Don Tracy: 2026 candidate for the U.S. Senate
Bio
Office sought: United States Senate
Party: Republican
City: Springfield
Age: 76
Previous offices held: I have served as Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, Chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board, Chairman of the Illinois Secretary of State’s Corporate Acts Advisory Committee, and President of the Oak Ridge Cemetery Board. None of these offices paid significant compensation. I have earned my livelihood in the private sector. I started working in my family’s business at age 10 and still do a little work for the business and family. I practiced law for decades, made payroll in my own business, raised a family of 4 children, and helped farmers, manufacturers, small-business owners, government units and individuals throughout Illinois resolve legal problems. That perspective matters. Too many career politicians know government employment only and lose sight of how their decisions affect the people who actually have to make a living outside of government. Illinois families are paying the price today for some of the policies resulting there from through higher taxes and utility bills, fewer job opportunities, and communities that are less safe. I’m not running to climb a political ladder. I’m running because government should serve people, not make their lives harder or primarily serve special interests. Illinois needs practical leadership not beholden to special interest money lords and common sense: lower costs, prospering businesses, a growing taxpayer base, safe neighborhoods, and greater economic opportunity so our children can build their futures here. That’s the experience and perspective I would bring to the United States Senate.
Q&A
What is your view on the role of tariffs in the American economy? Do you support the president’s policies on setting tariffs on goods from other countries?
I support using tariffs strategically to even the international playing field so American workers and producers can compete fairly and we have sufficient industrial capacity to support national defense needs.
The test is simple: Do they bring jobs home, protect critical supply chains and industries, and give Illinois families a fair shot?
I reject the old consensus that it no longer mattered where things were made as long as they were cheap.
That mindset de-industrialized communities, weakened our supply chains, rewarded companies that shipped jobs overseas, and compromised national defense. Targeted tariffs create leverage for reciprocal trade agreements, discourage offshoring to exceptionally cheap labor markets with exceptionally low environmental standards, and help rebuild the industrial capacity we need for both prosperity and national security.
Tariffs are not a substitute for competitive taxation, energy dominance, and reasonable regulation at home.
But after years of one-sided trade policy, giving policies designed to make international trade fair for the American people sufficient time to deliver results for working families makes sense to me.
What should Congress do to protect Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid? Will Congress act in time to prevent significant cuts in Social Security benefits?
Social Security, Medicare, are promises Illinois seniors and working families earned through a lifetime of work. They must be honored. Medicaid is an important safety net program. I will not let these programs fail, and I will fight any plan that destroys Medicare as we know it, including my opponent’s $30 trillion-plus government-run “Medicare for All” scheme that would ration healthcare, raise costs, jeopardize Medicare sustainability and inevitably put Washington bureaucrats between patients and doctors.
Congress should protect these programs by growing the economy so more Americans are working and paying into Medicare and Social Security, increasing earned income, and stopping the waste, fraud, and abuse that undermines Medicare and Medicaid sustainability. Medicaid must remain a safety net for those who qualify, with responsible and timely eligibility verifications and work requirements as appropriate so benefits go to the truly needy.
How do you rate the state of health care in America? In particular, what are your views on the Affordable Care Act and the concept of Medicare for All?
The system needs some serious changes, not slogans.
The Affordable Care Act locked in one-size-fits-all rules that limited choices, drove up premiums, and rewarded insurance companies. Protections for pre-existing conditions are widely supported and should be preserved. What should not be preserved is a status quo that prices families out of care and businesses out of providing employee healthcare coverage. Among other things, we need more competition across state lines, price transparency so patients know the cost before they commit to a medical service or provider, more competition, less defensive medicine, less fraud, waste and abuse, and less taxpayer-funded coverage for people here illegally.
“Medicare for All” would be an estimated $30 Trillion+ government takeover of healthcare that would destroy Medicare as we know it. Americans would lose the doctors and plans they have, and families would pay even more in taxes for lower quality medical service. Lt. Gov. Stratton has made that her plan
The better path is to keep what works well, fix what doesn’t, and reduce healthcare inflation without sacrificing the quality of American medicine
How would you describe the working relationships in the U.S. House today? What can be done to promote more effective government in Congress, and what will you do personally to work toward this goal?
Exceptionally thin majorities, and a habit of treating the other side as the enemy instead of a partner. And this is hurting working families.
Disagreements on spending, energy, and health care are real. That is fine. What is not fine is using those fights to shut the government down. We should be able to disagree without taking the people’s government hostage. The best overall interests of the American people should prevail not the loudest voices.
I would work to bring back regular order. Let committees do their job. Debate bills in public. Keep the Senate as a place for debate, not a yo-yo that flips major policy every election. Cut waste and fraud so Washington stops increasing inflation. Treat spending and debt as serious work, not a messaging game.
I will show up ready to work on Day One and represent all 102 Illinois counties. I will work with anyone who is serious about results for the good of the American people, regardless of party. Unlike my opponent, I will not vote to eliminate the filibuster. Debate, bipartisanship support for big changes and government stability matter. Congress should legislate, consult, and hold the executive accountable.
Do you believe the nation's election system and those of the individual states are secure and fair? If not, what must be done to improve them?
Voting should be easy. Cheating should be hard. Every eligible American citizen should be able to vote. Every voter should show government-issued photo ID. Every voter should prove citizenship when they first register or change their registration. Every lawful vote should be counted, and every American should be able to trust the result.
Our elections are administered by the states, which is a strength. But basic, common sense standards should apply everywhere and especially in federal elections: photo voter ID, citizenship verification upon registration, clean voter rolls, paper ballots or auditable paper trails, chain-of-custody rules that are transparent and enforced, no same day registration, no ballot harvesting, and reasonable mail voting election integrity guard rails. Neither party should rewrite the rules solely to benefit itself, and no politician should substitute their judgment for the voters’.
If elected, what will you do to help make Congress more effective?
Congress seems ineffective because Members use it like a stage to promote extreme agendas and/or raise money instead of as a serious forum for delivering results. Families pay the price. I would work to reinforce processes that increase legislative efficacy.
I support term limits for members of Congress, including senators. Washington works best with citizen-legislators: people who have met a payroll, raised a family, and lived in the real world, not career politicians.
I do not support eliminating the Senate filibuster. The filibuster is designed to encourage debate, compromise, bipartisanship and governing stability. Getting rid of it would produce “yo-yo government,” where major policies swing wildly every time Washington control changes hands. That creates uncertainty for families and businesses.
Illinois families have already lived through extreme social experiments that drove up taxes, shut down reliable power, and made neighborhoods less safe. Congress doesn’t need more of that. It needs practical leadership that supports common sense, not extreme agendas. Government should serve families, not control more of their lives.