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Catching up with the federal candidates
Thursday, Feb 19, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * US Senate candidate Juliana Stratton is out with her first TV ad… * Even more PAC money is making its way into the 9th CD. Matthew Eadie…
Biss put out his first broadcast TV ad this week. The ad features Jan Schakowsky who says “AIPAC and Trump donors are attacking Daniel Biss […] I won’t stand by and let them pick my successor.” * Speaking of PAC money, NBC Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern asked 2nd CD candidate Donna Miller on Monday about the AIPAC-related money backing her. Here’s the transcript…
Miller announced the endorsement in January, but Jan Schakowsky is no longer listed on her website. There’s chatter that Schakowsky may have pulled her endorsement of 2nd CD candidate Donna Miller over AIPAC-backed PAC money supporting her. Schakowsky’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. ..Adding… Sun-Times…
* 4th CD candidate Patty Garcia…
* Politico…
* More…
The lineup of Chicago-area Democrats included State Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago), Anthony Driver Jr. and Junaid Ahmed — candidates seeking to represent Illinois’ 2nd, 7th and 8th Congressional Districts, respectively. Biss is running to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) in the 9th District. * WaPo | AIPAC accused of covert campaigning as Democratic support falters: “AIPAC has chosen to get intensely involved in this race knowing that they’re toxically unpopular,” said Daniel Biss, the mayor of Evanston, who is running for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District. “AIPAC has become a Republican-aligned organization, and Democratic primary voters know that, and so if they want to interfere as Republicans in Democratic primaries, the only way to get away with it is by hiding it.” Elect Chicago Women is spending heavily in the district on ads supporting one of Biss’s primary opponents, moderate state Sen. Laura Fine. * Daily Herald | Krishnamoorthi among top U.S. Senate fundraisers with weeks until primary: Krishnamoorthi, now a congressman for the suburban 8th District, ended 2025 having raised nearly $28.5 million for his Senate bid, according to the Federal Election Commission. That places him third among all U.S. Senate candidates this cycle so far, behind only Democratic U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff of Georgia — the leader with $63.9 million raised — and Cory Booker of New Jersey, whose campaign reported taking in about $30.1 million. * Press release | Four Chicagoland Democratic Party Organizations Unite to Endorse Raja Krishnamoorthi for U.S. Senate: Today, four Democratic parties in the greater Chicago area – the Schaumburg Area Democratic Party, the Bloomingdale Township Democratic Organization, the Hanover Township Democratic Party, and the Elk Grove Township Democratic Party – all announced their endorsements of Raja Krishnamoorthi for U.S. Senate, strengthening a rapidly growing coalition of Democrats in every corner of the state rallying behind Raja’s proven record of delivering tangible results. * Press release | Over 50 congressional colleagues come out strong in support of Robin Kelly’s Senate bid: “I am proud to support Robin Kelly as the next Senator for Illinois,” Rep. Ilhan Omar said. “At a time when our democracy is under unprecedented attack, she is leading the effort to impeach Kristi Noem and refusing to back down in the face of authoritarianism. In the Senate, she will be a clear progressive voice holding Donald Trump accountable and fighting for working families. She understands healthcare is a human right and will champion Medicare for All. There is simply no one who will fight harder for the people of Illinois than Robin Kelly.” * Press release | Over 100 Faith leaders endorse Juliana Stratton for US Senate: “Juliana knows how to fight for us because she’s lived our struggles too, and I’m proud to stand with her because we know that she will continue to uplift our communities and congregants with support that is truly transformational,” said Clergy for Juliana Co-Chair, Pastor Stephen J. Thurston II. “A daughter of the South Side, Juliana has stood with us and delivered for us time and time again, and I know she’ll continue to work as a true partner to the faith community as a U.S. Senator.” * Press release | Junaid Ahmed Announces Endorsement from Sunrise Movement in Illinois’ 8th Congressional District: “As AIPAC front groups, crypto billionaires, and AI special interests flood Chicago races with millions to buy influence and increase their own profits, we are choosing people power,” said Aru Shiney-Ajay, Executive Director of Sunrise Movement. “Junaid has the courage to stand up to the special interests trying to destroy our democracy and the backbone to take on corporate power, and that is exactly the kind of leadership this moment demands.” * Evanston Now | Biss says he will brief lawmakers on NU protest inquiry: There is no set date for the briefing as of yet, though Biss, in a letter to Walberg Monday pushed back on Walberg’s accusation that Biss had been “publicizing [his] refusal to provide the campus with support,” writing, “The matter became public only after your committee released the transcript of its interview with former President Schill last year, and has gained further media interest since your letter last month.”
