Senate race to replace Dick Durbin heats up with 10 Democrats on the ballot

Two members of Congress, a lieutenant governor and seven other Democrats are seeking to succeed Dick Durbin in a contentious open U.S. Senate race.

Durbin’s announcement last year not to seek a sixth term was anticipated, but it led to a game of political music chairs, with a long roster of Democrats who had been quietly jockeying for his position free to jump into the spotlight.

U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton have consistently ranked in the top three in several recent polls, according to a New York Times analysis.

Rounding out the list are Steve Botsford Jr., Sean Brown, Awisi A. Bustos, Jonathan Dean, Bryan Maxwell, Kevin Ryan and Christopher Swann. In the Republican primary, candidates include R. Cary Capparelli, Casey Chlebek, Jeannie Evans, Pamela Denise Long, Jimmie Lee Tillman II and Don Tracy.

Top Dems have key differences

In debates, Krishnamoorthi, Kelly and Stratton have shown voters some of their key policy differences. They include differing opinions on future nominations made by President Donald Trump, the minimum wage, age limits for members of Congress and how to handle the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation campaign.

Stratton supports a $25 an hour minimum wage plan, while Krishnamoorthi and Kelly support a $17 an hour plan, which they said would have a more realistic chance of passing in the Senate.

When it comes to a retirement age for members of Congress, Krishnamoorthi said he supports a limit, while Kelly and Stratton reject the idea.

“We need fighters at any age,” Stratton said during a Jan. 29 debate.

Krishnamoorthi has vowed support for “abolishing Trump’s ICE,” while Stratton is pushing to completely abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement — a more progressive stance she is hoping voters will connect with. But Krishnamoorthi made sure to point out that Gov. JB Pritzker, who is supporting Stratton in the race, shares the same position as him.

Kelly is taking the lead on a proposal to try to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Krishnamoorthi has signed on as a co-sponsor. When it comes to ICE, Kelly says she wants to “dismantle, impeach and rebuild” ICE and Border Patrol. She has stressed that the country still needs enforcement, but “not the enforcement that we have now.”

Kelly and Stratton have said they would not confirm any nominations made by Trump, while Krishnamoorthi offered a more tempered response.

Krishnamoorthi said a “nonpartisan commission” should evaluate applicants. And he vowed to use his “blue slip privileges” to block radical judges that might be appointed by Trump to a position in Illinois.

Ads playing role in race

Money is also playing an oversize factor in the race, with Krishnamoorthi remaining a prolific fundraiser. Krishnamoorthi has raised an astounding $28.7 million for his Senate bid. The Federal Election Commission ranks Krishnamoorthi third nationwide in fundraising hauls, behind U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ., who has raised $30.1 million and Sen. Jonathan Ossoff, D-Ga., who has raised $63.9 million. Krishnamoorthi began airing TV ads in July and has blanketed the airwaves with several campaign ads on everything from fighting Trump to his economic plan.

Stratton got a boost from Pritzker, her longtime running mate. Pritzker gave a pro-Stratton super PAC called Illinois Future PAC $5 million that is being used to fund two TV ads in the final weeks of the campaign. Many had questioned whether Pritzker, a billionaire self-funder, would actually dole out cash for Stratton. Others wonder if the timing, with the money received late last year, was too late to help Stratton’s campaign fight for voters’ attention amid Krishnamoorthi’s ad blitz. Stratton had $1.12 million cash on hand at the end of December — but the super PAC has boasted that fundraising has now exceeded $10 million.

Kelly, who has raised $3.9 million for the bid and had $1.59 million cash on hand at the end of December, is also running a TV ad.

Beyond ads, Krishnamoorthi came under fire last year after the Sun-Times reported he took in contributions from supporters of President Donald Trump, as well as from an executive at a company contracted by ICE. After the report, Krishnamoorthi ultimately donated $33,000 — money from Palantir chief technology officer Shyam Sankar — to three immigrant rights groups: Centro Romero, Progreso Progressivo and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Voters have full slate of choices

Kelly, who lives in south suburban Matteson, has represented the 2nd Congressional District since 2013 and previously served in the Illinois House. She also served as chief of staff to then Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and as Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s chief administrative officer. Her economic plan is aimed at affordability and calls for taxing the ultra rich, raising the minimum wage and expanding Medicare.

Krishnamoorthi, who has represented the 8th Congressional District since 2018, announced his bid a day after Kelly. The fundraising leader called himself a “first-generation kid” who can stand up to bullies and billionaires. His economic policy includes a nationwide free lunch program, expanding the child tax credit and helping first-time homeowners get a refundable tax credit.

Stratton, the first Democrat to enter the field, said her path to the Senate may not be typical, “but then again, typical isn’t what we need right now.” She was quickly endorsed by Pritzker and Sen. Tammy Duckworth. One of Stratton's top economic priorities is to raise the federal minimum wage, and she wants to expand the earned income tax credit for low and moderate-income workers.

Botsford Jr. served on the legislative staff for U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) and later worked full-time in the finance industry. He ran for City Council in 2023 but lost to Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43rd). He says he's running because "Washington insiders keep leading the country in the wrong direction."

Brown is an attorney and community organizer from the South Side. He wants universal healthcare, immigration reform, a new violence prevention and safety act and free tuition for public universities and colleges.

Bustos is a nonprofit executive and first-generation Ghanaian American. She previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Illinois Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs, where she oversaw a $11 million budget. She says her mission is "to restore integrity, justice, and purpose to public service."

Dean is an activist, entrepreneur and litigator — and he calls himself "a proud survivor of childhood sexual abuse." He says he's running because Illinois needs a senator who "will shock the system into working for young people, working families, and our children’s futures and stand against fascism and for American freedom."

Maxwell is an assistant research scientist and project engineer for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has spent the last two years "organizing to stop sending our tax dollars to Israel for its genocide in Gaza." He believes tax dollars should be spent on local communities, "not bombing them overseas."

Ryan is a Chicago Public Schools teacher and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. He says that Trump's return and "the Democratic Party's critical failures" made him want to run for public office: "We can no longer afford more machine politics, bowing to billionaires, or those who wait for 'their turn.'"

Swann is a deacon and nonprofit leader. Swann supports Palestinian freedom, working to end hunger and a guaranteed income for families below the poverty line. He also supports Medicare for All.