With Illinois and Chicago under the national microscope amid immigration enforcement and an impending U.S. National Guard deployment, nine Democratic candidates vying for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat (D-Ill.) proposed plans for winning campaigns in the primary election.
The nine Democrats provided alternative policy solutions to progressive causes such as reallocating military funding to education and affordable housing solutions. They largely aligned in declaring healthcare “a human right” and decrying the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s recent crackdowns in the Chicago area.
However, more established Democrats and political newcomers began to diverge when it came to approaches to the Israel-Hamas war.
Anusha Thokatura, Executive Director of Citizen Action/Illinois and moderator for the forum, said it provided an opportunity for candidates and voters to touch base on the most vital issues in their daily lives.
“The most important thing that we can do at this time, where we have so many open primary races in Illinois, is to be learning about candidate stances and pushing candidates on stances that we may not agree with, because at the end of the day, one of them will be representing us in (Washington) D.C.,” Thokatura said.
The forum, hosted by Citizen Action/Illinois in partnership with 25 co-hosting organizations, was the first in a series of six candidate forums previewing Democratic primaries for multiple Illinois congressional districts and the Illinois comptroller.
According to organizers, an audience of about 300 gathered in the seats of Chicago State University’s Breakey Theatre and joined via livestream for the event. A slate of nine candidates, including three elected officials — Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Schaumburg) and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Matteson) — spoke at the forum.
All the Democratic candidates reached a qualifying threshold of 100 individual donors or $25,000 in fundraising.
Midway through the forum, candidates were asked about Congress’ role in supporting peace between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Several candidates rallied to call the conflict in Gaza a “genocide” and some proposed a complete military and economic embargo against Israel.
Stratton, however, was the only one to mention the upcoming two-year anniversary of Hamas’ surprise attack against the country on Oct. 7. She added that, as a mother, she has remained “horrified by the devastation” every single day since the 2023 attack. She called for a “lasting, permanent ceasefire” and a solution that prioritized humanitarian aid to Gaza and the return of Israeli hostages.
Stratton, alongside candidates Christopher Swann and Adam Delgado, agreed on the need for a two-state solution.
“Gaza is not a real estate project. It’s people, their history, their lives, and they deserve to remain in place. We need a two-state solution,” Delgado said.
The contentious topic was brought up again by former CSU student trustee and senior Allison Bolden as the final question posed to the candidates. Bolden asked the panel two questions. The first was about preserving federal funding for minority serving institutions like CSU, and the second asked for a yes or no response to whether candidates could guarantee that they have not or will not continue to accept funds from the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee.
Thokatura said the second part of the question was not part of the planned list of questions, but candidates could use their allotted 45 second response time however they liked.
Kelly, the first candidate to respond, answered “Yes” to Bolden’s second question. Aside from Stratton and Krishnamoorthi — who refrained from answering the question — the rest of the candidates pledged not to take AIPAC donations.
Forum attendee and Chicago resident Michael Aaron said his impressions of the forum hinged on the discussion of the conflict in Gaza. While he said he generally supports the race’s established Democrats on many issues, their responses in the forum gave him pause.
“I can’t support them because I’m not hearing a severe pushback against Israel that I need to hear to vote for someone for Senate,” Aaron said.
While the candidates diverged on the Israel-Hamas war, all fundamentally decried the Trump administration’s actions and argued the race was not solely about a Senate seat, but the future of the Democratic Party.
John Engle, Vice President of Operations for the League of Women Voters Chicago, noted that Illinois voters will have a momentous opportunity to elect a new pillar of Democratic leadership following Durbin’s nearly 30 years in the Senate.
“There’s a real choice to be made, and their vote matters in making that choice because senators, when they get in, rarely leave,” Engle said. “It’s making a choice, potentially for a very long time.”
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
BlueSky: allisonrk.bsky.social
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