Duckworth fund-raising: $350,000 in the first quarter

WASHINGTON–Freshman Rep. Tammy Duckworth will report raising $351,285 in the first quarter, the yield from fund-raising events in the Chicago area, Washington and direct mail appeals. That’s one of the top totals from the House freshmen class.

Duckworth’s finance chair is Democratic activist John Atkinson; her fund-raising consultant is Leah Israel.

“Congresswoman Duckworth has sent a strong message that she will have the resources to continue standing up for working families,” said Atkinson. “In just 100 days she has helped secure approval of the Elgin O’Hare Western Access Project, introduced legislation to assist small businesses, and stood against efforts to eliminate the guaranteed benefit of Medicare. Congresswoman Duckworth was outspent 13 to 1 by right-wing Super PACs in 2012, but her grassroots fundraising has proved yet again that she will never back down to the right-wing extremists who attacked her and working families in 2012.”

Duckworth defeated former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) by some ten points last November. Duckworth–who is unlikely to face an expensive primary again– is building a strong war chest in order to–and this is a standard technique–discourage major GOP opposition in 2014.