Tammy Duckworth Defeats Tea Party Congressman Joe Walsh

One of the most closely watched House races in the country was in Illinois’s 8th District, which covers part of the Chicago suburbs, where outspoken and often confrontational Republican Congressman Joe Walsh was taking on Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth. As expected given the nature of the district that Walsh was redistricted into, Duckworth ended up winning rather easily:

In one of the nation’s most expensive, most hostile and most closely watched Congressional races, Democrat Tammy Duckworth, a disabled Iraqi War veteran, defeated Tea Party-backed Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) in the northwest suburban 8th Congressional District campaign.

Duckworth declared victory shortly after 10 p.m.

“I would never have been able to do this without your incredible support,” a beaming Duckworth told more than 200 cheering supporters at her victory party at a Holiday Inn in Elk Grove Village. “You, my friends, stood with me when others tried to buy this election.”

She said she had just gotten a call from Walsh, who was “very gracious” in conceding defeat.

In her victory speech, Duckworth talked about her father, who died while she was recovering from her war wounds.

“I know he would be proud of me right now,” she said.

“I would never have been able to do this without your incredible support,” a beaming Duckworth told more than 200 cheering supporters at her victory party at a Holiday Inn in Elk Grove Village. “You, my friends, stood with me when others tried to buy this election.”

She said she had just gotten a call from Walsh, who was “very gracious” in conceding defeat.

In her victory speech, Duckworth talked about her father, who died while she was recovering from her war wounds.

“I know he would be proud of me right now,” she said.

Duckworth ended up winning 55% to 45%, a fairly decisive repudiation of a freshman Congressman who had raised the ire of many on both sides of the aisle. I can’t say that I’m unhappy to see him go.

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, Congress, US Politics, , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Fiona says:

    Hooray!

  2. swearyanthony says:

    How will he afford to pay his child support now?

  3. grumpy realist says:

    Walsh was the reason I looked at the election returns last night. Can’t stand the bozo. He managed to piss off a lot of people here in Illinois.

    (My voting was very boring. Mainly spent making sure I didn’t vote for the judges the Illinois Bar Association thought should get booted off the bench. That’s Illinois voting for you: 5 political spots and then 12 pages of judges.)

  4. J-Dub says:

    @swearyanthony: With any luck he won’t be able to make his child support payments and get tossed in jail where deadbeat dads belong.

  5. legion says:

    This is one down-ticket race I was really pulling for – Walsh has disgraced himself in about every way possible short of being arrested. What a terrible guy.