Krishnamoorthi rails against Trump, but takes money from MAGA donors

U.S. Senate candidate Raja Krishnamoorthi is running a TV ad about his plans to "stop" President Donald Trump, but he has also accepted more than $90,000 in contributions from key Trump and MAGA donors.

The fundraising leader in the Senate Democratic primary race to replace outgoing Sen. Dick Durbin has also taken in more than $120,000 in corporate PAC contributions from the same companies that are helping to fund Trump’s new $300 million White House ballroom construction, including Google, Amazon, Booz Allen Hamilton, Microsoft, T-Mobile, NextEra Energy, Union Pacific and Lockheed Martin.

Krishnamoorthi's donors include Marc Andreessen, a Trump adviser and venture capitalist, Michael Pillsbury, Project 2025 contributor and Heritage Foundation senior adviser and Shyam Sankar, a Trump adviser who donated at least $260,000 to Republican causes this year alone.

Asked for comment, Krishnamoorthi’s campaign told the Sun-Times the donations from Trump allies represent just .2% of the more than $24 million he has raised. And a campaign spokesperson said Krishnamoorthi, a U.S. representative and a Democrat from Schaumburg, “welcomes anyone who supports” his mission.

“Over the years, more than 88,000 individuals have chipped in to support Raja because they know he is a proven fighter who will stand up to Donald Trump. The only candidate in this race with a plan to hold Trump accountable, Raja has taken a commanding lead because Illinoisans know he will go to the mat to protect the American Dream as our next U.S. Senator,” the spokesperson said.

Sankar is chief technology officer at Palantir, which has a $30 million contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide the agency with tools to track self-deportation. Palantir has been an ICE contractor since 2011. The Washington Post in December reported Palantir’s software is helping ICE track undocumented immigrants and deport them faster.

Sankar was named an adviser to the Trump administration’s Defense Department in June. He was also considered for the Pentagon’s top research and engineering job.

This year alone, Sankar has donated at least $260,000 to Republican political causes, including $250,000 to the Republican National Committee. He has also contributed $29,300 to Krishnamoorthi since 2015, including $3,500 to his Senate campaign committee in June.

Federal Election Commission records show that while Sankar is largely a GOP donor, he has previously contributed to other Democrats, including Durbin and Rep. Ro Khanna from California.

Trump adviser Andreessen gave to Krishnamoorthi

Andreessen contributed $1,667 to Krishnamoorthi’s congressional campaign fund in October 2024. He's the founder and general partner of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz — and a Trump adviser on tech and business policy — and he gave more than $4.7 million to advance the MAGA agenda in the 2023 and 2024 electoral cycle.

He also recently donated nearly $30,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and has been outspoken about the need to outcompete China, in several fields, including artificial intelligence. Krishnamoorthi is the ranking member of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.

Pillsbury, a senior adviser at The Heritage Foundation has contributed $5,000 to Krishnamoorthi’s campaign fund since 2018. Pillsbury is a China expert and advised Trump during his first term. He previously also supported Democratic Sen. Ed Markey with his last contribution in 2017, records show.

Brij Sharma, who is on the leadership team of the Republican Hindu Coalition, has regularly contributed at least $6,500 to Krishnamoorthi since 2016. Sharma is the founder and CEO of Power Volt, which has multiple plants in Illinois and Iowa. Sharma lives in Krishnamoorthi’s northwest suburban district and supports Indian-American candidates — but one of the main focuses of the coalition is to advance conservative principles.

Records show Sanford Perl, a Kirkland & Ellis attorney, has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Illinois and federal Republican campaigns, including $142,500 to the Republican National Committee since June 2012 and $85,600 to the Illinois Republican Party, also since June 2012. Perl has contributed $9,700 to Krishnamoorthi, including $3,500 for his Senate campaign in May.

Krishnamoorthi worked at Kirkland & Ellis from 2000 to 2007.

Other GOP donors include Gerald Zoldan, CEO of Corporate Governance Partners, who has donated more than $10,000 to Republicans, including $9,500 to Trump-allied Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. Krishnamoorthi has accepted $20,800 from Zoldan, including $3,500 to his Senate campaign in June. Zoldan also gave $250 to U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in 2024.

Krishnamoorthi’s supporters include prominent doctors who have also contributed to GOP causes, including Dr. Kenneth Candido of DuPage County. Candido has given more than $7,500 regularly to four of Trump’s candidate committees — and has also contributed $11,400 to Krishnamoorthi’s congressional campaign fund since 2017 and most recently $1,000 in October 2024.

Arnold Punaro, CEO of the The Punaro Group, has also contributed more than $8,000 to Krishnamoorthi. Punaro has donated at least $51,000 to Trump and MAGA candidates, including Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., former Sen. JD Vance, now Trump's vice president, and former Rep. Michael Waltz, who is now Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations. Punaro is largely a GOP donor, but he has also contributed to Democrats in recent years, including Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.

And Bennett McEvoy, owner of Texas-based company Western Extrusions, has donated at least $100,000 to Rep. Beth Van Duyne of Texas, one of 147 Republicans that voted to overturn the 2020 elections on Jan. 6, 2021. McEvoy has also contributed $22,900 to Trump’s campaigns and presidential victory fund. McEvoy gave Krishnamoorthi $2,500 to his congressional campaign committee in November 2024. McEvoy has also previously given to some Democrats, including former Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.

As for the corporate PACs funding the White House ballroom, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, another contender in the Democratic primary race for Durbin's seat, has also received contributions from the following PACs affiliated with the fund: Amazon, Google, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Union Pacific, Lockheed Martin, Meta/Facebook, Comcast, HP and Caterpillar. Asked about the contributions, a spokesperson for Kelly's campaign told the Sun-Times the congresswoman votes her values, no matter who the donor is. Another Democrat in the Senate primary, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, received a $2,500 contribution from Union Pacific in September 2024 into her state campaign fund, which can't be used for her Senate run.

Krishnamoorthi has more than $18 million cash on hand ahead of the March 17 primary. Kelly had about $2 million cash on hand at the end of September, and Stratton had about $920,000. A whopping 14 Democrats submitted nominating petitions for the seat. The other candidates are Steve Botsford, Awisi Bustos, Jonathan Dean, Christopher Swann, Bryan Maxwell, Sean Brown, Adam Delgado, Kevin Ryan, Robert Palmer, Jump Shepherd and Anthony Williams.

Krishnamoorthi has downplayed the emphasis on his fundraising numbers, despite the millions helping him to run TV ads since July.

“I think it’s a sideshow,” Krishnamoorthi told the Sun-Times in May. “I think that I’m most proud of the tent — the fact that tens of thousands of people have entrusted me with their hard-earned money because they believe in my office. They believe in my mission.”