Duckworth declines 2008 race

[wndycty]

Duckworth declines 2008 race

By John Biemer
Tribune staff reporter
Published July 8, 2007, 2:13 PM CDT
There will be no redux for Tammy Duckworth in the 2008 election.

Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran now serving as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, said Sunday that she has decided not to run again next year against U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) in the 6th Congressional District.

As a Democrat and political newcomer a year ago, Duckworth fell just a few percentage points shy of Roskam as they vied for an open seat in a west-suburban district that has long been a Republican stronghold. The race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde became one of the most hotly contested in the nation. Duckworth attracted international attention as a veteran who had lost both her legs in the war when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the helicopter she was co-piloting.

In the end, Roskam bested Duckworth with 51.4 percent of the vote to her 48.6 percent, providing one of the few disappointments for Democrats in a year when they swept into power in Congress -- but the slim margin of defeat left Democrats believing the seat is within their reach.
-snip-

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070708duckworth,1,1187752.story?track=rss

[madfloridian]

1. Well, I see Christine will be using the grassroots connections she helped build...

to help and reach out to another candidate.

[wundermaus]

2. Tammy Duckworth - We need you more than ever...

Sep 29, 2006
Tammy Duckworth Democratic Radio Address

http://www.dccc.org/news/electronic_media/20060930_duckworth_address/

[madfloridian]

3. Best Cegelis isn't running....they would not let it happen.

It is a good idea for her to do it this way. The DCCC spent what...about half a million to keep her out of the race last time..guess she got the message. Would have been nice for them to have that amount to apply to the general election instead of the primary.

We will be very glad to donate to a candidate she likes.

From the article:

"Christine Cegelis, a Rolling Meadows software engineer who earned 44 percent of the vote against Hyde in 2004 and lost by four percentage points to Duckworth in the 2006 primary, said Sunday she was not running for the seat this time, but she is using the grass-roots connections she built within the district to reach out to potential candidates.

"I do believe 2008 will be a very good year for Democrats again," she said. "This is very much a winnable race. I think it's going to happen at some point."

[Snarkoleptic]

4. She was Grand Marshall of the Hoffman Estates Independance Day Parade!

I got interviewed on-camera by CLTV while watching the parade.
The question was "How do you feel about Ms. Duckworth being Grand Marshall?".
My reply was "I'm delighted that she's Grand Marnchall and very proud of her service, after all she lost her legs in battle during an unjust war...."
Needless to say, my interview didn't make it on TV.
They did show a pic of me wearing my stars and stripes top hat...so I've got that going for me.