Asian American Tammy Duckworth has won the Illinois Senate race after beating Republican incumbent Mark Kirk.
Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand. Her American father was a US Army veteran whose family’s roots date back to the American Revoilutionary War. Her mother is Thai with Chinese ancestory. She is fluent in Thai and Indonesian, as well as English.
Duckworth serves in the US House of Representatives and is now set to head to the upper chamber of Congress.
Duckwroth led in the polls throughout her campiagn. Her lead surged after Kirk slammed her family for its history of military service during a debate on 27 October 2016. Duckworth was an Army combat pilot who lost both of her legs in Iraq. In the debate she discussed her Thai heritage and her family’s military service that dates back to the American Revolution.
“I had forgotten your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington,” Kirk replied before a stunned audience.
A poll conducted by Emerson College from 28 October to 30 October put Duckworth ahead of her opponent by 18% whilst FiveThirtyEight gave Duckworth a 97.4/% chance of winning Illinois.
