How Illinois May Bumble Its Way Into Electing a Senate Moderate
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/ March 10, 2026
How Illinois May Bumble Its Way Into Electing a Senate Moderate
The battle for Dick Durbin’s seat in a potential blue-wave cycle should be a progressive cakewalk in a state like Illinois. Cue the infighting and undermining.
David Faris
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House Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi at last month’s Illinois Senate Democratic primary debate.
(Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press)
Democrats spent most of 2025 understandably focused on President Donald Trump’s relentless campaign of partisan repression, jaw-dropping corruption, and international aggression. In the middle of this long national nightmare, Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who has been in the Senate for 28 years, announced his retirement, opening up a seat that even in a neutral environment would be a layup for Democrats. In what looks like blue-wave territory, it’s a set-it-and-forget-it race for the national party that needs to spend its resources on the contests it has to win for its long-shot bid to flip the Senate.
So with virtually everyone on the left in the Democratic stronghold of Illinois focused elsewhere, the primary field has so far been dominated by longtime US Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, a moderate. While Krishnamoorthi is not the devil incarnate or anything, Illinois Democrats deserve to be represented by someone who more closely shares their values. Unfortunately, with Krishnamoorthi leading most polls by double digits, time is running out and the state’s progressives may fall victim to a vote-splitting fiasco.
For the progressive left, the case against Krishnamoorthi is pretty straightforward, if not as lurid as some of the attacks being leveled against him. He’s a member of the 109-member New Democrat Coalition in the House, which on its own should be enough to disqualify him from serving as a US senator from a Democratic stronghold state. The coalition opposes Medicare for All and supports gargantuan Homeland Security budgets and blank checks to Israel. Krishnamoorthi is part of a long, unhappy lineage of Democrats whose boldest proposals involve tinkering with the tax code or the healthcare system on the margins and calling it a day. However, since both former speaker Nancy Pelosi and current House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries have run highly disciplined operations with very few defections on key votes, there’s little in his voting record that jumps out immediately as worrisome.
But if you dig a bit, there are some red flags. He’s accepted donations from a long list of tech companies that cravenly aligned themselves with the Trump administration after his 2024 …
Are they actually going to vote on something real?
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Current Issue
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/ March 10, 2026
How Illinois May Bumble Its Way Into Electing a Senate Moderate
The battle for Dick Durbin’s seat in a potential blue-wave cycle should be a progressive cakewalk in a state like Illinois. Cue the infighting and undermining.
David Faris
Share
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X (Twitter)
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House Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi at last month’s Illinois Senate Democratic primary debate.
(Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press)
Democrats spent most of 2025 understandably focused on President Donald Trump’s relentless campaign of partisan repression, jaw-dropping corruption, and international aggression. In the middle of this long national nightmare, Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who has been in the Senate for 28 years, announced his retirement, opening up a seat that even in a neutral environment would be a layup for Democrats. In what looks like blue-wave territory, it’s a set-it-and-forget-it race for the national party that needs to spend its resources on the contests it has to win for its long-shot bid to flip the Senate.
So with virtually everyone on the left in the Democratic stronghold of Illinois focused elsewhere, the primary field has so far been dominated by longtime US Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, a moderate. While Krishnamoorthi is not the devil incarnate or anything, Illinois Democrats deserve to be represented by someone who more closely shares their values. Unfortunately, with Krishnamoorthi leading most polls by double digits, time is running out and the state’s progressives may fall victim to a vote-splitting fiasco.
For the progressive left, the case against Krishnamoorthi is pretty straightforward, if not as lurid as some of the attacks being leveled against him. He’s a member of the 109-member New Democrat Coalition in the House, which on its own should be enough to disqualify him from serving as a US senator from a Democratic stronghold state. The coalition opposes Medicare for All and supports gargantuan Homeland Security budgets and blank checks to Israel. Krishnamoorthi is part of a long, unhappy lineage of Democrats whose boldest proposals involve tinkering with the tax code or the healthcare system on the margins and calling it a day. However, since both former speaker Nancy Pelosi and current House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries have run highly disciplined operations with very few defections on key votes, there’s little in his voting record that jumps out immediately as worrisome.
But if you dig a bit, there are some red flags. He’s accepted donations from a long list of tech companies that cravenly aligned themselves with the Trump administration after his 2024 …
How Illinois May Bumble Its Way Into Electing a Senate Moderate
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Current Issue
Politics
/ March 10, 2026
How Illinois May Bumble Its Way Into Electing a Senate Moderate
The battle for Dick Durbin’s seat in a potential blue-wave cycle should be a progressive cakewalk in a state like Illinois. Cue the infighting and undermining.
David Faris
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
House Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi at last month’s Illinois Senate Democratic primary debate.
(Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press)
Democrats spent most of 2025 understandably focused on President Donald Trump’s relentless campaign of partisan repression, jaw-dropping corruption, and international aggression. In the middle of this long national nightmare, Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who has been in the Senate for 28 years, announced his retirement, opening up a seat that even in a neutral environment would be a layup for Democrats. In what looks like blue-wave territory, it’s a set-it-and-forget-it race for the national party that needs to spend its resources on the contests it has to win for its long-shot bid to flip the Senate.
So with virtually everyone on the left in the Democratic stronghold of Illinois focused elsewhere, the primary field has so far been dominated by longtime US Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, a moderate. While Krishnamoorthi is not the devil incarnate or anything, Illinois Democrats deserve to be represented by someone who more closely shares their values. Unfortunately, with Krishnamoorthi leading most polls by double digits, time is running out and the state’s progressives may fall victim to a vote-splitting fiasco.
For the progressive left, the case against Krishnamoorthi is pretty straightforward, if not as lurid as some of the attacks being leveled against him. He’s a member of the 109-member New Democrat Coalition in the House, which on its own should be enough to disqualify him from serving as a US senator from a Democratic stronghold state. The coalition opposes Medicare for All and supports gargantuan Homeland Security budgets and blank checks to Israel. Krishnamoorthi is part of a long, unhappy lineage of Democrats whose boldest proposals involve tinkering with the tax code or the healthcare system on the margins and calling it a day. However, since both former speaker Nancy Pelosi and current House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries have run highly disciplined operations with very few defections on key votes, there’s little in his voting record that jumps out immediately as worrisome.
But if you dig a bit, there are some red flags. He’s accepted donations from a long list of tech companies that cravenly aligned themselves with the Trump administration after his 2024 …
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