WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Illinois Senate primary race is test of Pritzker’s sway, Democrats’ views of ICE

March 17, 2026

Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois is retiring, and all the top Democrat candidates seeking to replace him are even more progressive than Durbin. The Illinois primary election is taking place today, Tuesday, March 17.

Several Republican candidates are also running for Durbin’s Senate seat, but a Republican has not won a state-wide race in Illinois in years.

In addition to the hotly-contested Senate seat, 17 U.S. House seats are also being voted on in Tuesday’s primary elections in Illinois.

From CBS News: The race to fill the seat of retiring Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin has been heating up in the days leading up to Tuesday’s 2026 Democratic primary and could set the tone for other midterm primaries on issues like President Trump’s deportation policies and outside spending. And another factor in the race is Gov. JB Pritzker’s attempt at powerbrokering: he’s given his endorsement and millions in campaign funds to his lieutenant governor, Julianna Stratton.

All three leading candidates, Stratton and Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly, have pledged to fight the Trump administration in the Senate — particularly on immigration and enforcement — but for each, it’s a matter of degree.

All three of the candidates have called for ICE to be abolished – with some semantic differences. Krishnamoorthi has called for President Trump’s use of ICE to be abolished, Stratton has called for the agency to be shuttered and says some ICE agents should be prosecuted. Kelly has gone the farthest — she wants to see ICE and the Department of Homeland Security dismantled.