GOP Sen. Kirk: Trump Candidacy A ‘Net Benefit’ For My Re-election Race

FILE - In this June 9, 2014 file photo, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk R-Ill., speaks during an interview in his office. Kirk is the fifth GOP senator to announce support for Loretta Lynch's nomination for U.S. attorney general... FILE - In this June 9, 2014 file photo, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk R-Ill., speaks during an interview in his office. Kirk is the fifth GOP senator to announce support for Loretta Lynch's nomination for U.S. attorney general. Kirk told attendees of the City Club of Chicago on Thursday, April 2, 2015 that he spoke with Lynch about the need to fight gang violence in Chicago and was impressed with her response. President Barack Obama nominated her last year to replace Eric Holder. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Though he faces a tough re-election race, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) claims to be confident that Donald Trump at the top of the Republican ticket will actually improve his chances of keeping his seat.

“Donald Trump is kind of a riverboat gamble,” Kirk told CNN on Friday. “He won the Illinois primary, in this case we have seen the Republican vote up and the Democratic vote down, so it looks like it’s a net benefit.”

While Kirk has said he would endorse Trump if he becomes the nominee, he maintained that Republican voters in Illinois would be able to distinguish his own platform from the real estate mogul’s.

“These days I’m probably the best-positioned Republican to weather the institution of Trumpism because I have been voting pro-gay rights and against the gun lobby and solidly pro-choice,” Kirk said in the CNN interview.

Kirk’s Democratic opponent, Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), seemed perfectly content to link the two Republicans.

“I think that Donald Trump is such a polarizing figure and it’s really amazing that to me that Mark Kirk has said he would support Donald Trump and that has been helpful, honestly,” Duckworth told CNN.

“People see Donald Trump has made all these racist and misogynist statements and so has Mark Kirk, and that allows us to draw a distinction,” she continued.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: