When long-time U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin announced on April 23, 2025, that he would not run for re-election, three prominent Democratic officeholders leaped at the chance to succeed him. 

Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton announced her candidacy on April 24, 2025. U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, who represents the 2nd Congressional District, followed suit on May 6, and U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi announced his run on May 7.

The three have dominated media attention on the race since then. 

Other candidates will be on the ballot in the March 17 primary. Democratic candidates include Steve Botsford, Sean Brown, Awisi Bustos, Jonathan Dean, Bryan Maxwell, Kevin Ryan and Christopher Swann. Republican candidates include R. Cary Capparelli, Casey Chlebek, CaSándra Claiborne, Jeannie Evans, Pamela Long, Jimmy Tillman and Don Tracy.

Kelly’s campaign has focused on her experience and effectiveness as a lawmaker. Her resume is much longer than her competitors. 

Her public service began in 1992 on the staff of the village of Matteson. She was a state representative from 2003 to 2007, then chief of staff for Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. She was elected to the U.S. House in 2013. 

One of her campaign catch phrases is “I’m a work horse, not a show horse.” At an early candidate forum hosted by Rich Township Democrats in July 2025, she emphasized her work ethic. 

“I know people like to say they’re not a politician,” she said. “I guess I am a politician, but I’m a politician with leadership grounded in compassion and service.” 

Among a range of policy areas she works in, her legislative focus often is on healthcare, especially women’s healthcare, and on gun violence prevention. Kelly is among Democratic legislators pushing back increasingly hard against the Trump administration. In January, Kelly introduced articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. By the end of January, the number of co-sponsors in the House had swelled to more than 160.

At a candidate forum in January sponsored by the  South Suburban Chicago Chapter of The Links Inc. in partnership with LEGO Academy, she said in answer to a student’s question that immigration enforcement is necessary, but the current agencies need to be dismantled and rebuilt. 

Kelly addressed her economic development priorities, which focus on increasing affordability.

“It’s about time that millionaires, billionaires and corporations pay their fair share of taxes, no more, no less, but their fair share,” she said. “And when that is done, we can invest in housing. Everyone can have healthcare. People can make decent wages. People won’t have to pay more for childcare than they’re paying for rent. People can feel safe. We can invest in economic development.”

One of the economic development efforts she has championed while in Congress is the development of the South Suburban Airport, a project that has languished for decades. 

“We are 90% there,” she said. “We’ve done every study. We have people interested in the development of the South Suburban Airport. And to be honest with you, it’s the state that has stopped the movement. That would be a big thing that I would want to see finally come to pass.”

Kelly and other proponents believe a new airport would boost the economy throughout the south suburban and Will County region.

Krishnamoorthi represents the 8th District in Congress. He was a special assistant attorney general before he was elected to the U.S. House in 2016. He is the first Indian American to serve as a ranking member or chair of any full committee in the U.S. Congress.

At the Rich Township Democrats forum in July, Krishnamoorthi cited his family history as the inspiration for his political career. His parents moved to the U.S. when he was three months old. The family survived hard times during the 1973 recession, he said.

“Right now, we’re faced with one threshold question. What kind of government do we want?” he said. “Do we want a government that’s there for those who are fighting to make it or a government that’s there who’s primarily catering to those who have it made? I know we need a government that’s trying to cultivate the American dream for everyone.”

He said the Trump administration’s 2025 budget bill, which extended tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy and cut programs that benefit the poor, “is dismantling the American dream.”

He said his priorities if elected would be to restore the cuts to health and food assistance programs made by the budget bill. He said protecting Social Security and Medicare were top priorities, too. 

“We also have to raise the cap subject to Social Security taxes,” he said. “It’s unfair that lower and middle class people pay an effective tax rate under Social Security that is higher than higher income people.”

He also advocated greater accountability for the executive branch. 

Stratton has enjoyed the support — political and financial — of Gov. J.B. Pritzker since her campaign began. She was elected on Pritzker’s ticket in 2018, the first Black woman to serve as lieutenant governor. She also served in the Illinois House from 2017 to 2019.

Prior to serving in elected office, she worked for the city of Chicago, the University of Illinois and the Cook County Board president’s office in agencies devoted to consumer protection, criminal justice and public safety reform. 

“When I go around the state of Illinois and talk to so many people, they tell me that they’re looking for one thing and that is they are looking for fire,” she said at the Rich Townships Democratic Party forum. “They look me in the eye and say, will you stand up and fight for me? Because the chaos coming out of Washington is devastating and people quite frankly are scared. And I’m proud that I can look them in the eye and say, absolutely, I will fight for you.”

Like Kelly, healthcare is a priority for Stratton. At the Links-Lego forum in January, she said caring for her mother in her final years was both a challenge and a privilege, but at the same time, state government under the previous administration was stripping away health care benefits seniors like her mother needed.

“I was not going to sit on the sidelines. I knew that people deserve someone to fight for them. So I stepped up,” she said. “Donald Trump and his allies are attacking our rights, attacking our democracy, attacking our communities, attacking our economy, and attacking our freedoms. And once again, I am not sitting on the sidelines.”

She cited a list of abuses Trump’s immigration enforcement agents have committed and said ICE “cannot be reformed. So to me, this agency should not exist.”