Who is running for Illinois’ U.S. Senate seat in the 2026 election?

CHICAGO - Come January 2027, Illinois will not be represented in Congress by Dick Durbin for the first time in more than four decades.

What we know:

When Durbin, 81, announced last year he would not seek another term in the Senate, that opened the door to a large field of Democratic candidates to compete to succeed him.

While the March 17 primary is just the first round of voting in the 2026 cycle, there is little doubt which party will come out on top in November’s general election.

In 2022, the last time Illinois voted for a U.S. Senate seat, sitting Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D) earned 56.8% of the vote with her opponent earning 41.5%, and that was during a year when Republicans were expected to do well with President Joe Biden in office. Durbin last won re-election with just under 55% of the vote in 2020.

So, whichever Democrat wins their party’s nomination is very likely to earn an easy general election victory.

Here is a look at the top contenders to be the next U.S. senator from Illinois:

Raja Krishnamoorthi

Krishnamoorthi, 52, has represented parts of Chicago’s west and northwest suburbs in Congress since 2017. 

He was born in New Delhi, India, and was raised in downstate Peoria before heading off to study mechanical engineering at Princeton University and then Harvard Law School.

During his time in Congress, Krishnamoorthi has focused on issues like decreasing vaping among young people and helping lead a committee focused on competition with China, which he called "among the defining tests of our time."

Through about mid-January, Krishnamoorthi has carried a significant lead in the few primary polls and fundraising hauls.

Juliana Stratton

Stratton, 60, has been the state’s lieutenant governor since 2019 after Gov. JB Pritzker defeated the incumbent republican, Bruce Rauner.

As lieutenant governor, Stratton has focused her time on issues like early childhood education, reproductive rights, and criminal justice reform.

Before that, she served as a member of the General Assembly representing parts of Chicago in the House.

Stratton is a graduate of Kenwood Academy on Chicago’s South Side before going on to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and then DePaul University’s law school.

While she’s been trailing Krishnamoorthi in primary polls, she has the backing of Pritzker and the state’s other sitting U.S. senator, Tammy Duckworth.

Robin Kelly

Kelly, 69, has served in Congress since 2013. Her district includes parts of Chicago’s South Side, the south suburbs, and a large chunk of the eastern part of the state.

Kelly was born in New York City before she attended Bradley University in Peoria. She eventually earned a doctorate from Northern Illinois University.

She served as the director of community affairs for south suburban Matteson before serving in the Illinois House of Representatives. She’s also worked for Alexi Giannoulias when he was state treasurer, and for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

During her time in Congress, she focused on issues like reducing racial health disparities and gun violence. In 2014, she authored a report on gun violence in the U.S., the first-ever congressional analysis of the epidemic, according to her website.

Here are the other candidates running in the Democratic primary race:

• Awisi Quartey Bustos is the former CEO of the Illinois Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs. She said she’s also served as a Senate aide to Durbin, according to her biography. She has a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and a law degree from the UIC John Marshall Law School.
• Steve Botsford Jr. is a former legislative assistant for former U.S. Rep. Tony Cardenas, a Democrat from California. He’s worked in real estate and holds an economics degree from Purdue University and an MBA from Northwestern University.
• Sean Brown is an attorney raised on Chicago’s South Side who has also served as an assistant state’s attorney in Cook County, according to his biography.
• Jonathan Dean is an attorney, an advocate for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and a self-described "solar energy entrepreneur." He holds a law degree from Northwestern University.
• Bryan Maxwell holds a doctorate in agricultural engineering and has worked in agriculture and sustainable technologies for the last 15 years, according to his biography. He’s recently focused on stopping U.S. funding to Israel during its two-year war in Gaza, which a U.N. commission called a genocide.
• Kevin Ryan is a CPS teacher and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran originally from Orland Park. He also attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, studied diplomacy at the University of Oxford, and obtained a master’s degree in national security from Georgetown University.
• Christopher Swan has worked as a deacon and for the nonprofit Feeding America, which helps provide food for local families.

The Republicans

• R. Cary Capparelli is a professor of geography and geo sciences at South Dakota State University who has also served on multiple political boards. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Drake University, master’s degrees from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and Northeastern Illinois University, and a doctorate from the University of London.
• Casey Chlebek is a longtime businessman and former president of the Polish American Congress – Illinois Division, according to his biography. His positions are focused on reducing inflation, higher taxes and reducing crime.
• Jeannie Evans is an attorney who worked at Chicago’s Kirkland & Ellis law firm and practices antitrust enforcement law before co-founding her own firm. She studied political science at Brigham Young University before getting a law degree at Harvard University.
• Pamela Denise Long is an occupational therapist with a doctorate in organization development. She’s also worked as a political commentator and writer for the magazine Newsweek and taught at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
• Jimmy Lee Tillman is a conservative activist who has pushed for legislation to secure the southern border, disallow transgender girls to participate in girl’s sports, and eliminate "wasteful" government spending.
• Don Tracy is a longtime attorney who has also served as the chairman of the Illinois Republican Party. He ran his own law firm in Springfield and has served on several other boards and committees.

What's next:

The Illinois primary Election Day is March 17 and early voting begins in early February.

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