Illinois held a significant primary election on Tuesday that resulted in the nomination of five new Democratic candidates for open congressional seats expected to remain under Democratic control in the general election. The contest generated substantial spending, with outside groups contributing roughly $70 million and candidates spending approximately $54 million across five competitive races for U.S. Senate and House positions.
The high level of spending and candidate participation represented an unusual phenomenon for Illinois, a state traditionally characterized by machine politics rather than wide-open contests. The surge in activity stemmed from an exceptionally high number of retirements among Democratic officeholders. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced the previous year that he would not seek another term, prompting two House members to enter the Senate race. This cascade of retirements, including three additional Chicago-area Democratic representatives stepping down, resulted in more than one-quarter of the state’s U.S. House seats becoming available—a situation not seen in at least seven decades.
The Senate Democratic primary alone generated over $34 million in independent expenditures, a spending level that exceeded the outside spending in all but nine Senate general election campaigns during 2024, according to OpenSecrets. In the expensive Chicago media market, such funding amounts were readily deployed. Ten PACs each reported at least $1 million in independent expenditures, with Illinois Future PAC and the cryptocurrency-backed Fairshake each spending more than $10 million. Cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, and advocacy organizations focused on Middle East policy allocated significant resources across four of the races.
In four of the five open House seat primaries, outside groups spent more money than the candidates themselves—a pattern rarely seen in federal races. Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who won the Senate primary, received over $16 million in outside support while spending approximately $2.8 million from her campaign. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, trailing by approximately 7 percentage points, spent nearly $24 million from his campaign while facing more than $4 million in opposition spending.
Other races saw comparable outside spending intensity, particularly the 9th District primary, which attracted more than $10 million in outside expenditures. However, the sources of funding for some major spenders remain unclear, as certain PACs had not yet disclosed their donors as of the article’s date, with filing deadlines expected later in the month.
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