Pamela Denise Long
Pamela Denise Long (Republican Party) is running for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Illinois. She is on the ballot in the Republican primary on March 17, 2026.[source]
Long completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Pamela Denise Long was born in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. She graduated from Broad Street High School. She earned an associate degree from Lewis and Clark Community College in 1993, a bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia in 1997, a graduate degree from the University of North Texas in 2015, and a Ph.D. from Grand Canyon University. Her career experience includes working as a consultant, project manager, columnist, media commentator, and political analyst.[1][2]
Elections
2026
See also: United States Senate election in Illinois, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on March 17, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
General election for U.S. Senate Illinois
Austin Mink (Independent), Tyrone Muhammad (Independent), and Anthony Smith (Independent) are running in the general election for U.S. Senate Illinois on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| | Austin Mink (Independent) ![]() | |
| | Tyrone Muhammad (Independent) | |
| Anthony Smith (Independent) | ||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Illinois
The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Illinois on March 17, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| | Steve Botsford Jr. ![]() | |
| | Sean Brown ![]() | |
| | Awisi Bustos ![]() | |
| | Jonathan Dean | |
| | Robin Kelly | |
| | Raja Krishnamoorthi | |
| | Bryan Maxwell ![]() | |
| | Kevin Ryan ![]() | |
| | Juliana Stratton | |
| | Christopher Swann ![]() | |
| | Adam Delgado (Write-in) | |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Dick Durbin (D)
- Stanley Leavell (D)
- Robert Palmer (D)
- Adair Rodriquez (D)
- Jump Shepherd (D)
- Anthony Williams (D)
Republican primary
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Illinois
The following candidates are running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Illinois on March 17, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| | R. Cary Capparelli ![]() | |
| | Casey Chlebek | |
| | Jeannie Evans | |
| | Pamela Denise Long ![]() | |
| | Jimmy Lee Tillman II | |
| | Don Tracy | |
| | Max Rice (Write-in) | |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Panagioti Bartzis (R)
- Doug Bennett (R)
- CaSándra Claiborne (R)
- John Goodman (R)
- Lloyd Jones (R)
- Januario Ortega (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Pamela Denise Long completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Long's responses.
| Collapse all
- Implement an Americans First native-born labor sourcing pipeline and talent management strategy. There are over 20 million Americans who are not participating in the labor force. Including seven million men of working age. In the late 1980’s, the U.S. government prepared The Workforce 2000: Work and Workers for the 21st Century report with the interests of businesses in mind. It identifies mass immigration (among other things) as a solution. I will investigate the hiring practices that keep Americans (especially men) out of the labor force. I will advocate for an executive order that ensures American workers are prioritized for hiring for new jobs. Immigrant labor is not bad nor unwelcomed. It should simply be a labor source of last resort.
- Public safety and consistent criminal justice. We often fail to strike a balance between compassion, personal responsibility, and ensuring that incarceration prepares people to become more productive members of society. I would fund local police while ensuring transparency, support victims’ rights, use trauma-informed policy (and habilitation/rehabilitation) to reduce repeat offenses, apply trauma-informed care to law enforcement officers to address vicarious trauma and burnout from day-to-day interactions on the job. Most officers who use excessive force are themselves repeat offenders and should be decertified. Fund community policing, crisis intervention teams, and increase community health workers for nonviolent calls/wellness checks.
- Investigate the Implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act. Senators (and executives) should submit their proposed major federal actions to full analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1970. Doing so would identify in advance the potential impacts a proposed action could have on the human environment (social, cultural, economic, historical, etc.) and minimize negative impacts for people and their communities. Historically, immigration policy and criminal justice laws were not subjected to a preemptive analysis of impacts on people and their environment. The Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that immigration policy MUST BE subjected to NEPA analysis. EPA practices/NEPA use on agribusiness should be investigated.
In addition, we face the threats of new battles, both militarily and in diplomacy. We are also seeing the consequences of a rapidly developing “third world.” This creates potential competition for talent, realignments of global alliances, and conflicts for power. It will be important to not repeat the once hidden tactics of the past related to nation building and regime change.
First, the people get to choose who represents them and for how long. I think it is important for an elected official to be in touch with and aligned with the people she/he is elected to represent. But that’s ultimately a standard imposed by the people who vote for that representative. To the extent that an elected official is not delivering for their constituents, their term should end at the people’s will (majority vote). I hope that when a candidate is reelected it is a sign that the people are satisfied with the job the official has done. It’s the people’s choice.
Second, implementing mandatory term limits would require an Article 5 Constitutional Convention. I have concerns about temperament and discretion if we open our Constitution to amendment.
The filibuster is an essential tool of conservatism and fair representation. The federal government has an important role to play in our Constitutional Republic. Yet, it does too much too quickly; and sometimes with too superficial of an analysis of the impacts and collateral consequences of federal actions. When used conscientiously, the filibuster helps slow down the pace of decisions and potentially prevent expansion of government. As a conservative leaning Republican, I appreciate that.
The filibuster allows opportunity for minority opinions and insights to be considered in the formation of actions in the Senate. It appears to be a protest tool of last resort, used when deliberation and two-way dialogue are not effective at swaying compromise on an action before the Senate. Ultimately, I think every issue should be well researched, deliberated thoroughly across members of the Senate, and duly considered for vote. A filibuster that is substantive and relevant to the action before the Senate can reveal that the body does not have enough information or has enough resistance to remove the bill, reject the nominee, or return a resolution for further modification.
2. Select Committee on Ethics. The federal government and its officials have significant power. One reason the ethics committee interests me is because there are frameworks that should be included in the code of conduct training for senators. For example, no legislation should be proposed that circumscribes Constitutional Rights of protected groups. Should such legislation be authored, it is a clear violation of the core responsibilities of the author to respect the Constitution and should raise questions about their ability to serve ALL the people of the United States.
3. Judiciary. We are in a fight for the soul of our nation. The Senate judiciary committee plays an important part in being a federal stage for discussing controversial and sensitive issues of social policy. The People often complain of having “lost control” of their government. The judiciary committee (in partnership with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics) has an essential role to play in ensuring that senators can exercise their responsibilities to constituents without undue influence of third parties, including colleagues, funders, or other branches of government.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Long submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on May 24, 2025.
Campaign website
Long's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Policy Priorities Economic Growth
Parental Rights
Immigration & Secure Borders
Safety & Criminal Justice
Strong Men & Boys
Health & Wellbeing
|
” |
| —Pamela Denise Long's campaign website (2026)[4] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 14, 2025
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 24, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Pamela Denise Long's campaign website, “Issues,” accessed January 21, 2026

