By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) – The battle for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination in Illinois was turning into a two-person race on Tuesday, with Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton leading U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi as votes continued to be counted, according to U.S. media reports.
U.S. Representative Robin Kelly was trailing the two leaders by a significant margin in the race that will establish the likely successor to incumbent Senator Dick Durbin, 81, who is retiring.
Stratton, 60, held a 39%-34% lead over Krishnamoorthi, 52, as she was outpacing her opponent in vote-heavy Cook County, which includes Chicago, AP results showed Tuesday night, with about two-thirds of the vote counted.
If Stratton manages to hold onto her lead she would be in position to win Durbin’s seat in the November 3 general election, given the heavy Democratic vote in Illinois.
In the Illinois Republican contest for U.S. Senate, former state Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy was leading several candidates.
The Democratic primary election was seen as testing progressives’ power and giving voters an opportunity to elect a new generation of lawmakers, as Durbin and two other longtime members of the state’s congressional delegation retire.
Eleven Democratic candidates campaigned to succeed Durbin, whose departure, along with the retirements of other lawmakers, has triggered a wave of competitive Democratic House primaries in the state on Tuesday.
Illinois is a heavily Democratic state and none of its races are expected to be competitive in November’s midterm elections, when President Donald Trump’s Republicans will be trying to defend their congressional majorities.
With Trump’s approval rating hovering at 39% according to the most recent Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll, Democrats have turned in solid election performances over the past few months, including winning the governorship of Virginia, holding on for a runoff in a heavily Trump-leaning Georgia district and picking a more moderate nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas.
PROGRESSIVES AND MODERATES
Progressive voters were expected to play an important role in the Democratic primary.
The mass arrests of immigrants as part of the Trump administration’s deportation program and the resulting protests in Chicago factored heavily in the campaign.
Stratton staked out the most progressive position of the leading contenders, calling for abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, saying, “ICE cannot be reformed.”
Kelly, 69, in January introduced an impeachment resolution against former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversaw ICE until Trump fired her on March 5. Krishnamoorthi wants to fire “Trump’s ICE” and not necessarily shutter the agency forever.
The Democratic Senate primary was expected to be close, said Laurel Harbridge-Yong, a Northwestern University political science professor.
“The three (leading) candidates all have served in elective office, are strong candidates by many kinds of metrics; there’s quite a mix of endorsements” among the candidates, she said.
Republicans currently hold a 53-47 Senate majority and a 218-214 House majority with three vacancies. Incumbent presidents’ parties typically lose seats in midterms; election analysts say Democrats have a good chance of winning control of the House, but a tougher road in the Senate.
HOUSE MATCHUPS
A slew of Democratic and Republican candidates competed to win party nominations to succeed retiring Representatives Danny Davis, 84, and Jan Schakowsky, 81. Both Democrats represent reliably left-leaning Chicago-area districts.
There were notable primary races in three other open House seats, including Krishnamoorthi’s and Kelly’s, as they looked to jump to the Senate.
Krishnamoorthi was born in India and came to the United States as a child. He has served nearly a decade in the House.
He surpasses his opponents in campaign fundraising so far, with cash on hand of $6.6 million after raising more than $30 million. A member of the House’s New Democrat Coalition, a group of moderate House Democrats, Krishnamoorthi backs raising the federal minimum wage to $17 per hour over five years.
He has pushed for expanding the federal Medicare health insurance program for older adults, including allowing people as young as 50 to buy into the program.
Stratton and Kelly banked on appeals to progressive voters with calls for a single-payer, “Medicare for all” federal health insurance program.
Stratton was endorsed by Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker, who features prominently in her campaign ads. She favors raising the $7.25 federal minimum wage to $25 per hour, while her two opponents have settled on $17.
Her campaign has raised $4 million and has $1.3 million cash on hand.
Kelly has served in the House since 2013 and argued her Chicago-area district encompassing urban, suburban and rural voters has given her experience in dealing with a variety of constituent concerns.
She has raised $3.3 million and her campaign has nearly $721,000 in cash, according to Federal Election Commission data.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gaffen and Stephen Coates)
Comments