ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – Illinois' most hotly contested congressional territory could scarcely have been designed better for Tammy Duckworth.

Her fellow Democrats in the Legislature had someone like her in mind when they drew up her suburban Chicago district to be majority Democrat. The district includes some heavily immigrant, Latino and Asian communities where her life story should play well: Biracial, grew up in Thailand in a military family, served and badly wounded in Iraq, and worked for the state and federal veterans affairs departments.

But with less than a week before Election Day, Duckworth is still battling it out with incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, an outspoken tea party hero who only reluctantly decided he should seek re-election in his radically different district. Polls show her leading, but Walsh still has the backing of loyal admirers who appreciate his unapologetically brash style, which contrasts sharply with Duckworth's low-key approach.