DFA endorses Duckworth, Ross for Senate

Democracy for America (DFA) announced the endorsements of Democrats Rep. Tammy Duckworth in the Illinois Senate race and former state Rep. Deborah Ross in the North Carolina Senate race on Tuesday.

{mosads}“We’re excited to support Tammy Duckworth and Deborah Ross because we know their victories will help ensure the U.S. Senate can start clearing the backlog of critical populist progressive priorities we need to help us combat growing income inequality, money’s outsized role in our political process, and structural racism,” Jim Dean, DFA’s chairman, said in a statement first obtained by The Hill. 

The powerful progressive group, which touts more than 1 million members across the globe, including 59,000 in Illinois and 36,000 in North Carolina, could provide a boost to Duckworth and Ross as they face tough races that could swing which party controls the Senate.

So far this cycle, DFA has endorsed Rep. Donna Edwards in the Maryland Senate race, California Attorney General Kamala Harris in the California Senate race, former Sen. Russ Feingold in the Wisconsin Senate race and former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto in the Nevada Senate race. 

DFA has also backed Bernie Sanders in his Democratic White House bid against Hillary Clinton. 

Duckworth will go head-to-head in Illinois with Republican Sen. Mark Kirk in what is considered to be one of the most competitive and expensive Senate races this cycle. Kirk faces an uphill battle for his reelection in a left-leaning state Obama won in both his 2008 and 2012 elections. 

There’s been minimal polling for a match-up between Duckworth and Kirk, but a survey from last July found the congresswoman leading by a few points. 

Duckworth outraised Kirk in January to mid-February, according to pre-primary reports by the Federal Election Commission. She holds a narrow cash advantage.

In North Carolina, Ross will face Republican Sen. Richard Burr in the general election.

The GOP senator faces a more difficult terrain in the fall in a state that President Obama won by a razor-thin margin in the 2008 election and narrowly lost in 2012.

While he holds a significant cash advantage and beats Ross with a 6-point lead in a February Public Policy Polling survey, Burr will also have to overcome a negative job-approval rating.