The race to replace retiring Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) is quickly becoming one of the most expensive and negative Democratic primaries of the 2026 cycle, fueled in part by millions of dollars from cryptocurrency-backed super PACs.
Three prominent Illinois Democrats are competing for the open seat: Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), who represents a suburban Chicago district; Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, a close political ally of Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL); and Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL), who has built a national profile on gun violence prevention and public health. The three contenders are leading a Democratic primary that is widely expected to determine Illinois’s next senator, given the state’s strong Democratic lean in federal elections.
But outside spending from the cryptocurrency industry is rapidly becoming one of the defining forces shaping the race.
Crypto-aligned groups have already spent roughly $8.6 million in Illinois races, according to an analysis of federal election filings by the lobbying tracker Follow the Crypto, helping fuel a surge of attack ads. The groups have largely targeted Stratton as the primary unfolds.
Molly White, creator of Follow the Crypto, said the spending reflects a strategy the industry developed during the 2024 election cycle and appears to be continuing into the midterm elections.
“The crypto industry’s spending in Illinois is very consistent with the strategy they developed in 2024 and appear to be continuing into 2026,” White told the Washington Examiner. “If anything, they seem to be getting more aggressive with their primary spending.”
White said the campaign against Stratton closely mirrors the crypto industry’s intervention in California’s 2024 Senate primary against Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA).
“Like Stratton, Porter had not been particularly outspoken about crypto,” White said. “However, also like Stratton, she was endorsed by [Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)], which seemed enough to bring down the full weight of the crypto PACs.”
Two cryptocurrency-backed political action committees have spent more than $5.5 million on advertising targeting Stratton. The ads, funded by Fairshake, accuse the lieutenant governor of being aligned with convicted former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and highlight that one of her supporting groups accepted money from a contractor that works with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Stratton has pushed back, pointing to contributions tied to Krishnamoorthi and accusing him of benefiting from outside spending.
“Despite Congressman Krishnamoorthi spending the past decade lining his campaign coffers with tens of millions of dollars from corporate PACs, MAGA allies, Trump advisers, and ICE contractors, he’s not moving the needle with voters,” Stratton spokeswoman Allison Janowski told Capitol News Illinois. She added that Krishnamoorthi now appears to be hoping a crypto-backed super PAC will boost his campaign in the closing stretch.
The push marks one of the crypto industry’s first major interventions in a Senate race this cycle. Fairshake and its affiliated super PACs have amassed more than $190 million to support industry allies and target candidates viewed as hostile to the sector.
Much of that spending is now flowing into Illinois. AdImpact estimates Fairshake’s ad reservations with television stations could push its total investment in the race to about $8.2 million.
The organization, which is largely financed by venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, both major donors aligned with President Donald Trump, has saturated Chicago television airwaves with advertising. The group has purchased large blocks of ad time on stations including Fox 32 and ABC 7, with multiple Fairshake spots sometimes airing within the same commercial break.
Despite the scale of the spending, the ads themselves largely avoid mentioning cryptocurrency.
“None of the ads, at least that I’ve seen so far, have mentioned or even alluded to crypto,” White said. “The ads targeting Stratton have mostly gone with talking points trying to link her to corruption via association with Madigan.”
White said the approach reflects a broader pattern in crypto-backed spending.
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“In races like this, the industry seems primarily focused on ousting candidates who they think might stand up to the crypto industry, and doesn’t seem to care so much about who is installed instead,” she said.
A spokesman for Fairshake declined to comment on the Illinois race specifically, saying the organization does not discuss individual contests or its strategic decisions.