In Illinois, Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi hoped to become the second Indian American to ever be elected to the US Senate. He fell more than 80,000 votes short of that dream – and lost his seat in the US House in the process. Meanwhile, the primaries for the US House and Illinois governor all seem to show that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Raja’s Big Move – Right Out of Congress
First elected to the House in 2016, Raja Krishnamoorthi kept his seat for five terms. He ran unopposed in all subsequent elections other than in 2018, when he pulled almost 80% of the primary votes, dwarfing the second runner-up more than six-to-one. There seems to be no reason to believe he wouldn’t have handily won a sixth term if it weren’t for his growing ambitions.
Despite the name recognition that comes with serving a decade in Congress, however, it seems this modern-day Icarus may have flown too close to the sun. And in failing to soar as high as the Senate, he crashed out of Congress altogether.
The winner, Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, pulled just over 81,000 more votes than Krishnamoorthi – and well over twice as many as the Republican primary winner, Don Tracy. The primary was busy on both sides, with six Republicans and ten Democrats, but Stratton and her party mates pulled more than 1.1 million votes, while the GOP saw just over 520,000. It is worth noting that an estimated 99,000 votes remain to be counted, but for them to change the outcome of the primary, Krishnamoorthi would have to get nearly all of them. As for the general election, anything could happen between now and November – but it certainly seems Juliana Stratton will be the Prairie State’s newest senator in 2027.
No Real Changes Predicted for Blue Illinois
Of the 17 congressional districts in the state, just three are represented by Republicans. About 95% of the votes have been tallied, and so far, it doesn’t seem the Illinois delegation is in for much change. Four incumbents didn’t run for re-election – half of whom, District Two’s Robin Kelly and District Eight’s Krishnamoorthi, took their shot at and missed the same seat in the Senate. Even in those four districts, though, the same party seems likely to retain power, based on the vote totals for each side. So there will be a minimum of four new names in Congress for the state of Illinois come 2027, but it doesn’t seem any seats are flipping one way or the other.
The big race beyond the Senate this year is the rematch between incumbent Governor JB Pritzker and his GOP challenger from 2022, Darren Bailey. The Republican came out on top of four candidates, drawing just shy of 300,000 primary votes to his runner-up’s 161,000 or so. Governor Pritzker ran unopposed, so there aren’t any votes to count for him this week. But a look back at 2022 is instructive. Pritzker won 54.9% to Bailey’s 42.4% - and there’s no real reason to expect something similar won’t occur in November this year.
As for the Lt. Gov. position soon to be vacated by Ms. Stratton, November will see Republican Aaron Del Mar face Democrat Christian Mitchell in the general election. For anyone wondering how that race or any other will turn out, consider this: There has been some party turnover in the governor’s office over the last few elections, but Pritzker is the favored candidate.
As well, Illinois voters have given Democrats solid, unbroken majorities in the state senate since 2002 and the state house since 1996. The Land of Lincoln has also backed the Democratic Party’s presidential pick in every election since Bill Clinton in 1992. The numbers all seem to come out blue – again, no big shocks here for anyone but Reps. Krishnamoorthi and Kelly.
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