Kirk, Duckworth Square Off

U.S. Senate candidates Mark Kirk and Tammy Duckworth faced off in their first debate Monday in front of the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board.

The two U.S. senate candidates criticized their own political party’s nominees for president, and differed on how many more debates they should have.

Duckworth, a Democratic congresswoman, responded to an inquiry about  Hillary Clinton’s private email server.

"She needed to turn over those emails. We needed to make sure that things were more transparent. I do have real concerns."

Incumbent Republican Senator Mark Kirk commented on Donald Trump’s 1995 tax returns, which were recently leaked to the New York Times.

"You would obviously, if you’re running for office, want the nominee to pay federal taxes. It’s embarrassing if he didn’t pay federal taxes at all," he said.  

Another point of contention was how many more debates each candidate would participate in.

Kirk says he’ll do three, including Monday's meeting at the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board.

When asked why he's not doing more, Kirk said, "It's up to Tammy and our team."   

"I will meet you anywhere. Tell you what. We don’t have the teams here. You and me. Let’s do ABC7," Duckworth responded.

Duckworth listed five potential appearances .  But so far there’s only one more joint appearance on both candidates' schedules.