Illinois voters head to the polls Tuesday for the first open Senate race in nearly three decades following Sen. Dick Durbin’s retirement — a Democratic primary overshadowed in its final days by controversy over a claimed endorsement from the late civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.
The retirement of the 81-year-old Durbin, who has held the seat since 1997, has caused a free-for-all among Illinois Democrats. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, and Rep. Robin Kelly are facing off in the most competitive Senate Democratic primary the Land of Lincoln has seen in years.
Recent polling shows the lead seesawing between Krishnamoorthi and Stratton, with a Tulchin Research poll from March 4 through 8 showing Krishnamoorthi with an 11% lead. An FM3 Research survey conducted around the same time found Stratton with a 5% lead.
The victor will likely go on to face former state Republican Party chairman Don Tracy, who has led the GOP field in fundraising. With Illinois a blue stronghold, the winner of the Democratic primary for Senate is all but assured to be the state’s next senator.
Illinois also has competitive contests down ballot for the House of Representatives, thanks to five open seats. Polls close at 8 p.m. EST.
Last-minute endorsements and money dominate Senate race
Democratic circles were shaken on Sunday when Stratton, who is No. 2 to Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) and backed by a fist-sized chunk of his Hyatt Hotels fortune, told supporters that the late Rev. Jesse Jackson endorsed her before he died. Stratton said she saw a sample ballot from Rainbow PUSH, a civil rights organization founded by Jackson, that included her among those endorsed on a card with the late civil rights leader’s photo.
“[Rainbow Push Political Director Betty Magnus] kind of came over to me and said, ‘I wanted you to know that Reverend Jackson, we all discussed this before he passed, and these are his endorsements.’ And it was a sheet of about 100 different people, but I was on the list for United States Senate,” Stratton said.
The endorsement is drawing scrutiny for political strategists and members of Jackson’s family, especially given that the Senate races have pitted two African American women — Stratton and Kelly — against each other.
“My father never got in on Black-on-Black fights,” Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) told Politico Illinois Playbook. “He wouldn’t do that. He was always pushing the community forward. This smells of desperation.”
Yusef Jackson, another of the late reverend’s sons, officially took back the endorsement later on Monday. He said in a statement his father had begun reviewing primary candidates, as he has done in previous cycles, but he never finalized his picks before he died.
“Out of respect for my father, we decided not to publicly release his intended selections given the process had not been finalized,” Yusef Jackson said via the Chicago Sun Times. “Unfortunately, this weekend, a draft sample ballot that was in development was released without authorization. It is important to note that the Jackson Family does not issue political endorsements, nor do Rainbow PUSH or the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
The Senate race has plastered Illinois with attack ads driven by allies of Krishnamoorthi and Stratton. Kelly is attempting a last-ditch effort to capitalize on the bad blood, running a TV ad last week that shows her opponents attacking each other and her declaring, “Oh hell no.”
“My opponents want to attack each other while we struggle to survive,” Kelly says in her ad, called “Distraction.” It ends with Kelly knocking over a television playing a negative ad against Krishnamoorthi.
Kelly is also benefiting from pro-Krishnamoorthi organizations in an effort to split the African American vote between her and Stratton. Krishnamoorthi’s campaign has also issued press releases tying him and Kelly together as a team against Stratton, including on policies tackling Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Impact Fund, the super PAC arm of Indian American Impact, is spending $1 million on the race, including $500,000 to boost Kelly, $250,000 to boost Krishnamoorthi, and $250,000 on ads attacking Stratton.
In total, nearly $17 million has been spent on ads and other campaign support across the three candidates, per a Chicago Sun-Times analysis.
Much of that spending has been in support of Kirshnamoorthi by crypto PACs or by Pritzker to prop up Stratton. The Democratic primary will be an early national test of the governor’s influence to see if he can get his endorsed candidate elected to the Senate.
Pritzker is also running for reelection and will be on the ballot Tuesday, running unopposed in the Democratic primary. Four Republicans, including former state senator and 2022 GOP nominee Darren Bailey, are running for governor.
Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, public spats and pushback to federal policies has elevated Pritzker as one of several potential Democrats that could run for president in 2028.
The Illinois Senate race has largely been classified as “boring” by state strategists and party officials, particularly as the three candidates are each seen as progressive champions willing to fight against the Trump administration. But it is the most competitive Senate Democratic primary the state has seen in several cycles.
House seats prepare for generational change
Illinois is one of several states saying goodbye to veteran trailblazers and longtime representatives this election cycle. It is part of a wider trend that has seen grassroots Democrats demanding their party’s old guard leave Capitol Hill after Republicans captured the White House and both chambers of Congress in 2024.
In the second congressional district, Rev. Jackson’s son — Jesse Jackson Jr. — is running to replace Kelly. Former Democratic Rep. Melissa Bean is leading a primary field to replace Krishanmoorthi in the 8th Congressional District.
Democratic Reps. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, Danny Davis, and Jan Schakowsky announced they would not run for another term in Congress, opening the floodgates for new representation.
For two of the three districts, it will be the first time they get a new member in decades.
Danny Davis
84-year-old Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) entered Congress in 1997 at the same time as Durbin. He is best known as a champion for civil rights and criminal justice reform, as well as a staunch advocate in affordable housing.
Thirteen Democrats are vying to replace Davis in the 7th Congressional District. Davis has endorsed state Rep. La Shawn Ford as his successor. Ford will face several contenders, including Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin and progressive Kina Collins. Both Ervin and Collins have run for the seat in the past.
The 7th district, which includes downtown Chicago, is one of the most racially and economically diverse in Illinois. As with the Senate race, all 13 candidates have insisted they will stand up to Trump and his policies.
Jan Schakowsky
Schakowsky arrived on Capitol Hill two years after Davis and Durbin in 1999 as the representative for Illinois 9th Congressional District. A long-time progressive policymaker on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, she helped draft former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Schakowsky announced in early 2025 she would not seek reelection to her seat in the Chicago suburbs after progressive challenger Kat Abughazaleh entered the race. Abughazaleh gained national attention after she was arrested on charges of protesting outside an ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois. She is currently facing federal charges.
In total, 15 Democrats are running to replace Schakowsky. Evanston Mayor Daniel Bliss and state Sen. Laura Fine, as well as Abughazaleh, are the top fundraisers in the competitive primary. Schakowsky has endorsed Bliss. The mayor, who lost a 2018 bid for governor against Pritzker, also protested at Broadview, but was not charged.
Chuy Garcia
Garcia, a former member of the Cook County board, has represented the Chicago-based 4th Congressional District since 2019. Unlike other open seats, there is not a large contested primary to replace Garcia.
That’s because the congressman did not announce his retirement until hours before the candidate filing deadline last fall. The late exit ensured his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, was the sole candidate on the Democratic primary ballot.
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Garcia’s conduct, which has been criticized by both Republicans and Democrats, prompted Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) to push for a rebuke on the House floor. The chamber voted to censure Garcia in mid-November. The move raised fury from Democratic leaders who insisted the focus should be on battling Republicans, not having intraparty squabbles.
“My responsibility as an elected representative of my community is to say loudly and consistently, humbly and with love that no one has the right to subvert the right of the people to choose their elected representatives,” Perez said at the time.