Quinn says he's encouraged Duckworth to weigh lt. gov.'s post

CHICAGO - Gov. Pat Quinn says he told Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth that she should let him know if she's interested in being Illinois' lieutenant governor.

Quinn on Friday said Duckworth, a Hoffman Estates native, is "considering everything" because she has a job right now as an assistant secretary at the Veterans Affairs Department in Washington.

Quinn and Democratic Party leaders are in the hunt for a new lieutenant governor nominee because primary winner Scott Lee Cohen dropped out after questions were raised about his past.

Like Quinn, Duckworth is a champion for veterans issues. She served as Illinois' veterans affairs director before President Barack Obama called her to work in Washington.

Duckworth lost both her legs and partial use of one arm in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Iraq in 2004. She ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2006 but lost.