WASHINGTON – Emboldened last week by Illinois voters when they chose her to move from the U.S. House to represent them in the U.S. Senate, Friday disabled veteran Tammy Duckworth became the first Illinois elected official to endorse Congressman Keith Ellison to head the Democratic National Committee.
Duckworth's name was released along with several others Friday afternoon via tweet by NBC reporter Alex Seitz-Walz.
Ellison is one of the Democrats most radically Left members of Congress. He hails from Minnesota's 5th District, and was the first Muslim elected to federal office. When he was sworn into office in 2007, Ellison placed his hand on what is reported to have been Thomas Jefferson's copy of the Muslim holy book, the Koran.
Jefferson is said to have studied the Koran to understand Muslim ideology while strategizing how to defend American ships against Muslim religion-adhering pirates.
In recent weeks, two DNC chairmen were forced to step down – Debbie Wasserman-Schulz, who Wikileaks emails showed plotted against Bernie Sanders' bid to be the presidential nominee, and Donna Brazile, whose emails showed she shared questions with the Clinton campaign previous to primary debates.