Catching Up With the Federal Candidates

Aug

2025

In the News

Catching Up With the Federal Candidates - Robin Kelly

* The 21st Show’s Brian Mackey spoke with US Rep. Robin Kelly on her bid for Senate. Interview highlights from IPM Newsroom…

On winning back young voters who drifted towards Republicans in 2024:

“People have to feel that we care about them and that we’re listening to them, and that they have a voice, and that there is economic opportunity … and we we just have to, you know, keep communicating in every way that we can. We learned that lesson in November … I just spoke to a young person that goes to [The University of Illinois], and he told me, ‘I don’t even have cable, and a lot of my friends get their news from other friends, and what other friends post or TikTok or Instagram,’ so we have to be in all those spaces.

On the impact of President Trump’s crackdown on immigrants without legal status:

“President Trump and his cronies have pushed so much fear, so much, you know, ‘it’s just about America, forget everybody else.’ And they’re coming to get your jobs, you know, [he] make comments. ‘He’s coming to get, like, your black jobs,’ you know, and things like that. So I think that he’s pushed division and people that follow him, you know, agree with that.”

On supporting universal healthcare:

“There’s no reason in the richest country in the history of the world that everyone doesn’t have quality health care. And if other countries can do it, we need to figure it out.”

On whether the U.S. has an interest in a free Ukraine:

“What’s going to stop [Putin] from going to the other countries? And of course, some of those other countries are NATO countries. So, you know, we have a decision: do we pay with money, or do we pay with our military? Do we … pay with blood?”

* Yesterday, US Rep. Kelly said she’ll sign onto US Rep. Delia Ramirez’s “Block the Bombs” Act. Press release…

Congresswoman Robin Kelly, a candidate for U.S. Senate, today issued the following statement confirming that she will sign the Block the Bombs Act, which will prevent the unchecked transfer of offensive weapons to Israel:

“As Israel prepares the first stages of its military offensive on Gaza City and calls up 60,000 army reservists to fight a war that will only cause further death and destruction on both sides, we have to act. Tomorrow, I will sign on to the “Block the Bombs” bill, which will prevent the unchecked transfer of offensive weapons to Israel.

I will always support the Iron Dome and defensive weapon systems that have saved countless lives. This bill affirms a secure Israel, which I continue to support, but I cannot stand by silently as children starve to death. We need to achieve a two-state solution where all Palestinians and Israelis can live in peace and with dignity.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has turned a blind eye to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, allowing starvation and famine to spread. President Trump must act urgently to save lives and stop the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We’ve reached a critical point where Congress needs to act.

As Senator, I will support essential security aid to Israel. But in this moment, we cannot allow the transfer of the deadliest offensive weapons without taking definitive action to prevent the loss of civilian life.”

By Isabel Miller