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A Union Co. Court Case May Impact U.S. Senate Race

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Tammy Duckworth (D-Congress)

An ethics lawsuit may factor into next year's U.S. Senate race.
Two employees of the Anna Veterans' Home are suing U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, a Democratic candidate looking to challenge republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk. The two workers claim Duckworth ignored their complaints about a superior during her time as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs.

The case has already been dismissed twice since it was first filed in 2009, with a federal judge calling it "a garden variety workplace case." But, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider says the fact a federal judge dismissed this lawsuit years ago doesn't speak to its merits.

"The reason it was thrown out of federal court is because that judge made the determination that, this being a state ethics violation, that should be remanded to the state courts. (The judge) thought it should not be heard in federal court and that it would be better heard and better adjudicated in state court."

A preliminary date for the Union County trial has been set for April 4, 2016, a few weeks after the Illinois primary.

While Duckworth's campaign has declined to comment on the case, Democratic Party of Illinois senior adviser Matt McGrath feels Republicans are trying to distract from Kirk's recent controversial comments, like comparing the Iran nuclear deal to appeasement of Adolf Hitler.

 

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