Leading Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate sparred over campaign finance during a Monday forum in Chicago hosted by WTTW.
As U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Schaumburg), U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Matteson) and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton vie for retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) seat, campaign contributions have become a flashpoint in the race.
Each candidate has called for broad campaign finance reform and advocated to eliminate the influence of untraceable dark money. On Monday, both Krishnamoorthi and Stratton touted endorsements from political action committees which aim to rid the electoral process of corporate special interests.
But, in December, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Krishnamoorthi accepted upwards of $90,000 from conservative donors, including a chief technology officer for Palantir, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement contractor. Krishnamoorthi told The Daily following a January debate at the University of Chicago that he donated these contributions to immigrant rights groups.
While Stratton has repeatedly claimed that she doesn’t accept money from corporate PACs, billionaire Gov. JB Pritzker and his family have donated over $6 million to the Illinois Future PAC, a group backing Stratton’s campaign.
On Monday, Krishnamoorthi said Stratton had “adopted a policy of hypocrisy,” while Kelly said to Stratton, “You’re being a hypocrite.”
“When you look at who’s donated to your campaign — a lot of corporate CEOs,” Kelly said. “You keep talking about corporate. One billionaire family has donated 73% of what you have received, so are you obligated to them?”
Krishnamoorthi added that Stratton was supported by the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, which in turn has received donations from CoreCivic, a private prison company. Stratton said that she had “not received anything.”
Still, each candidate criticized the current campaign finance system. Krishnamoorthi said he wanted to “end dark money” and reward small donor donations. Stratton, meanwhile, repeatedly emphasized that she was fighting “for the people, not corporate special interests.”
“Right now people are looking at Washington as a broken system,” Stratton said. “They’re looking at a system where corporate special interests are being rewarded and everyday people that people are elected to represent get left in the dust.”
During a news conference after the debate, Kelly made a point of differentiating herself from the other leading candidates. When asked if time spent debating campaign finance was distracting from what voters wanted to hear, Kelly said, “I’m not the one getting all the money.”
ICE action and other Trump administration policies also loomed large over Monday’s debate.
Stratton has called to abolish ICE, and Kelly on Monday said she’d like to dismantle the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE.
Krishnamoorthi, meanwhile, has said repeatedly that he’d like to “abolish Trump’s ICE,” stopping short of calling for the organization to be dismantled entirely and instead advocating for extensive reform.
Stratton attacked Krishnamoorthi’s position on ICE, arguing the congressman had voted to “thank ICE” and “fund ICE,” and thus would be unable to stand up to President Donald Trump in the Senate. Krishnamoorthi rejected this claim.
“I’m an immigrant,” he said. “I don’t need to get lectured by anybody about holding ICE accountable.”
In addition to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement, candidates attacked the war in Iran and the expansion of executive authority.
Kelly and Krishnamoorthi both said they voted for the recent War Powers Resolution which would have forced the U.S. military to stop attacking Iran unless approved by Congress. Krishnamoorthi said Congress needed to take several steps to oppose the president, including blocking appropriations, blocking nominees and bringing witnesses to testify before lawmakers.
Stratton took a more hardline stance than the other two candidates when explaining her view on potential bipartisan cooperation.
“What we’re talking about right now with Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans and his authoritarian agenda is not a time for a conversation about how we are going to work with them,” Stratton said. “This president is not inclined to do anything that’s in the best interest of the people that we represent.”
Krishnamoorthi, on the other hand, called for collaboration “where we agree,” but said that Democrats need to stand “for principle” elsewhere.
Kelly said bipartisan cooperation was necessary to legislate effectively.
“Yes, they want to see fighters, but they want to see people that have accomplished something, not just fighting, fighting, fighting,” Kelly said.
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