Exclusive: Top Democrat in Illinois Senate race caught up in 'problematic' fundraising email blunder

Last week, a member of Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s staff called Rep.

Last week, a member of Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s staff called Rep. Ted Lieu’s team with a question: Couldn't the congressman have given her a heads up before issuing an endorsement in her state’s open, hotly contested Democratic Senate primary?

Lieu’s staff was puzzled. The California congressman, who, like Duckworth, is one of the most prominent Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) lawmakers on Capitol Hill, hadn’t weighed in on the Senate race in Duckworth’s state of Illinois.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14. Tom Williams / Getty ImagesThat’s when Lieu's team learned that Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi’s campaign for Senate had implied otherwise, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation.

In fact, for months, the Krishnamoorthi campaign had been sending fundraising emails purporting to be written by Lieu, according to a review of nearly a dozen of those emails.

“It’s never been more clear that Raja is exactly the kind of leader we need fighting back against this insanity in the Senate,” one of the emails carrying Lieu's signature states. “I’m proud to endorse his critical campaign to flip the Senate blue.”