Duckworth, Krishnamoorthi don’t fear Walsh

Democratic candidates in the 8th Congressional District race Wednesday said they were undaunted by the possibility of Republican incumbent Joe Walsh changing his mind and running for re-election in the redrawn district.

Neither Tammy Duckworth nor Raja Krishnamoorthi, both from Hoffman Estates, foresee any strategic changes to either their primary or general election campaigns if Walsh moves his re-election bid from the 14th District.

“It’ll probably help me raise money,” Duckworth said with a laugh, adding that her campaign message is the same whomever she’s running against.

Krishnamoorthi agreed that the only thing likely to change would be the amount of attention on the race, not how he’ll run it.

“It’ll get livelier,” he smiled. “Everything gets livelier when Joe Walsh is involved.”

The two 8th District Democrats appeared at a forum Wednesday night held by the Wheeling Township Democratic Organization at Arlington Heights village hall.

Also there were three of the Democratic candidates hoping to challenge Republican incumbent Robert Dold in the 10th District next year — Brad Schneider, Ilya Sheyman and John Tree.

The two other candidates in the 10th District Democratic primary — Vivek Bavda and Aloys Rutagwibira — already spoke to the group in October.

All the candidates spoke proudly of their dedication to a progressive agenda and their desire to take Congress back from what they described as Tea Party extremism.

Krishnamoorthi described an encounter with Walsh at a Tea Party forum in which Walsh gave him the floor to talk about his vision for the country.

“(Walsh) kept saying, ‘Raja, what do you want? What do you really want?’” Krishnamoorthi said.

His reply was that he wanted Walsh to cooperate with the president, whom he felt was putting himself on the line to find solutions to the country’s most serious problems.

“As soon as I said the word ‘cooperate,’ I was booed,” Krishnamoorthi said. “I was booed for saying cooperate with the president of the United States.”

Both Duckworth and Krishnamoorthi described childhoods affected by parental unemployment and poverty. But government assistance was able to provide the stability both families needed to get on their feet again.

The protection of such social safety nets is what both candidates said they’re fighting for.

“I don’t think life is fair,” Duckworth said. “I don’t think it’s the government’s job to make life fair. But when you’re on your knees, like my family was, government should not hurt you. It should be there to help you.”

Krishnamoorthi said his current contributions to society as a mechanical engineer and small-business owner wouldn’t have been possible if his family hadn’t received help during his father’s unemployment.

“I am living proof of the American government to do good,” Krishnamoorthi said.