U.S. Rep. Krishnamoorthi running for Durbin’s Senate seat
After eight years representing Illinois’ 8th District in the U.S. House, Schaumburg Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi is setting his sights on Congress’ upper chamber.
Krishnamoorthi, 51, will run for the Senate seat being vacated by Springfield Democrat Dick Durbin, who two weeks ago announced plans to retire when his fifth term ends after the 2026 election.
The Krishnamoorthi campaign on Wednesday released a kickoff video in which the candidate condemns President Donald Trump and adviser Elon Musk and promotes his stances on abortion, gun safety, health care and other issues.
In a telephone interview Tuesday night, Krishnamoorthi said the time is right to run for Senate because of Durbin’s pending departure. But he said he’s also hoping to shift chambers now because Trump administration policies targeting legal immigration, public housing and aid, and public schools are creating “economic chaos” and causing people to lose their grip on the American Dream.
“As a country, we are not doing enough to make sure that we create more ladders of economic opportunity to ensure social mobility,” Krishnamoorthi said. “The Senate affords an opportunity to continue the work I’m doing in the House, but with a broader impact.”
Krishnamoorthi joins a Democratic candidate field that includes Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton of Chicago, who announced her bid the day after Durbin’s announcement and quickly was endorsed by Gov. JB Pritzker, and fellow U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly of Matteson.
As for Republicans, former congressional hopeful Doug Bennett of Deerfield and Des Plaines resident John Goodman have filed federal candidacy statements and have been raising campaign funds, records indicate.
More Republicans and Democrats have filed candidacy statements but haven’t announced they’re running or filed fundraising reports.
Born in India, Krishnamoorthi was raised in New York and then Peoria after he immigrated with his family to the U.S. as a baby in the early 1970s. He’s married and has three children.
After working on future senator and president Barack Obama’s campaigns, Krishnamoorthi served as a special assistant attorney general and then as deputy state treasurer. He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nominations for state comptroller in 2010 and for the 8th House seat in 2012, losing that year to future U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth.
When Duckworth ran for Senate in 2016, Krishnamoorthi sought her House seat and was victorious. He’s won every election since.
Despite being a member of the centrist New Democrat Coalition, Krishnamoorthi rejected the “centrist” tag, instead calling himself a “commonsense progressive.”
He’s backed legislation that would address climate change, protect LGBTQ rights, restrict youth access to vaping and ban stock trading by members of Congress, just to name a few proposals. He also serves on a special committee focused on the dangers posed by the Chinese Communist Party and the House Intelligence Committee, among other posts.
Krishnamoorthi has been a prolific fundraiser. In just the first quarter of this year, his campaign raked in more than $3 million — a sum that exceeds what many Chicago-area representatives raise for entire campaigns, records show. Team Krishnamoorthi ended March with a whopping $19.4 million in the bank.
Krishnamoorthi repeatedly has said he needed millions in his campaign war chest to battle special interest groups arrayed against him. But political pundits and journalists speculated he was amassing the fortune for an eventual Senate run.
“I think Krishnamoorthi has had eyes on the Senate for some time and has wisely played the long game in terms of fundraising and donating,” Melissa Mouritsen, a political science professor at the College of DuPage, told the Daily Herald in February.
Krishnamoorthi will hold the first official events of his Senate campaign Friday in Peoria, Chicago and Schaumburg.
Krishnamoorthi’s Senate bid surely will attract candidates for the 8th District seat, which represents parts of Cook, DuPage and Kane counties. He hasn’t endorsed a potential successor.