Who is running for U.S. Senate in Illinois in the 2026 primary elections?
With U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin retiring at the end of his term, Illinois voters face a crowded ballot in the bid to fill a seat Durbin has held since 1997. Ten Democrats and six Republicans are running for the seat.
Here's who is on the ballot for the primary elections on March 17.
Who are the Democrats running for U.S. Senate?
Raja Krishnamoorthi
Krishnamoorthi has represented the 8th Congressional District in Illinois since 2017. The district includes the Far Northwest Side of Chicago near O'Hare Airport, and several western and northwestern suburbs, including parts of Carol Stream, Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Elgin, and Geneva.
An outspoken opponent of President Trump, Krishnamoorthi is seeking to rein in what he calls "abuses of power" by the Trump administration. He has accused the president of weaponizing the Justice Department to target his political enemies and the Department of Homeland Security to carry out arbitrary immigration raids and mass deportations. He also has supported banning members of Congress or the president from trading stocks.
Krishnamoorthi also touts plans to lower costs for Americans by providing a nationwide free lunch program for children, repealing the Trump administration's cuts to food stamps, reversing cuts to Medicaid, expanding child tax credits, and bolstering federal funding for childcare.
Campaign website: rajaforil.com
Robin Kelly
Kelly has represented the 2nd Congressional District in Illinois since 2013. The district includes much of Chicago's southern lakefront neighborhoods; several south suburbs, including Dolton, South Holland, Chicago Heights, and Park Forest; and parts of east central Illinois, including Kankakee, Pontiac, Rantoul, and Danville.
A vocal critic of the Trump administration, Kelly has launched an attempt to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over her handling of the federal government's immigration crackdown. Kelly accuses Noem of obstructing congressional oversight of immigration enforcement operations, directing unconstitutional actions, and using her office for personal benefit by steering federal funds to her associates.
Kelly is also a supporter of stronger gun control legislation, increasing taxes on billionaires, raising the federal minimum wage to $17 per hour by 2030, and providing Medicare for all.
Campaign website: robinforsenate.com
Juliana Stratton
Stratton has been the lieutenant governor of Illinois since 2019, following one term as a member of the Illinois House.
Her priorities include allowing Medicare coverage for all, increasing the federal minimum wage to $25 per hour, and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Sustoms Enforcement. She's also seeking tax cuts for the middle class by increasing taxes on millionaires, and is a supporter of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which seeks to restore provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that have been struck down by the Supreme Court.
Stratton also backs stronger gun control laws and restoring abortion protections struck down by the Supreme Court when it overturned Roe v. Wade.
Campaign website: julianastratton.com
Steve Botsford Jr.
Botsford is a former staffer for former California Congressman Tony Cardenas, who moved back to Chicago to attend business school at Northwestern University and work in the financial industry, and ran for the Chicago City Council in 2023.
His priorities include lowering credit card interest rates, breaking up corporate monopolies, capping prescription drug prices, expanding free school meals, and protecting Social Security and Medicare. He also has called for banning stock trading in Congress, using independent nonpartisan commissions to draw congressional maps, and limiting presidential emergency powers.
Campaign website: botsfordforillinois.com
Sean Brown
Brown is an attorney and community advocate from the South Side of Chicago.
His priorities include universal healthcare, comprehensive immigration reform, fee tuitition at all public colleges and universities, and creating a national firearm registry.
Campaign website: seanbrownforsenate.com
Awisi Bustos
Bustos is a former CEO of the Illinois Alliance of Boys & GIrls Clubs, and a former senior policy avisor for the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Her priorities include expanded funding for public colleges, trade schools and apprencitceships; tougher ethics laws and anti-corruption measures; universal broadband internet access for every household; expanded STEM programs at schools; improved family leave; and lowering prescription drug prices.
Campaign website: awisiforussenate.us
Jonathan Dean
Dean is a solar energy entrepreneur, attorney, and advocate for survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
His prorities include raising the minimum wage to $20 per hour, increasing availability of affordable housing, offering more financial assistance for first-time home buyers, increasing taxes on billionaires, allowing for Medicare coverage for all, and expanding use of renewable energy.
Campaign website: dean4il.com
Bryan Maxwell
Maxwell is an agricultural engineer, writer, and musician.
His priorities include ending U.S. support for Israel, providing Medicare for all, increasing taxes on billionaires, addressing climate change, and increasing investment in rural communities.
Campaign website: maxwell4senate.com
Kevin Ryan
Ryan is a Chicago Public Schools teacher and Marine Coprs veteran who served in Afghanistan.
His priorities include amending the Constitution to impose campaign spending limits, eliminating "Super PAC" spenging on political campaigns, independent redistricting, establishing age limits and term limits for Congress, banning Congressional stock trading, allowing Medicare coverage for all, abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and abolishing the death penalty.
Campaign website: runwithkev.com
Christopher Swann
Swann is a deacon and a senior program manager at Feeding America, a nonprofit hunger relief organization.
His priorities include support for Palestinian independence, increased humanitarian aid in Gaza, providing guaranteed income for families living below the poverty line, raising the minimum wage to more than $17 an hour, providing Medicare for all, and abolishing ICE.
Campaign website: swannforsenate.com
Who are the Republicans running for U.S. Senate?
R. Cary Capparelli
Capparelli is a professor and head of a global management and marketing company.
His priorities include maintaining a strong military, supporting veterans, securing the nation's borders, making healthcare more accessible and affordable, and addressing the mental health crisis.
Campaign website: rcarycapparelli.net
Casey Chlebek
Chlebek, a Polish immigrant who has lived in the U.S. since the 1960s, is a longtime IT professional.
His priorities include investing in robotics, AI, and quantum computing; cutting income taxes; overhauling the immigration system; reducing the national debt; and expanding vocational training.
Campaign website: caseyforsenate.com
Jeannie Evans
Evans is an attorney who has focused on antitrust enforcement, taking on corporate monopolies.
Her priorities include providing more support for small businesses; cutting taxes; increasing science, technology, and workforce training; expanding agricultural exports; protecting privacy; and decreasing the national debt.
Campaign website: jeannieevans.com
Dr. Pamela Denise Long
Long is an occupational therapist and political commentator.
Her priorities include completing construction of President Trump's border wall, restricting financial support to Ukraine, eliminating the federal income tax and replacing it with a consumption tax, limiting abortion access, and ending birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants.
Campaign website: longforsenate2026.com
Dr. Jimmy Lee Tillman II
Tillman is an author, historian, and founder of the Martin Luther King Republicans, a group of Black Republicans in Illinois.
His priorities include securing the border, banning transgender women and girls from participating in women's and girls' sports, and cutting government spending.
Campaign website: jimmylee2dc.com
Don Tracy
Tracy is an attorney, former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, and former chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board.
His priorities include affordable energy policies, lowering drug and insurance prices, reducing government spending, and securing the border.
Campaign website: dontracyforil.com