WASHINGTON — Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is said to be among a small group of people former vice president Joe Biden is considering as his 2020 running mate.

The New York Times reported that Biden’s campaign is currently vetting Duckworth to be his vice presidential candidate when the presumed Democratic nominee takes on President Donald Trump in November.

If she’s selected and Biden wins that means the Aloha State will once again have strong ties to the highest office in the land.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth during a recent television interview with MSNBC. Screenshot/2020

Duckworth, a U.S. Army veteran who lost her legs in combat, was born in Bangkok, Thailand, but later moved to Oahu where she attended McKinley High School and the University of Hawaii where she majored in political science.

Hawaii’s next closet tie to the White House, of course, is Barack Obama, who was born in Honolulu, and went on to serve two terms as president.

According to the New York Times, Duckworth and her family had a meager life in Hawaii, living in a “low-rent hotel in Waikiki with the financial help of a 90-year-old woman who volunteered at the local American Legion, making do with food stamps, school lunches and her odd jobs.”

Duckworth herself helped support the family by selling flowers on the side of a road in Honolulu.

As she told the newspaper of her time in Hawaii, “I learned about the kindness of people.”

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