United States Senate election in Illinois, 2026 (March 17 Democratic primary)

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U.S. Senate, Illinois
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: November 3, 2025
Primary: March 17, 2026
General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times:

6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting in Illinois

Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
U.S. Senate, Illinois
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th • 15th • 16th • 17th
Illinois elections, 2026
U.S. Congress elections, 2026
U.S. Senate elections, 2026
U.S. House elections, 2026

A Democratic Party primary takes place on March 17, 2026, in Illinois to determine which Democratic candidate will run in the state's general election on November 3, 2026.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
November 3, 2025
March 17, 2026
November 3, 2026


Heading into the election, the incumbent is Dick Durbin (Democrat), who was first elected in 1996.

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In Illinois, state law provides for a closed primary where a voter must be affiliated with a party to vote in that party's primary. However, voters state their affiliation at the polls and any voter may change their affiliation on the day of the primary. A voter's eligibility to vote a party's ballot may be challenged.[1]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Illinois' United States Senate Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the state's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

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
Image of Steve Botsford Jr.
Steve Botsford Jr. Candidate Connection
Image of Sean Brown
Sean Brown
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Awisi Bustos
Image of Jonathan Dean
Jonathan Dean
Image of Robin Kelly
Robin Kelly
Image of Raja Krishnamoorthi
Raja Krishnamoorthi
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Bryan Maxwell
Image of Kevin Ryan
Kevin Ryan Candidate Connection
Image of Juliana Stratton
Juliana Stratton
Image of Christopher Swann
Christopher Swann Candidate Connection

Incumbents are bolded and underlined.

Candidate Connection = 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.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Steve Botsford Jr.

Image of Steve Botsford Jr.

WebsiteFacebookXYouTube

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "I grew up in the northwest suburbs of Illinois, graduated from Notre Dame, and walked on to the football team. After school I worked on Capitol Hill for Congressman Tony Cárdenas, where I helped draft legislation on economic mobility and workforce issues. I later earned a master’s in applied economics from Georgetown and an MBA from Northwestern. My career has taken me through structured finance, political campaigns, and now the small real estate business my family built. In 2023 I ran for Chicago City Council, knocking on nearly every door in the ward and centering my campaign on two things that matter to every neighborhood (building more housing people can afford and making communities safer). Illinois has always been home, and everything I’ve worked on comes back to the same idea: strengthening the places families live, work, and build their futures."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Families feel squeezed because the cost of everything keeps rising while our systems stay stuck. I want to lower the cost of living by building more housing, expanding clean and reliable energy, cutting unnecessary barriers that drive up prices, and making healthcare and childcare more affordable. Growing the economy by increasing supply is the most direct way to help working people build stability and plan for the future.

The American Dream used to mean each generation could climb higher through hard work. Today, that dream feels out of reach for too many families priced out of homeownership, weighed down by debt, or stuck in systems that don’t deliver. I want to restore that promise by expanding opportunity, making it easier to start a family, buy a home, and build a good life. A country as wealthy and innovative as ours should make upward mobility possible again.

Democrats lost ground in 2024, especially with voters we used to win. The party’s brand has grown narrower, and career politicians aren’t bringing new people into the coalition. If we want to govern and pass big reforms, we need candidates who can appeal to independents, moderates, and voters who drifted away. I want to open the tent, broaden our appeal, and show that Democrats can be the party of growth, safety, opportunity, and practical results, not insider careerism.

Kevin Ryan

Image of Kevin Ryan

WebsiteFacebookXYouTube

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "I grew up in Orland Park, IL and attended Marist High School in Chicago. My early years were marked by difficult times with my brother, Pat, who battled intense addiction and mental illness. He made life at home incredibly difficult. Thankfully, I had some really great teachers who helped me through those difficult years. They inspired me to lead a life of service, and I became a teacher myself. Pat went in and out of rehab and then found himself in the Cook County Jail for several months. Shortly after his release, he overdosed and died at the age of 22. I carried guilt for years, believing I had failed him as a brother. Becoming a teacher showed me I could be there for others in ways I couldn’t be there for Pat. While studying to become a teacher at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, people my age were being sent to Afghanistan. And I felt compelled to do my part. So, I joined the Marine Corps Reserve as an infantry officer and balanced deployments while teaching on the South and West Sides of Chicago. In 2020, I used my GI Bill to attend the University of Oxford. I earned a graduate degree in diplomacy that took me to assignments across Europe, the Pentagon, and the U.S. Treasury. While in Washington, I obtained a graduate degree from Georgetown University. Outraged by the ultra-wealthy individuals and corporations who control our government through the legal corruption that is unlimited political spending, I returned home, and I am now running to end it."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

We must amend the Constitution to establish campaign spending limits. Unlimited political spending is the great crack in the foundation of our democracy. Until we remove the corrupting influence of money from our politics, we, the people, will remain incapable of meaningfully addressing any of the issues challenging our common good today.

