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Kirk And Duckworth Criticize Their Own Party's Presidential Nominees In First Debate

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (L) and Tammy Duckworth

Mark Kirk and Tammy Duckworth faced off in their first debate Monday.

Credit U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (L) and Tammy Duckworth

The two U.S. senate candidates criticized their own political party’s nominees for president.

Duckworth, a Democratic U.S. Representative, responded to an inquiry about  Hillary Clinton’s private email server.

"She needed to turn over those emails," Duckworth said. "We needed to make sure that things were more transparent. I do have real concerns."

Incumbent Republican Sen. Mark Kirk commented on Donald Trump’s 1995 tax returns, which were recently leaked to the New York Times.

"You would obviously, if you’re running for office, want the nominee to pay federal taxes," Kirk said. "It’s embarrassing if he didn’t pay federal taxes at all."

Another point of contention was how many more debates each candidate would participate in.

Kirk says he’ll do three, including Monday's meeting at the Chicago Tribune editorial board.

Asked why he's not doing more, Kirk said, "It's up to Tammy and our team."   

"I will meet you anywhere," Duckworth responded. "Tell you what. We don’t have the teams here. You and me. Let’s do ABC7."

Duckworth listed five potential appearances, but so far there’s only one more joint appearance on both candidates' schedules.

Copyright 2021 WNIJ Northern Public Radio. To see more, visit WNIJ Northern Public Radio.

Tony Arnold covers Illinois state politics for WBEZ. His investigations have ranged from the multiple Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks at the Quincy veterans’ home that resulted in the deaths of more than a dozen residents, to documenting an increase in the deaths of children who had contact with Illinois’ child welfare system. He’s also covered the unprecedented two-year state budget impasse, Chicago mayoral elections, national political conventions, and he’s edited the daily news desk. He’s won numerous Illinois AP and Peter Lisagor awards for his reporting. Tony has a B.A. in American Studies from Miami University. He’s previously worked at WNIJ in DeKalb, IL and WMUB in Oxford, OH. His first job in journalism was as a stringer, recording stats for local high school sports.