Voters in Illinois cast their ballots on Tuesday in a fiercely contested Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Senator Dick Durbin.
As of Tuesday evening, the race remains too close to call. Early, fragmented returns indicate a tight contest between Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton and U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi for the party’s nomination.
Polls officially closed across the state at 7:00 p.m. Central Time. According to initial vote tabulations reported by CBS News at 7:22 p.m., Stratton held a narrow lead at 41.4 percent, with Krishnamoorthi closely behind at 38.9 percent. These figures represent just 1 percent of the estimated total vote.
The elections mark the first open U.S. Senate race in Illinois since 2010. Durbin, who has served in the chamber since 1997 and currently acts as the Senate Democratic Whip, announced his impending retirement in April 2025.
Ten Democrats and six Republicans are competing in their respective primaries. Because Illinois leans heavily Democratic, the winner of the Democratic primary is widely viewed as the favorite ahead of the general election on November 3, 2026.
The campaign has been defined by stark differences in financial resources and state-level backing. Krishnamoorthi accumulated a campaign war chest exceeding $30 million, recording the second-highest fundraising total of any Senate candidate nationwide for the current election cycle.
Stratton has campaigned alongside the explicit endorsement of incumbent Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, contrasting her established state executive network against Krishnamoorthi’s federal fundraising advantage. U.S. Representative Robin Kelly also remains a prominent candidate in the crowded Democratic field.
Live vote counting is expected to continue throughout the night as local officials tabulate ballots from the Chicago metropolitan area and surrounding downstate counties.