Anyone who works full-time ought to earn enough to live, save, and enjoy life. It is a moral failure of our government to allow 38 million working Americans to continue to live in poverty while corporate profits continue to soar.

Healthcare, housing, and education are basic human rights. And the wealthiest country on the planet should prioritize providing its people these basic necessities.

Christopher Swann

Image of Christopher Swann

WebsiteFacebookXYouTube

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Ending Silence on Genocide and Injustice The United States must end its support for the Israeli government’s assault on Palestinians and stand firmly for a free Palestine. U.S. military aid should never fund apartheid, occupation, or the bombing of civilians. I support an immediate ceasefire, humanitarian relief, and full Palestinian self-determination. Justice and safety cannot exist without equality and freedom for all people. Our foreign policy must reflect courage, compassion, and accountability.

Guaranteed Income A guaranteed income means direct cash assistance every month so working families can meet basic needs like rent, food, and childcare. It cuts red tape, restores dignity, and replaces outdated programs that punish people for earning more. Our current safety net is fractured and traps families in poverty through the benefits cliff. By providing steady, unconditional income, we can eliminate that cliff, reduce poverty, and give every family real economic security.

Medicare for All Healthcare is a right and should never be a burden. I support Medicare for All so everyone, regardless of income or zip code, can see a doctor, afford medication, and receive mental health support without fear of medical debt. A single payer system ensures care focuses on people, not profit. By investing in prevention and removing barriers to care, we can save lives, lower costs, and guarantee dignity for every person in Illinois.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Illinois

Election information in Illinois: March 17, 2026, election.

What is the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: Feb. 17, 2026
  • By mail: Postmarked by Feb. 17, 2026
  • Online: March 1, 2026

Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: March 16, 2026
  • By mail: Received by March 12, 2026
  • Online: March 12, 2026

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: March 17, 2026
  • By mail: Postmarked by March 17, 2026

Is early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What are the early voting start and end dates?

Feb. 5, 2026 to March 16, 2026

Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When are polls open on Election Day?

6:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. (CT)


Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals.[2] The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times."[3] For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.

Below we provide results for polls from a wide variety of sources, including media outlets, social media, campaigns, and aggregation websites, when available. We only report polls for which we can find a margin of error or credibility interval. Know of something we're missing? Click here to let us know.


U.S. Senate election in Illinois, 2026 Democratic primary polls
PollDatesKellyKrishnamoorthiStrattonOtherUndecidedSample sizeMargin of errorSponsor
Change Research
–
74214429
1,007 LV
± 3.2%
N/A
Note: LV is likely voters, RV is registered voters, and EV is eligible voters.

Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Steve Botsford Jr. Democratic Party $101,792 $101,792 $0 As of September 30, 2025
Sean Brown Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Awisi Bustos Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Jonathan Dean Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Robin Kelly Democratic Party $2,736,148 $754,261 $1,981,887 As of September 30, 2025
Raja Krishnamoorthi Democratic Party $24,878,521 $6,790,269 $18,088,251 As of September 30, 2025
Bryan Maxwell Democratic Party $5,101 $2,119 $2,982 As of September 30, 2025
Kevin Ryan Democratic Party $44,917 $26,998 $17,919 As of September 30, 2025
Juliana Stratton Democratic Party $2,084,875 $1,165,100 $919,775 As of September 30, 2025
Christopher Swann Democratic Party $4,768 $4,175 $593 As of September 30, 2025

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in Illinois in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Illinois, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2026
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
Illinois U.S. Senate Established parties 5,000 N/A 11/3/2025 Source
Illinois U.S. Senate Independents 25,000 N/A 5/26/2026 Source

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "Ill. Rev. Stat. ch. 10, § 5/7–44," accessed December 4, 2025
  2. ↑ For more information on the difference between margins of error and credibility intervals, see explanations from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and Ipsos.
  3. ↑ Pew Research Center, "5 key things to know about the margin of error in election polls," September 8, 2016


Illinois' current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Tammy Duckworth (D)
Dick Durbin (D)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
Mike Bost (R)
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
Democratic Party (16)
Republican Party (3)


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