It’s just a few weeks until the Democratic primary and I’m struggling to decide which candidate running to replace Dick Durbin in the Senate I should vote for. The leading candidates are:
| Robin Kelly | Member of the House since 2013 |
| Raja Krishnamoorthi | Member of the House since 2017 |
| Juliana Stratton | Lieutenant Governor. She been endorsed by Gov. Pritzker |
While each emphasizes different issues in tone, in Robin Kelly’s case gun control, the central planks of their campaigns overlap substantially: immigration abolitionism, Medicare for All, and opposition to Donald Trump. None has mentioned how how they will pay for “Medicare for All” beyond vague statements about making the “rich pay their fair share”.
Beyond that there is a significant emphasis on demographic representation as a campaign differentiator. Or, in Krishnamoorthi’s case, that he is an immigrant. Robin Kelly and Juliana Stratton are both black women. Mr. Krishnamoorthi also has the largest warchest, much of it from out-of-state donors. He’s been running ads for months and is considered the frontrunner.
This race is a wonderful example of why I reject the notion that the reason our politics are as they are is the voters. My choice is among three candidates all running on what are materially the same platforms. How is that the voters’ fault?
In multiple ads, both Mr. Krishnamoorthi and Lt. Gov. Stratton use the word “fight,” accompanied by footage of protest-style rallies. That rhetoric suggests an activist posture rather than a legislative one. I recognize these ads are not targeted at me. I think they are targeted at what they think are the median Democratic primary voters. If that is what consultants believe motivates the median Democratic primary voter, it is an interesting assumption. I am not persuaded it reflects the temperament of the median Illinois voter or even the median Illinois Democratic primary voter.
