Polling numbers ahead of the U.S. Senate primary election in Illinois show a trio of Democratic heavyweights have separated themselves.
Illinois US Senate candidates for Democrats
The primary will be March 17, and the race features 10 Democratic hopefuls for a seat being vacated by longtime Sen. Dick Durbin.
Those Senate candidates are: Kevin Ryan, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, Juliana Stratton, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Steve Botsford, Jr., Bryan Maxwell, Jonathan Dean, Sean Brown, Awisi A. Bustos and Christopher Swann.
Polls favor Raja Krishnamoorthi, Juliana Stratton and Robin Kelly
Krishnamoorthi, Kelly and Stratton, who is the former lieutenant governor, are the three candidates ahead in the race, according to polls.
Polling for the Senate race is all over the place, and depending on who you trust the most, would indicate that Stratton or Krishnamoorthi have the best chances to win.
The New York Times’ tracking of polls shows Krishnamoorthi with a large lead in the only “select poll” it is monitoring, which came from Emerson College and WGN in early January. According to that poll, Krishnamoorthi, who spent much of his childhood in Peoria, held a +22 lead over Stratton, who polled at 10%. Kelly came in at 8%.
The only polls that show Stratton with a lead come from the Public Policy Polling, which is sponsored by the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association.
The most recent poll from Public Policy Polling, released on March 9, shows Stratton with a +2 lead over Krishnamoorthi.
Illinois US Senate candidates for Republicans
There are six candidates running on the Republican side of the ballot: former Illinois GOP Chairman Don Tracy, R. Cary Capparelli, Pamela Denise Long, Casey Chlebek, Jimmy Lee Tillman II and Jeannie Evans.
Yet, any Republicans will likely be facing steep odds to win in Illinois where a Republican hasn’t won a U.S. Senate seat since Mark Kirk in 2010.
In 2020, Durbin defeated Republican challenger Mark Curran by almost 1 million votes. Durbin, a Democrat, has held the seat since winning election for the first time in 1996.
Senator Tammy Duckworth also enjoyed a large win over Kirk in 2017, winning by more than 900,000 votes.
Democrats have generally won comfortably in statewide elections for the past eight years, dating back to 2018 when Pritzker defeated incumbent Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner by more than 700,000 votes.
Pritzker would again enjoy a wide victory against Republican challenger Darren Bailey, who is running again this year, in 2022. Pritzker won that election by more than 500,000 votes.
The general election will be held on Nov. 3.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Illinois Senate race: Who is leading in polls ahead of the primary?
Reporting by JJ Bullock, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
