One of the most important races that voters will decide Tuesday is the one for U.S. Senate. The three leading candidates are making one last push for support in a race that's going down to the wire.
Tuesday, March 17, 2026 10:22PMOne of the most important races that voters will decide Tuesday is the one for U.S. Senate. The three leading candidates are making one last push for support in a race that's going down to the wire.
Raja Krishnamoorthi, Juliana Stratton and Robin Kelly all expressed optimism Tuesday. They were making a series of Election Day campaign stops that included the time-honored tradition of lunch-hour handshakes and sandwiches at Manny's Deli.Lt. Gov. Stratton chatted with supporters gathered onStratton brushed off concerns that she and Kelly could split support among Black voters, helping Krishnamoorthi. "Look, I'm working every single day. From what I've seen in the last three weeks are three great polls that show that we are leading and that we have the momentum," Stratton said.But a new independent poll shows Krishnamoorthi with a two-point lead over Stratton, which is within the margin of error. Kelly trails in third place."Well, I think it's BS. And also, if I wasn't in the race, it doesn't mean people would go to Juliana, that there's no guarantee about that. And people need to get over the fact that two Black women are running. That is going to happen more and more. It happened in this city: Lori Lightfoot, Toni Preckwinkle," Kelly said. Krishnamoorthi, once the clear frontrunner in this campaign, spent $18 million more this election cycle than Stratton and Kelly combined."I feel good about it. I think it was always going to be a close race. Now we just got to get everyone to vote. And so that's what I'm doing today," Krishnamoorthi said."I'm seeking the vote of every single person in Illinois, regardless of who they are. And I don't think any community should be treated monolithically for political purposes," Krishnamoorthi said."It's no secret. You know, money has played a role in this race, and that's how we need campaign financing reform. You've heard me say, good people don't win. Good people don't run; good people don't stay in. I'm just hoping that voters look past who has the most money because they definitely haven't done the most," Kelly said."There's nothing heavy-handed about being in support of the person that you think is the best person for the job," Pritzker said. But after all the endorsements, all the money and all the campaign stops, it all comes down to which candidates made the best impression with voters and did the best job of getting them to the polls.
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