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- OBResident - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:15 pm:
Stratton Ad - D
Showing dying boomers act edgy by saying F*** Trump is so cringe. It’s not 2015. Genuinely one of the cringiest ads I have seen in many years.
- Alton Sinkhole - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:15 pm:
That’s a really bad first ad by Julianna. So much she could’ve actually talked about and that’s what she goes with? And only a .2 second image of the highly popular Governor who endorsed her?
Gonna stop there cuz anything else I add will run the risk of being uncivil.
Sheesh. I give it a D- and that’s generous cuz I like her. One of the worst ads of the cycle.
- 9th enthusiast - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:24 pm:
It’s rich for Biss’s ad to complain about AIPAC trying to pick Jan’s successor when she is trying to pick her successor. So hypocritical and one of the reasons people have soured on the Dem. Party.
- Dotnonymous x - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:31 pm:
A+…gonna get her lots of new votes…more like this.
- Steve - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:35 pm:
Stratton Ad- F
Using Trump style language in the Democratic primary to appeal to Democratic voters makes you no better than Trump. It’s a very ugly ad.
- Rahm's Parking Meter - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:36 pm:
I agree. I have lost a lot of respect for my Congresswoman over the years. She always tries to have it both ways.
- AlabamaShake - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:38 pm:
** It’s rich for Biss’s ad to complain about AIPAC trying to pick Jan’s successor when she is trying to pick her successor.**
Jan is FAR more representative of CD9 than AIPAC is. I’d argue that voters are much more interested in Jan’s thoughts than AIPAC’s.
And I’d guess that you’ve seen that in your polling too. And so has AIPAC. Which is why Laura and AIPAC are both trying to hide AIPAC’s involvement.
- Dotnonymous x - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:40 pm:
Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice…uncivil times call for uncivil responses…Stratton has taken off the gloves and gone bareknuckle…I say hip hip hooray!
- Suburban mom 2 - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:40 pm:
Yikes! I hope this ad doesn’t make it on TV. Maybe they can bleep the f bombs? It’s offensive to me and I bet I’m not alone.
- City Zen - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:41 pm:
Stratton Ad: D- for message. A+ for shooting at Daley’s Restaurant at 63rd/Cottage Grove and that fantastic sweater at 0:24.
- Downstate Dem - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:42 pm:
Stratton has close to zero dollars and *that’s* her ad? All style, no substance. It’ll get attention… but then… what?
- CubsFan16 - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:45 pm:
Juliana hates Trump? Who doesn’t? Next. She’s running for U.S. Senate — a single slice of substance might be nice. I know she needs attention, but come on. This is weak.
- Craginite - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:52 pm:
hate it or love, it gets attention. and thats the only way you get attention when your opponent has you beat in the airwaves.
- Leslie K - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:52 pm:
Is it possible to rate an ad at F-? Because that Stratton ad is embarrassing. Is she trying to be edgy and shocking? Because there is nothing edgy or shocking about a Democratic candidate being opposed to Trump. Just unprofessional, uninteresting, and, has been said, cringe.
- Big Bill Thompson - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:55 pm:
Does Stratton let her kids watch her ads?
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 1:55 pm:
=== Maybe they can bleep the f bombs?===
They are bleeped. Did you not watch it?
- Suburban mom 2 - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 2:00 pm:
Sorry Rich, I watched the ad from the link that was sent to my email by Stratton’s campaign. I had already seen the ad when you posted it and didn’t watch it again from your link here. The emailed version was not beeped.
- Cole - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 2:18 pm:
“It’s rich for Biss’s ad to complain about AIPAC trying to pick Jan’s successor when she is trying to pick her successor.”
Well the criticism was about AIPAC, who voters in the district don’t like. Jan is well liked in the district.
