On March 17, 2026, thousands of Illinois voters went to the polls to cast their ballots in federal, state and local primary races. Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton defeated Illinois eighth district Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi to win the Democratic nomination for Dick Durbin’s senate seat. Elburn mayor and retired U.S. Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Jeff Walter won the Republican nomination for Illinois’ 11th district in Congress.
Kaneland staff and students alike participated in this election, with some even working as election judges.
“It was like a game because it was just clicking stuff and searching up people to make sure that people haven’t already voted somewhere else or aren’t registered to vote by mail,” junior Chris Ruiz said.
Ruiz worked at the Sugar Grove Township Community Building.
“I thought it was going to be like a maximum of 400 [voters], but it ended up being like 600 and it was pretty busy,” Ruiz said.
In the senate race, Stratton won the primary with 40.1% of the vote, compared to Krishnamoorthi’s 33.2% and Robin Kelly’s 18.1%. According to her website, Stratton ran her campaign on expanding economic opportunity, increasing affordability and protecting rights.
“We have demonstrated what’s possible when you stay true to your values, fight for what you believe in, and never take anything for granted,” Stratton said in her victory speech. “We will fight for Medicare for all. We will fight to abolish ICE. We’ll fight for a real living wage, not just the bare minimum. We’ll fight to defend our rights and claw our democracy back from the brink.”
She will face Republican Don Tracy in the general election for the vacated senate seat.
Walter, with 42.6% of the vote, defeated Michael Pierce and Charlie Kim, with 38.9% and 12.9% of the vote, respectively, for the Republican nomination for Illinois’ 11th District. Walter’s campaign focused on rebuilding the economy and securing the border.
“As a Navy veteran, a mayor and a businessman, I’ve spent my life leading, serving and getting things done,” Walter said in his victory statement. “That is exactly the kind of leadership people are looking for right now. We’re going to carry this momentum forward, take our message to every corner of the district and give voters a real choice in November.”
He will face the incumbent representative, Democrat Bill Foster, for the Illinois District 11 seat in the House of Representatives.
One of the major talking points during this election cycle was the unprecedented amount of money spent in the races. According to the Associated Press, over $125 million was spent across five races: one U.S. Senate seat and four U.S. House seats (two, seven, eight and nine). Out of the 125 million, 70 million was spent by outside groups, like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Illinois Future PAC and artificial intelligence-backed PACs. The Illinois Future PAC, which is funded by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, contributed $5 million to aid Stratton in her campaign against Krishnamoorthi.
In the House, the large number of campaigns in this primary contributed to the high spending, with more than one quarter of the Illinois seats open, the most in seven decades. AIPAC-affiliated groups like Affordable Chicago Now and Chicago Progressive Partnership invested heavily in House races with varying degrees of success. They saw two wins with Donna Miller in district two and Melissa Bean in district eight. In district 9, the Chicago Progressive Partnership spent 1.2 million to oppose Kat Abughazaleh, and other groups spent millions to support her opponent, Senator Laura Fine, but Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss won instead.
The origin of a campaign’s funding is a deciding factor to some voters, with websites and social media accounts dedicated to tracking the source of campaign donations.
“A big thing for me is where a candidate sources their money during an election,” senior Alex Christakes, who is a first-time voter, said. “I think big donations from big corporate PACs impact policymaking negatively, so I didn’t want to vote for a candidate who got their money this way.”
All eyes will look ahead to Nov. 3, 2026, to see what the future of Illinois politics looks like, both on the state and federal level.
