with 4% of precincts reporting as of 7:45 p.m. At her watch party inside the Adler Planetarium, supporters chatted excitedly amid tables brimming with plush duck toys clad in camouflage shirts that read “Tammy Strong.”
Duckworth took the stage shortly before 8 p.m.
“To all of Kathy’s supporters, know that through all of next term, I will fight for all of Illinois,” Duckworth said, nothing Salvi had called her to concede.
In 2012, Duckworth of Hoffman Estates became the first disabled woman elected to Congress when she defeated then-U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, a Republican. Four years later, she cruised to victory over Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and has since become the first sitting senator to give birth, a household name in Illinois politics and a popular enough politician nationally to be shortlisted by President Joe Biden for vice president.
Democrats expected Duckworth’s seat to be an easy one to hold on to despite the midterm year boding a red wave including the possibility of either or both chambers of U.S. Congress flipping to Republican control. Duckworth maintained a clear fundraising advantage over Salvi throughout the general election.
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The freshman senator is vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and has aligned herself closely with the Democratic Party’s national agenda, having voted for Biden’s sweeping Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan.
Duckworth is on the U.S. Senate’s Armed Services Committee as well as the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
She passed an infrastructure bill that prevents governors from delaying projects in neighboring states, another that allows veteran small business owners to acquire surplus federal equipment and property and a law requiring airports to provide rooms for nursing mothers and restroom changing tables.
One provision she introduced that passed in 2021 provides funding to build clean water infrastructure and remove lead pipes across the country. The Environmental Protection Agency planned to allot $288 million to Illinois in 2022 because of the law, according to Duckworth.
Much of Duckworth’s Senate work has focused on advocating for veterans and their families. Before running for Congress, Duckworth led Illinois’ Veterans Affairs Department in 2006 under disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and became an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs after Barack Obama was elected president.
Salvi has never held public office but touted a conservative agenda that included increasing domestic energy production, shrinking government spending, cutting taxes and increasing border security. She stuck closely to the Republican 2022 playbook on the campaign trail, assailing Biden for having a “socialist, leftist agenda” and Duckworth for being nothing more than a “rubber stamp.”
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On abortion, Salvi and Duckworth perhaps diverged the most, with the challenger opposing abortion rights and Duckworth vowing to do “absolutely everything” in her power to enshrine a federal right to abortion if reelected. Reproductive rights were a key tenet of Duckworth’s campaign this year following the reversal of Roe v. Wade that returned the legalization of abortion to the states.
Meanwhile, Mendoza was leading a well-financed Republican challenger in Teresi, who was part of a slate backed by billionaire Ken Griffin in the primary. Mendoza, an unsuccessful candidate for Chicago mayor in 2019, took credit for a modest rebound in the state’s finances during her six years in office.
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And Frerichs was hoping to beat beat back a challenge from Republican Demmer after highlighting a record that he said includes returning more unclaimed property to residents, starting new investment programs and making significant changes to the state’s Bright Start college savings program.
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