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CHICAGO — <\/span>Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton won Tuesday’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, edging out two sitting members of the U.S. House to advance to a November general election against Republican nominee Don Tracy, former state party chair. <\/p>\n The retirement of U.S. Sen Dick Durbin<\/a>, the Senate\u2019s longtime No. 2 Democrat, triggered a competitive campaign on the Democratic side, drawing as candidates Stratton and U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly, among others. Furious fundraising and sharp elbows marked the race, which tested the influence of Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker<\/a>. The governor, whose name has been floated as a 2028 presidential contender, backed Stratton. <\/p>\n From questions about the cryptocurrency and AI industries to immigration enforcement to fracturing U.S. support for Israel, the state\u2019s voters confronted such issues as super PACS poured in millions of dollars<\/a> into hotly contested races.<\/p>\n A spate of House retirements<\/a> led to open seats with crowded contests across the Chicago area where the American Israel Public Affairs Committee<\/a> and PACs supporting the cryptocurrency and AI industries spent big on several contests. Most primary winners in the Democratic stronghold are expected to win in November, shaping a new generation of leadership<\/a> in the state\u2019s congressional delegation. <\/p>\n Among 10 Democrats in the race, Stratton lagged in fundraising but had the powerful backing of Pritzker, who put millions into a PAC supporting her election and campaigned with her around the state. <\/p>\n Krishnamoorthi dominated fundraising and was the first on television with ads in July. He started 2026 with over $15 million on hand after spending more than $6 million and raising more than $3.5 million in the final three months of last year, according to campaign finance records.<\/p>\n By comparison, Stratton started the year with $1 million after raising about the same amount and spending just under $1 million in the last three months of 2025. <\/p>\n She lit into Krishnamoorthi at debates, particularly on the five-term Democrat\u2019s voting record and donations from a contractor tied to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is not the example of somebody who\u2019s going to stand up to Donald Trump and fight for all of our communities,\u201d Stratton said during a debate in January. <\/p>\n Krishnamoorthi, who has called to dismantle the agency, said he donated the money to immigrant rights groups. In a concession speech Tuesday, he brought up his roots as an immigrant born in India and raised in central Illinois. <\/p>\n \u201cOnly in this country can a kid like me serve in the halls of Congress,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd now we must come together as Democrats and as Americans to make sure that we return to the principles that made us a beacon of freedom and opportunity for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Rochelle Brockenborough, 64, said she voted for Stratton at the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Service Center in Chicago.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to make sure there was no AIPAC money. That\u2019s important to me,\u201d she said, adding that U.S. tax dollars shouldn\u2019t be used to support Israel. <\/p>\n Candidates touted ties to iconic Chicagoans including President Barack Obama and the late Rev. Jesse Jackson<\/a>, who died last month. However, an endorsement touted posthumously by Stratton caused a snag as Jackson\u2019s family withdrew it Monday, saying the draft was not meant for public release. <\/p>\n In the GOP primary, Tracy, an attorney who led the Illinois Republican Party from 2021 to 2024, bested five other candidates. The state last had a Republican in the Senate a decade ago, when Mark Kirk was defeated by current Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth.<\/p>\n Election officials hoped to see busy polls after statewide turnout in the 2024 primary was 19%, the lowest in more than five decades. Initial turnout estimates in Chicago were around 25%, according to the Chicago Board of Elections. <\/p>\n Dozens of candidates ran for five open seats in the Chicago area, where funding from groups supporting Israel and the cryptocurrency industry played an outsize role.<\/p>\n In Kelly\u2019s 2nd district, which spans parts of the South Side and suburbs and dips into the central Illinois farmlands, Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller emerged as the winner of a crowded Democratic field that included former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.<\/a>, son of the late civil rights leader<\/a>, and state Sen. Robert Peters. Miller will face off in November against Republican Michael Noack, who was unopposed. <\/p>\n Miller was backed by AIPAC, and that support prompted retiring U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, of the 9th District, to withdraw her endorsement of Miller. <\/p>\n The open seat in Krishnamoorthi\u2019s suburban 8th District attracted eight Democrats and four Republicans. Former U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean won the Democratic nomination. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople are ready for change, they want to see a functional Congress,\u201d she told The Associated Press. \u201cWe haven\u2019t had one in quite some time.\u201d<\/p>\n Two other House members are retiring after long careers.<\/p>\n The 7th District of Rep. Danny Davis, who was first elected in 1996, covers parts of downtown, the West Side and suburbs. The candidate he endorsed, state Rep. La Shawn Ford won the nomination over a pool that included Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin. Chad Koppie won for the GOP. <\/p>\n The primary for Schakowsky’s 9th District seat was the most crowded. Among the 15 Democrats, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss edged out digital creator Kat Abughazaleh and state Sen. Laura Fine. Four Republicans were running.<\/p>\n Speaking to supporters, Biss called Schakowsky, who endorsed him, his \u201cpolitical hero\u201d and said the contest to replace her raised fundamental questions about Democratic Party priorities.<\/p>\n \u201cAre we going to double down on our progressive values, or are we going to shrink away from protecting the most vulnerable?\u201d Biss said. \u201cWe are going to stand up, we are going to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n Another open Chicago area seat was that of Rep. Jesus \u201cChuy\u201d Garcia, who announced that he would not seek reelection citing health and personal reasons. The Democratic primary was uncontested after Garcia quietly schemed<\/a> to place his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, on the ballot without any Democratic competition. <\/p>\n Patty Garcia, who is not related to the congressman, will face Republican Lupe Castillo, who also ran unopposed, in November. <\/p>\n Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune who was unopposed in his primary, is the first governor to seek a third term<\/a> since the 1980s.<\/p>\n One of President Donald Trump\u2019s most vocal critics<\/a>, Pritzker used his victory speech to tout his efforts to oppose the aggressive federal immigration crackdown<\/a> in Chicago last year. He criticized Republicans’ agenda, called Trump’s presidency an \u201cunmitigated disaster\u201d and vowing to help Democrats across Illinois win in November. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is the fight of our lives,\u201d he told supporters at a downtown Chicago hotel. \u201cEverything we care about is under siege from Washington.\u201d <\/p>\n Pritzker also made digs at Republican candidate Darren Bailey, a former state senator whom he handily defeated in 2022.<\/p>\n Bailey, who bested three other Republicans vying for the nomination, said he was now doing things differently. For one, he focused more on Chicago voters by choosing running mate Aaron Del Mar, who leads the Republican Party in Cook County. <\/p>\n On the campaign trail, Bailey criticized Pritzker\u2019s leadership, including blaming him for rising costs, saying, \u201cHe\u2019s just another billionaire who has never once felt the pain he\u2019s inflicted.\u201d <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press journalists Mike Householder in Chicago and Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n