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Duckworth the first Asian-American from Illinois in Congress

Tammy Duckworth watched election night returns roll in from her hotel room, not quite ready to declare victory. Downstairs, a campaign aide told a packed room of supporters that a win would carry extra significance.

“We are making history tonight,” campaign treasurer Nancy Chen said.

Less than two hours later, the results were in, Republican Rep. Joe Walsh had called to concede and Duckworth had become the first Asian-American from Illinois elected to Congress.

Duckworth courted Asian voters, and with good political reason. Not only would it be another natural base of potential support to add to Democrats, military veterans and women, but the group represented a significant bloc of voters. Asians make up about 13 percent of the 8th Congressional District, one of the highest concentrations in the state, according to the Duckworth campaign.

“I’m thrilled because our state and our nation is becoming more diverse,” Duckworth said the day after her win. “I think that is truly the strength of this nation.”

Unlike whites, African-Americans and Latinos, Asians generally haven’t been at the forefront of seeking elected office in Illinois. Last year, Chicago’s first Asian-American alderman, Ameya Pawar, an Indian, was elected in the 47th Ward.

Sending one of their own to Washington left some in the Asian-American community elated and hopeful that political office, whether at the federal or local level, is no longer out of reach, community leaders said.

Duckworth is biracial, the daughter of an Army officer who served in Vietnam and an ethnic Chinese Thai immigrant mother who became a citizen in her 50s. She is fluent in Thai.

The candidate’s story — growing up throughout Asia, working as a waitress to pay the rent after her father lost his job, losing her legs after her Black Hawk helicopter went down in Iraq — resonated with a community that values perseverance, said Jae Choi Kim, president of the political organization Asian American Action Fund of Greater Chicago.

“It’s very important to have one of us at the table, because when you’re at the table, you’re not talking about us, you’re talking with us,” Kim said.

Attracting the support of Asian voters wasn’t the slam-dunk it might have seemed on the surface. Historically, Asian-Americans tended to vote Republican, but the shift to the Democratic Party was clearly seen in President Barack Obama’s re-election, where their support eclipsed the Latino community’s, said Mark Hansen, a University of Chicago political science professor.

Duckworth also had to mend some fences — she wasn’t the only Asian-American vying for the 8th District seat. Before announcing that she was leaving as an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to make her second bid for Congress, Raja Krishnamoorthi already had collected Democratic primary endorsements from the Asian American Action Fund and the Indo-American Democratic Organization.

Though many in the community saw having two Asian-American candidates as a good problem, there was internal tension nonetheless. Duckworth won the primary by a nearly 2-1 margin. Eventually, Krishnamoorthi publicly backed his onetime opponent.

Both organizations partnered up and endorsed Duckworth. They began to mobilize an army of volunteers, and worked to unite a diverse Asian community that included Korean-Americans, Indian-Americans, Chinese-Americans and Filipino-Americans.

“Tammy became the catalyst to bring us together,” said Edgar Jimenez, who served as the campaign’s Asian-American outreach director.

Recognizing the role food could play, organizers rotated the menu at volunteer gatherings, ordering egg rolls one week and samosas the next. Volunteers making their way down a list of people to call tried to squeeze in a greeting in their native language or, in many cases, the language of their parents.

Some of the older voters were resistant, said Harendra Mangrola, president of the Indo-American Democratic Organization.

“They’d say, ‘Whoever comes, it’s not going to make a difference in our daily life,'” Mangrola said. “And we’d tell them, ‘No, this is our opportunity.'”

Syed Zafer said he didn’t get involved with the Duckworth campaign until Walsh’s comments at a town hall meeting that the threat of radical Islam existed “here” in Elk Grove Village, Addison and Elgin.

“We cannot fight hate with hate, so we reached out to Tammy,” said Zafer, who said his largely Muslim community volunteers made 15,000 calls on Duckworth’s behalf. Zafer is part of the Illinois Minority Political Action Committee, a northwest suburban group trying to increase the political influence of Indian-Americans and Pakistani-Americans.

Walsh, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, stood by his remarks, though he conceded that at times he had gotten “a little ahead of myself with my language” during public meetings with constituents.

Even without support from the Asian-American community — the numbers on which haven’t been broken down yet — Duckworth enjoyed the advantages of an 8th District drawn to elect her, her status as a war hero, and a controversial opponent. Obama also was at the top of the ticket, providing a boost to candidates down the ballot in his home state.

Hansen said the political landscape won’t necessarily always be so favorable to Duckworth, so it was smart for the future that her campaign decided to make inroads in the Asian community.

The significance of Duckworth’s election is largely symbolic, he said.

“It’s a marker, on the one hand, of the rising acceptance of Asian-Americans in U.S. politics, and on the other of the rising importance as a constituency within the Democratic party,” Hansen said.

deldeib@tribune.com