Obama in Chicago Oct. 9 fundraising for Tammy Duckworth

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will return to Chicago’s South Side on Oct. 9 to headline a fundraiser to benefit Senate candidate Rep. Tammy Duckworth, who is running for the seat he once held.

The White House is making a push for Duckworth to defeat Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill.

Vice President Joe Biden is in Chicago on Wednesday to be the draw for a Duckworth fundraiser hosted by Democratic mega donor Fred Eychaner. With the House in session on Wednesday, Duckworth is staying in Washington and will not be attending the Biden event, a Duckworth campaign spokesman said.

Obama has long taken an interest in Duckworth’s political career, helping her when she made her first House run in 2006.

The hosts are Obama Foundation chair Martin Nesbitt, and his wife, physician Anita Blanchard; Theaster Gates, an artist and professor in the Department of Visual Art and Director of Arts and Public Life at the University of Chicago, who is on the Foundation design advisory committee; and Democratic activist John Atkinson and his wife, Bonnie.

The afternoon event will be at the Stony Island Arts Bank, an arts and cultural center founded by Gates, at 6760 S. Stony Island Ave, Chicago.

The price tiers start at $1,000 for an individual donation to $12,700 in a pledged contribution or a promise to raise that much from other people. Top givers and raisers get a VIP reception and a photo.

The proceeds go to the Illinois Coordinated Victory Fund 2016, a joint fundraising committee with the Democratic Party of Illinois and Tammy for Illinois.