Ill. 6th District Dems: Don't Rahm candidates down our throats

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Congressional race to watch this fall: Illinois' 6th District
Durbin on election night on Bush, Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth's candidacy

Chicago area residents tend to be clannish and suspicious of outsiders. And more so than other people, they don't like to be told what to do. Or how to vote.

Tammy Duckworth, an Iraqi war veteran and double amputee barely won Tuesday's primary for the Democratic nomination to run against Republican Peter Roskam in Illinois' 6th District.

Duckworth doesn't live in the district, and had a lot of outsiders, such as John Kerry, Hillary Clinton--as well as nationally known Illinoisans such as Dick Durbin, Barack Obama, and Chicago Congressman Rahm Emanuel promoting her candidacy.

Rahm Emanuel is the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; in short he's in charge of getting more Democrats elected to Congress.

Duckworth received 44% of the vote, followed closely by Christine Cegelis, who came close to defeating longtime 6th District Congressman Henry Hyde in 2004.

Lindy Scott finished third on Tuesday.

Don't look for a Rahm Appreciation Day in Chicago's western suburbs any time soon.

From the Chicago Tribune (free registration may be required):

The close primary reflected Cegelis' many supporters who had stuck with her since her first race and bristled at Duckworth's late entry and massive push from leaders such as U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

York Township Democratic Party Chairman Doug Cole said the 40 or more precinct committeemen in his township who supported Cegelis or Scott may vote for Duckworth in the fall because "we can't stand Roskam," but they're unlikely to work for her campaign.

Duckworth lives in the neighboring 8th District, and her campaign was the product of "top-down politics as foisted upon us by Rahm Emanuel. Not only do they not need us, they don't want us, so we'll take the message," Cole said.

Scott wished Duckworth well Wednesday but said he was "disappointed by the uneven playing field" in terms of money and media attention that confronted him and Cegelis.