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New Kirk Ad Hits Duckworth on Syrian Refugees

Kirk's campaign dropped $800,000 on an ad to be played statewide.. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Kirk's campaign dropped $800,000 on an ad to be played statewide.. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Republican Sen. Mark Kirk is spending big against his likely general election opponent, Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., with a statewide ad buy hitting Duckworth for her stance on Syrian refugees.  

The ad’s narrator says the terrorists who committed the attacks in Paris used fake passports and criticizes Duckworth for allowing 200,000 refugees into the U.S. and contrasts that with Kirk’s stance.  

“Mark Kirk is leading the fight to stop refugees until it can be done safely,” the narrator says, before asking, “Who do you trust to protect your family? Mark Kirk.”  

In the past, Duckworth’s campaign has said  she supports the U.S. resettling 200,000 refugees altogether, including 100,000 from Syria, by the end of 2016.  

Eleni Demertzis, communications director for the Kirk campaign, said the ad buy is statewide, will air on broadcast and cable TV, and will cost just slightly more than $800,000.  

Kirk and Duckworth have gone back and forth on Syrian refugees in the past, with Duckworth hinting that rhetoric from politicians such as Kirk contributes to Muslim youth in America becoming radicalized. In response, Kirk has called  Duckworth “a fool” and also called her “blindly idiotic,” on an Illinois radio show.  

Duckworth is favored in next month’s Democratic primary against State Sen. Napoleon Harris and former Chicago Urban League President and CEO Andrea Zopp next month.

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