4 the Record: Robin Kelly draws distinctions with fellow Dems running for U.S. Senate in Illinois

Feb

2026

In the News

4 the Record: Robin Kelly draws distinctions with fellow Dems running for U.S. Senate in Illinois

Source: WHBF

We’re back on the Illinois primary countdown this week.

It’s now 23 days away, and we’re still focused on the race for the U.S. Senate to replace Dick Durbin.

Now we switch to the Democrats. There are ten of them on the ballot, but only three who’ve qualified for the recent debates hosted by the Chicago television stations. That’s based on their polling and finances:

Congresswoman Robin Kelly
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi
Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton

We got to know Robin Kelly better this morning.

She was born in Harlem, New York, and raised in New York. Kelly earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bradley University, a master’s degree in counseling from Bradleyand , then a Ph.D in political science from Northern Illinois University. Robin Kelly has spent decades working in government in one way or another. These are some of her stops:

The early days of her career had her working as the director of community affairs for the Village of Matteson, Illinois.
Kelly first held elected office as a state representative from 2003 to 2007.
She left the legislature to become the chief of staff for the Illinois State Treasurer from 2007 to 2011.
Kelly won a special election in 2013 for the seat in Congress she still holds today.

Let’s look at the race from a financial perspective among the big three contenders. This is the cash on hand they reported with the Federal Election Commission as of December 31st:

Raja Krishnamoorthi dominates with more than $15 million in his campaign coffers.
Robin Kelly next at more than $1.5 million.
Juliana Stratton has more than $1 million.

Krishnamoorthi is clearly using that cash with a lot of television campaign ads, and he’s leading in the most recent poll from Victory Research. It puts him at more than 32% among Democratic voters. Stratton is next at 20%. Kelly is third at 11%. However, more than 30% of those polled indicated they’re undecided.

This Democratic primary comes down to those top three candidates in the polls. Those polls show Robin Kelly has ground to make up before March 17th. She’s determined to do it.

Host Jim Niedelman gets to know Robin Kelly a little better.

“My idea is to finally tax millionaires, billionaires, and corporations at their fair share,” Kelly said. “If we do that, plus claw back the over $1 trillion in tax breaks that we gave to the well-connected, that will be a part of helping keep social security solvent.”

By Jim Niedelman