US Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly have the most cash available in Illinois US Senate race

Yahoo

16-07-2025

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton may have the endorsement of the state's wealthiest politician, billionaire Gov. JB Pritzker, but she finds herself at the bottom of the major Democratic U.S. Senate contenders when it comes to how much available cash she has to campaign with as the candidates approach nine months before the primary.
Stratton's two congressional rivals, U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg and Robin Kelly of Matteson, benefited from their existing federal campaign accounts and ended June with multimillions of dollars available in their bank accounts, campaign finance reports filed this week with the Federal Election Commission showed.
Stratton, Pritzker's two-time running mate, on April 24 became the first candidate to announce she wanted to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. Campaign reports covering the April-through-June second quarter of the year showed Stratton raised nearly $1.1 million, spent $417,286, and began July 1 with $666,416 in cash available. But a closer review of her fundraising shows that about $185,000 of that amount must be used for the Nov. 3 general election and is unavailable for her use in the March 17 primary.
For this election cycle, individuals can contribute a maximum of $3,500 to a candidate for each of the primary and general elections.
The records show Pritzker contributed the maximum $7,000, and her candidacy also was backed with $7,000 donations by several Chicago sports team owners: Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts, Blackhawks owner Danny Wirtz and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
Krishnamoorthi, in his fifth term in the House, announced his bid for Durbin's seat on May 7, the last of the three major Democratic contenders to declare. But the northwest suburban congressman, long a prodigious fundraiser, this week became the first of the contenders to launch TV ads in the race, a statewide buy of a half-million dollars and part of a sustained TV presence.
Krishnamoorthi began April with nearly $19.5 million in his campaign account and raised more than $3.1 million from April through June. That left him with $21.1 million in cash available at the start of July. About $1.1 million of that total is reserved for general election spending.
Kelly, a seven-term congresswoman representing the South Side and south suburbs in a district that stretches to Danville, announced her Senate candidacy on May 6.
She started the second quarter with $2 million in the bank and ended June with $2.2 million, according to her campaign report. There was no immediate estimate on how much of Kelly's money was limited to spending for the general election.
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