I don’t think reminding voters that Jan endorsed Biss is gonna help any opposing campaigns.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 2:19 pm:
===when she is trying to pick her successor===
Oh, please.
So much whining.
- The Farm Grad - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 2:26 pm:
Parents hails from Mexico. Both are seniors, naturalized citizens. They plan on voting in the primary.
They really like Raja’s “Raja no se Raja” tagline they’ve seen on Telemundo and Univision. They plan on voting for him
- Rotten Brains - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 2:28 pm:
@ OBResident
Haven’t you heard? Cringe is in style now.
Eyeballs are the only thing that matters anymore. Candidates have to be willing to make a spectacle out of themselves or else find a new line of work.
- btowntruthfromforgottonia - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 2:29 pm:
D.
I get the emotion of the message but I can see and hear it enough on social media.
Give me something different.
And her saying she will abolish ICE is delusional.
- Evanstonian - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 2:30 pm:
Biss put out a poll last week saying he is up 13 points on Fine. But his first ad goes negative on Fine? Methinks he is not up 13 on fine. Jan also says in the ad AIPAC is attacking Biss, where? Last I checked the super pac they popped up has only been pro-Fine.
- The Most Anonymous - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 2:33 pm:
The politically unsophisticated boomer and millennial suburban voters I have the pleasure of knowing keep asking “why is no one doing anything? congress doesn’t do anything about trump or stand up to him.” I think their vote will go to someone aligned with their values and their values include someone who is bold in standing up to Trump. I would imagine this is helpful for those types of voters to see especially when you contrast it with two longtime members of Congress who they haven’t heard much about when it comes to standing up to Trump.
I understand voters want more ideas and less punchlines. My point doesn’t negate that, just saying this ad might work in addition to all the other ways she’s communicating. Also it’s the last month of campaigning, do something memorable while her opponents’ sleepy ads blend in with each other.
I don’t like that she said “they said it not me.” That’s lame and there for the nuance of it all, just own it. B+
- I-55 Fanatic - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 2:39 pm:
Stratton as is an A. Are we all talking about the same Democratic primary here? “F Trump” and “abolish ICE” are what highly motivated Dem primary voters are all about right now. For where she is in this race in mid-February, still needing to claim some ground on name ID, I think it’s pretty good. Also, curse words just don’t really offend people like they used to. Especially, again, among Dem primary voters who very enthusiastically agree with the language in question.
- The Most Anonymous - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 2:40 pm:
Jan and Dan walked into that criticism by using the word “successor”. Easily avoidable. Someone getting paid should’ve thought ahead and caught that.
- Former Downstater - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 2:51 pm:
“But voters don’t actually care about candidates taking money from AIPAC.”
At least, that’s what several commentors on this site have said.
- Stephanie Kollmann - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 3:07 pm:
I suspect the Stratton ad is going to play much better with the average D-primary voter who encounters it than with the average CapFax commenter.
- Change Agent - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 3:11 pm:
A+ Stratton ad. The Trump administration is murdering peaceful protestors and putting babies in jail. You can all keep your respectability politics.
- Suburban mom 2 - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 3:29 pm:
Maybe it will play better overall. But I’m literally on her mailing list and hate it.
- Trinity - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 3:53 pm:
Watching people swear, that usually don’t swear is just weird. Patty Garcia also did it. You didn’t do it before, what makes you think it’ll work now? STOP IT! They are doing Juliana a disservice for not allowing her to be who she really is.
- Dotnonymous x - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 4:05 pm:
I’ve been here since President Harry S. Truman…I’m trying hard and still failing to remember when politics wasn’t a spectacle.
- Lefty Lefty - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 4:21 pm:
All of the low grades had me watch the ad. Solid A. This is the tenor of the times, and all the “deeply concerned” statements from DC Dem leadership about the “troubling” actions of the administration aren’t meeting the moment.
If there ever was a time to drop some f-bombs, this is it.
- Remember the Alamo II - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 4:30 pm:
“But voters don’t actually care about candidates taking money from AIPAC.”
We will know in about a month. My take is that many of these campaigns have not really focused on substantive issues, but instead insider baseball attacks, such as who has donated to who or who has endorsed who.
I think that most voters out there are more concerned with their kitchen table issues and not who gave money to who.
