Super PAC scorecard — how outside spending groups fared in efforts to influence Illinois primary voters

How far did more than $50 million go in Tuesday’s primary election for the bevy of special interest groups trying to influence Illinois voters?

Call it a mixed bag for the vaguely named super PACs and other outside entities that pumped an unprecedented amount of money into dozens of races across the state to boost their preferred candidates.

While cryptocurrency interests were largely left empty-handed, the polarizing American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) saw some of its biggest Illinois investments pay off. Gambling companies and tech giants saw uneven returns, but a fund backed by billionaire Gov. JB Pritzker won big.

Here’s a look at how the major super PAC players fared in their efforts to boost, or harm, their preferred candidates:

Artificial intelligence

Entering the final week of the race, Think Big, the Democratic arm of the pro-AI PAC Leading the Future, had spent $1.4 million for Jesse Jackson Jr. in the 2nd Congressional District and $1.1 million for Melissa Bean in the 8th. The PAC, funded by OpenAI stakeholders, won one (Bean) and lost one (Jackson).

It was a dismal showing for Making Our Tomorrow, a committee backed by Facebook’s parent company Meta. The group went one-for-four in the state legislative races they waded into, to the tune of about $750,000. They backed Paul Kendrick, who won the nomination for a Chicago seat, as well as ousted incumbent Rep. Jamie Andrade and losing candidates Aja Kearney and Adam Braun.

AIPAC

There were at least five PACs related to AIPAC that tried to influence five congressional races — and the group saw two victories: Donna Miller in the 2nd and Bean in the 8th. The groups fared worse in the 9th District, spending money to harm Kat Abughazaleh’s chances and trying to boost State Sen. Laura Fine. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss won instead.

One AIPAC-affiliated group spent big dollars to help Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin in the 7th and to oppose real estate executive Jason Friedman. State Rep. La Shawn Ford instead won the race.

Here’s a rundown of the groups: Affordable Chicago Now spent nearly $4.4 million supporting Miller in the 2nd District. Chicago Progressive Partnership spent $266,000 in opposition to Abughazaleh in the 9th District. Elect Democratic Women Action Fund spent more than $500,000 supporting Fine in the 9th District. Elect Chicago Women spent $5.8 million supporting Fine and opposing Biss in the 9th, plus $3.9 million supporting Bean in the 8th District. United Democracy Project spent $5 million in the 7th District race, mostly in support of Conyears-Ervin, but also about $60,000 against Friedman.

AIPAC claimed it as a net win, declaring in a statement “these results further demonstrate that campaigns defined largely by opposition to AIPAC, our members, and the values we represent continue to fall short on election night.”

Crypto

Things shook out worst for Fairshake, the pro-cryptocurrency PAC with connections to supporters of President Donald Trump in past election cycles.

The group spent about $10 million in opposition to Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in the Democratic Senate primary, and $2.5 million against Ford in the 7th District race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Danny Davis. Both candidates won comfortably.

Fairshake did spend about $817,000 against state Sen. Robert Peters in the 2nd District race to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, but Peters finished a distant-enough third behind Miller and Jackson Jr. to question how much those dollars affected the outcome.

DLGA PAC

The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, an independent expenditure group, said Stratton’s win is “the first major 2026 victory” for the group, which spent about $250,000 to support her Senate run.

The DLGA direct mail investment reached more than 80,000 households, representing about 120,000 key voter targets in Illinois.

“Even after being massively outspent, Lt. Gov. Stratton’s authenticity and strong leadership earned the trust of voters across Illinois, and built the momentum needed to win,” the association's Executive Director Kevin Holst said. “Her victory reflects both the strength of her candidacy and the growing momentum behind Democratic Lieutenant Governors stepping up to serve in statewide and federal offices.”

Sports betting

The DraftKings and FanDuel-backed American Future PAC spent more than $2.5 million in 10 Chicago area state legislative races as the sports betting giants seek to block municipalities from taxing their industry.

Their wagers paid off in seven of those races, including support for incumbent state Reps. Kam Buckner and Aaron Ortiz, state Sens. Sara Feigenholtz and Emil Jones III, plus Saba Haider, Shantel Franklin and Fran Hurley. They also backed the failing bids of Andrade, Kearney and Braun.

Pritzker-backed PAC

While not a special interest group, it was obviously a good night for the Illinois Future PAC, which was expressly created to support Stratton’s campaign and raised about $12 million to do so, including $5 million from Gov. Pritzker, her two-time running mate. The group worked in partnership with the DLGA.

Pritzker flexed his political muscles on a night that saw each of his endorsed candidates advance from heated primaries to the general election, along with state comptroller candidate Margaret Croke.