illinois rep. tammy duckworth, an asian american and disabled veteran of the iraq war, ousted republican sen. mark kirk on tuesday, after a contentious battle that left the centrist incumbent on the defensive for much of the campaign. ms. duckworth won with 66.3% percent of the vote, compared with 28.9% for mr. kirk when the associated press called the race with 20% of precincts reporting. elected to the house in 2012, ms. duckworth previously worked as an assistant secretary in the u.s. department of veterans affairs and before that was the head of veterans affairs for the state of illinois. while in iraq in 2004, she lost both her legs when the black hawk helicopter she was piloting was shot down. mr. kirk was elected in 2010 as part of a gop wave that added to the party<u+2019>s strength and helped it win control of the senate in 2014. but in the year of donald trump, that wave receded and left mr. kirk exposed. the centrist mr. kirk, also a veteran, often emphasized his distance from the party establishment. he called for a vote on president barack obama <u+2019>s nominee for the supreme court, merrick garland, for example, despite the senate gop leadership<u+2019>s insistence on waiting until the next president is chosen. a former five-term congressman from the chicago suburbs, he supports gun control. but ms. duckworth was able to find ways to connect him to his party, noting most prominently his stances on trade. he voted to give the white house <u+201c>fast track<u+201d> authority for the 12-nation trans-pacific partnership trade deal in 2015, for example. the incumbent<u+2019>s fate was probably sealed in the final weeks of the campaign when he sarcastically brought up ms. duckworth<u+2019>s heritage<u+2014>her mother came to the u.s. from thailand<u+2014>during a debate on oct. 27. referring to her service and that of her father, a captain in the army, she said she was a daughter of the american revolution, to which mr. kirk replied, <u+201c>i forgot that your parents came all the way from thailand to serve george washington.<u+201d> ms. duckworth said nothing in response, and the audience went silent. the debate went on to the next question. but the comments set off a barrage of criticism from people in both parties who said mr. kirk had crossed a line. she will occupy the seat held by barack obama before he became president.
tammy duckworth wins illinois senate race - wsj
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