- Trinity - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 4:31 pm:
“They really like Raja’s “Raja no se Raja” tagline they’ve seen on Telemundo and Univision. They plan on voting for him”
@FarmGrad have you see any Juliana or Robin Kelly ads on Telemundo, Univision or digital media? I have not. Democrats are SEVERELY underestimating the Latino vote. Right now Latino voters are swing voters, yes even here in IL. The only candidate with an active Latino outreach plan is the guy saying Abolish “TRUMP’S ICE”. This is why Latinos voted for MAGA. They go towards the people who actually put in the work and invested the money. Illinois has the SECOND largest Mexicano population IN THE COUNTRY. Not sure how you can say ABOLISH ICE and F*CK Trump when you are not even talking to the people MOST effected by this administration. Outreach shouldn’t just rely on endorsements. Please do better.
- Pundent - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 4:34 pm:
I give Stratton’s ad a “D” for disappointing. For a candidate that shows a great deal of promise her campaign has been a complete disaster. Running an ad with constant F Bombs is going to turn off as many voters as it appeals to. Her objective is to convince the lions share of undecideds and soft Raja supporters to get behind her. In my view this ad hurts more than it helps.
- Dotnonymous x - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 4:38 pm:
Sticks and stones…everybody is gonna be okay…even the delicate kiddies.
- ArchPundit - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 4:43 pm:
A on the ad. The Democratic base in Illinois will crawl over broken glass to do anything anti-Trump especially after Midway Blitz. As someone who has had ICE agents sitting outside my house twice in the last few weeks, I have stronger words than she does.
- Sue - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 4:45 pm:
Can someone smarter than me please tell me what upside is(was) there for Pritzker to endorse in the senate primary? His problem is he truly has no discipline when it comes to spending 10’s of millions of dollars- Stratton will come in likely 3rd and no matter what a D replaces Durbin so what upside is there to his endorsement?
- Fred Garvin - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 4:49 pm:
Swear words aren’t bleeped on YouTube commercial posted on X either
- Pundent - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 5:13 pm:
=His problem is he truly has no discipline when it comes to spending 10’s of millions of dollars=
That’s a problem in your mind, not his. And can’t the same be said about Ken Griffin, Dick Uihlein, and countless others? Whether Stratton wins or loses I expect Pritzker will be just fine and still a very popular governor. That seems like plenty of upside.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 5:18 pm:
===Swear words aren’t bleeped on===
And? They are in this version, which is the TV ad.
- granville - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 5:45 pm:
Pritzker’s brief appearance in the “F-Trump ad” will likely shoot this into the veins of the outrage machine on the right, which will get it more coverage. So there’s that.
Stratton becoming known as “that F-Trump candidate” isn’t the worst outcome for a candidate in Illinois? I guess if she were ahead, she’d be acting “senatorial” - swelling music, lots of West Wing light-through-the-window shots. But trailing pretty badly, I guess her campaign has broken the glass on the “In Case Of Emergency, Drop The F Bomb” box. Didn’t work well for Beto O’Rourke.
- ZC - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 8:35 pm:
Err, did anyone else feel an implicit association there between AIPAC coming into a district where it wasn’t wanted, and the Border Patrol? It’s sort of subtle but yikes.
We know AIPAC has a severe image problem in IL-9 right now. Don’t take Biss’s words for it, just look at Senator Fine’s.
- Old IL Dude - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 11:45 pm:
“They said it. Not me” So, then, you didn’t say “Vote Juliana”? Alrighty.
I don’t really care about the cursing, doesn’t faze me, but this ad is just a “fail” on so many levels.
- Justin - Friday, Feb 20, 26 @ 12:36 am:
Juliana’s ad was much-needed.
- K3 - Friday, Feb 20, 26 @ 7:05 am:
The Stratton ad is a B+ sadly. It’s unfortunate this is where my party is. No one knows anything about what any of these candidates would do as Senator because all they want to talk about is DJT. And the ad will work.
- Low Fidelity All Star - Friday, Feb 20, 26 @ 10:10 am:
For those upset by the language of the ad, have you not heard the profanity spewed out by the POTUS on down in this Administration? Spare us the pearl-clutching.