TV advertising has already begun in Illinois' 2026 Democrat primary for U.S. Senate, and new fundraising numbers released Tuesday show the race is shaping up to be expensive.
The quarterly reports submitted to the Federal Elections Commission shed light on how candidates are spending money as well as who is contributing to them. Donations are pouring in for U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton — the three most high-profile Democrats so far to launch their campaign.
Gov. JB Pritzker has already put his thumb on the scale of the race, endorsing Stratton a day after she launched her campaign in April. But the billionaire governor has a financial stake in the contest as well.
Pritzker contributed $3,500 to Stratton’s primary campaign, and another $3,500 earmarked for the general election. It’s the maximum amount allowed in an election cycle for an individual contribution under federal rules, meaning he can’t contribute anything close to the $300 million he’s dumped into his own campaigns for governor.
Pritzker can still find other avenues to financially support Stratton later, such as through a dark money political action committee he launched in 2023. And he wasn’t the only Pritzker to donate to Stratton. His wife, MK, his two adult children, and his cousins Adam, John, Gigi and Jennifer, all contributed the maximum $7,000. Jennifer Pritzker is a former supporter of President Donald Trump who has more recently supported Democratic candidates.
Kelly vs. Pritzker round 3
The race has also set a third battle between a Pritzker ally and Kelly.
Underlying the contest is Kelly’s past history as chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois. She was elected party chair in 2021 against Pritzker backed candidate and Chicago Ald. Michelle Harris to replace Mike Madigan who bowed out of the job after losing the speakership that year. But the following year, Kelly ended her bid for reelection as party chair after it became clear she would not have enough support to beat State Rep. Lisa Hernandez, D-Cicero, for the leadership role. Hernandez was also backed by Pritzker.
Read more: Democratic Party chair bows out in re-election bid, paving way for state Rep. Lisa Hernandez
Kelly, of Matteson, argued a lot of people on the party’s state central committee “were sad to see me go.”
“The people in the party, they know me, they know the work that I’ve done,” Kelly told Capitol News Illinois last week. “Despite what happened, I’ve still been an effective leader. I’m the only one that’s been an effective leader on every level of government and has delivered on every level.”
Kelly says money isn’t going to decide the race.
“They have a lot of money, but you know what, I’m just using every opportunity to tell my story and I don’t feel like I need the most money in the race to win the race because I feel like I have an excellent story to tell,” Kelly said.
Between her two campaign committees for her U.S. House seat and a new committee for her Senate bid, Kelly raised $565,775 from April 1 through June 30 and has $2 million in her campaign accounts.
Her donors include a lengthy list of corporate political action committees, many local officials in her 2nd Congressional District, and some notable names in Illinois government. They include former state Sen. Jacqueline Collins, Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt and Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon. Gordon also contributed to Stratton’s campaign.
Stratton’s contributions
Stratton’s cash balance of $666,416 is the smallest in the race, as it is her first time running for federal office and first time running for office alone since she was a state representative in 2016. She raised just over $1 million since launching her campaign in late April.
Stratton has pledged not to take any money from corporate political action committees, though Krishnamoorthi and Kelly have received such donations. She returned a contribution from the central Illinois energy company Marquis Energy’s PAC, although accepted contributions from several Marquis family members who hold top leadership positions at the company, according to FEC filings.
The rest of her list of donors is a “who's who” of Illinois Democrats.
Stratton has touted many endorsements from members of the General Assembly in recent days and 12 have contributed to her campaign. The list also includes many Lake County Democrats, including State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart, Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering, and county party chair Lauren Beth Gash.
Stratton also received support from owners of most of the city’s sports teams: Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts and her wife; White Sox and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, along with his son and Bulls President Michael Reinsdorf; and Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz.
Other donors come from all sectors of state politics, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth, former legislators, high-profile lobbyists and consultants, Pritzker’s top political advisor, business executives, and lawyers at Chicago's top law firms.
Some donors also hold positions in state government, including Department of Human Rights Director Jim Bennett and the Department of Labor's top attorney, Deborah Baker.
Stratton has also formed her own political action committee called “Level Up.” Fundraising numbers for the committee have not yet been released as political action committees follow a different reporting schedule than campaigns.
Krishnamoorthi continues strong fundraising
Krishnamoorthi, of Schaumburg, has been one of the most prolific fundraisers in Congress, reporting millions of dollars in contributions every quarter. His first months running for Senate were no different.
Krishnamoorthi raised just shy of $3 million between his House campaign account and new Senate campaign account. Candidates running for a new federal office are generally allowed to transfer funds from their old campaign to their new campaign. In total, Krishnamoorthi has $21 million on hand.
“I'm just blessed to have a lot of individual donors throughout Illinois and elsewhere who believe in my mission,” Krishnamoorthi told Capitol News Illinois.
The March 17, 2026, primary is still eight months away, but Krishnamoorthi launched the election cycle’s first TV ad on Tuesday, which cost $500,000 for the first week, according to his campaign. It’s airing in TV markets around the state and on digital platforms.
The 30-second segment serves as an introduction of Krishnamoorthi, who currently represents the 8th Congressional District in the northwest suburbs. It portrays him as a fighter against “bullies,” which is how he describes Trump.
“When I see underdogs hurt by a rigged system, I fight back ... Bullies like Trump can call us names, but you can just call me Raja,” Krishnamoorthi says in the ad, playing off his “just call me Raja” slogan that has been a hallmark of his TV advertisements since he first ran for Congress in 2016.
Most of Krishnamoorthi’s fundraising came from individual donors and less than $200,000 was from political action committees. But unlike his opponents, he had very few donors who are involved in state politics. One of the most notable names contributing to his campaign was Vinai Thummalapally, a former ambassador to Belize.
Other candidates
Six Republicans have filed as candidates with the Federal Elections Commission but did not raise substantial amounts of money. They include Casey Chlebek, a former IT professional who is active in Polish-American civic groups; Douglas Bennett, who ran unsuccessfully in the 10th Congressional District in 2018; Air Force veteran John Goodman; Pamela Denise Long, an occupational therapist and former political commentator for Newsweek; former Illinois International Port District board member Cary Capparelli, and Westchester resident Panagioti Bartzis.
On the Democrat side, four other candidates have filed with the FEC: Kevin Ryan, a Marine veteran and diplomat; Christopher Swann, a program manager for Feeding America; Carmi resident Stan Leavell, and Awisi Bustos, CEO of the Illinois Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs.
Bustos is daughter-in-law of former U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, who represented the 17th Congressional District for 10 years. Cheri Bustos is not supporting Awisi Bustos’ campaign amid an ongoing divorce case, the D.C. insider newsletter Punchbowl reported.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
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