Tammy Duckworth After Election

After The Election Night

The next moring Tammy Duckworth of Hoffman Estates was up and greeting supporters at the Schaumburg Metra Station on Wednesday morning.

After greeting the early morning commuters and catching a quick nap, Duckworth was back at her campaign office in Rolling Meadows, thanking and greeting about 30 of the 700 supporters who helped her in the final weeks of the campaign.


News Sources: Daily Herald, Northwestern.edu
Photo Credit: Amie Hana (from the election night)

Duckworth pledged to be similarly accessible and said she plans to return home to the suburbs after votes each week in Washington, D.C.

Perhaps, she laughed, she’d put a spin on Walsh’s “Cup of Joe with Joe” sessions, calling them the “Weekly waddle” or the “Duck Coop.”

As she begins her congressional term, she says, she is focused on finding folks she can work with on both sides of the aisle on “issues that matter” to the people of her district — transportation, health care and education, among them.

“We have a lot of members who represent the suburbs of Chicago from both sides of the aisle. We’re going to have a lot of shared issues,” she said. “We need to come together and make that happen.”

Duckworth said she has already started making calls - not just to say thanks, but to start reaching out to local mayors about priorities before she heads to Washington. She said much of her discussions focused on infrastructure, especially in regards to transportation, which she called the "lifeblood" of Illinois’ 8th Congressional District.


Despite big election win, Tammy Duckworth faces first-term limitations.

“Well, she won’t have an enormously visible role unless she picks up something related to issues with veterans,” said Dick Simpson, former alderman and professor of political science at the University of Illinois. “Otherwise she will simply be one of the Democratic votes that will make the Democratic group in Congress stronger.

Tammy Duckworth’s election to Congress from the 8th District Tuesday didn’t come as a surprise to most, and although experts see it as an advantage for Democrats in Illinois, they remind constituents that a freshman congresswoman can only do so much.

Because Republicans retained control of the House in Tuesday’s election, Duckworth will be in the minority party, which inevitably means a lower profile than if Democrats were in control.

As a freshman, Duckworth will have to prove herself to her colleagues.

“Most first termers when they come into Congress, they’ll have to establish their reputation,” said John Brehm, political science professor at the University of Chicago. “They still have to do some committee service and extra work ... she may have a little higher profile than most, but not enormously so.”


While she may have to establish herself in Congress, she and other Democrats who ousted incumbent Republican congressmen have already made an impact on Illinois politics.

“Generally speaking, the win by the Democrats has reversed the congressional district in Illinois, a complete reversal of the 2010 election” said Dick Simpson, former alderman and professor of political science at the University of Illinois.

“The new congressional delegation [from Illinois] will be 12 Democrats and only six Republicans,” he said.


“The district was drawn up in such a way that ordinary voters that would have supported Joe Walsh were not regularly there,” he said. “The second reason for Joe Walsh’s loss was that he was going up against a very strong challenger in Tammy Duckworth, former administration official, high name recognition … and the third reason would have to do with his very out of step policy statements, in particular about abortion, about healthcare, about economic growth in the state of Illinois.”

Thank You Note from Tammy Duckworth from Nov 7, 2012

Results are in, and thanks to you, I will be the next Congresswoman for Illinois’s 8th Congressional District.

I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for this campaign. I’ve been continually amazed by your overwhelming support and by the way you’ve come through for me again and again.

Most of all, I’m proud of the way we won. We beat $6 million dollars in Super PAC spending with grassroots contributions from thousands of people who gave whatever they could afford and with volunteers who gave countless hours of their time.


We proved tonight that together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish. That’s the lesson I’m going to take with me to Congress: that rebuilding our economy is going to take compromise and bipartisanship. That our country is at its best when we take care of each other in a time of need. That when we pull together, we can ensure that every American has the chance to achieve the American Dream.

The next two years aren’t going to be easy and I’m going to continue to need you on my side. But together, we’re going to make a difference in Washington and ensure that your voices are heard.

Thank you so very much for everything you’ve done,

Tammy


As she begins her congressional term, she says, she is focused on finding folks she can work with on both sides of the aisle on “issues that matter” to the people of her district — transportation, health care and education, among them.


“We have a lot of members who represent the suburbs of Chicago from both sides of the aisle. We’re going to have a lot of shared issues,” she said. “We need to come together and make that happen.”

The Election Night Speech 

“I’m running to repay some small part of a debt I can never completely repay, a gift given to me on a dusty field in Iraq by the men who saved my life, and to do my part to fulfill the promise of America to the families of the 8th District.”

Khun Sam Ratanasuwan and Khun Poxie Xusai from the Thai Community in Chicago
and Raja Krishnamoorthi


More supporters from the Thai Community in Chicago
including with Khun Nanta Buranakanchana in middle


Tammy's Thai mother, Khun Lamai Duckworth

Reporter from Channel 7  and Raja Krishnamoorthi

Reporters from MyFoxChicago and WGN 9

Nancy Chen on stage

Tammy's brother Thomas Joseph Duckworth

Kaitlin Fahey, Campaign Manager

The volunteer team

Crew members from Voice of America, Washington DC

Tammy Duckworth was asked to put on an ear phone for "live interview" to the VOA radio in Thailand on the election night

Crew members from Thai TV Channel 3

Notes from supporters

“I love laying my head down in my own pillow in my own house more than anything,” she said. Walsh spent the past two years sleeping in his office, but Duckworth said she will likely keep living quarters in Washington, D.C., noting it’s “not easy for me” dealing with prostheses, crutches and a wheelchair.

VOA Video coverage from the election night

News coverage from Thai TV Channel 3 (in Thai)
ข่าว3มืติ071112 by kaewchai

News coverage from NBC
 

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

News Coverage from WGN 9 by Nancy Loo