Tammy Duckworth, the Iraq War veteran and former Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, has defeated challenger Raja Krishnamoorthi for the Democratic ticket in the 8th District Congressional race in Illinois.
Krishnamoorthi conceded the race to Duckworth, the Chicago Tribune reports, after Duckworth led with 66 percent of the vote to Krishnamoorthi's 34 percent with about 60 percent of the precincts reporting.
Duckworth claims the victory after losing a close and contentious battle against Peter Roskam in 2006 for Henry Hyde's long-held sixth district seat.
Krishnamoorthi, a 37-year-old political newcomer from Hoffman Estates who serves as President of a Bolingbrook-based research and development company that specializes in military technology.
Duckworth will now contend with Republican Joe Walsh for the Congressional seat in the newly-drawn 8th Congressional District, which was particularly impacted by redistricting in May, even relocating Walsh's home from the district where he previously served.
The campaign to elect Duckworth predicted in July that early polls spelled an easy win for the former director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, and anticipated that the redistricting would make the 8th District a Democratic stronghold in November.
Duckworth also secured key endorsements, including a nod from the often right-leaning Chicago Tribune, and a thumb's up from Assistant Majority Leader Sen. Dick Durbin.
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