WARNING: Illinois Is In Danger of Electing a MAGA-Aligned Dem to the Senate

But we have time to stop it. Here's what we need to do to prevent a catastrophic failure and instead elect someone whose record aligns with our values.

Deep blue Illinois is on the verge of electing a United States Senator who aligns far more closely with Trump, MAGA power brokers, and ICE infrastructure expansion than with the values of a deep-blue state. And he is betting his nearly $28 million—much of it raised from corporate PACs, billionaire tech executives, crypto interests, and Trump-aligned donors—that voters will not look closely enough to notice.

We cannot let that happen.

If you live in Illinois, you’ve no doubt been inundated with polished ads from Raja Krishnamoorthi presenting himself as a pragmatic progressive, the child of immigrants living the American dream. But campaigns are marketing exercises. Records are what matter. And the record tells a very different story. Electing Krishnamoorthi to the United States Senate would be catastrophic to our human rights and progressive values. Here’s what he hopes you don’t know about his record, and most importantly, how we elect someone far better.

Let’s Address This.

Watch my video on why Illinois cannot elect Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi as their next Senator. And be sure to subscribe to Let’s Address This on YouTube.

Follow the Money

Raja has raised nearly $28 million—including significant funding from Trump-aligned donors and billionaire tech executives. Reporting from the Chicago Sun-Times details how donors connected to Trumpworld and MAGA networks have contributed to his Senate campaign. That alone should raise questions in a state where Trump lost decisively.

It doesn’t stop there.

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz—Silicon Valley billionaires who donated millions to Trump—have also donated to Raja. His donors include Shyam Sankar, the billionaire CTO of Palantir, who gave more than $30,000 to Raja’s campaign.

Palantir is not just another tech company. It is one of the central data-infrastructure contractors powering ICE’s surveillance apparatus — providing tools that enable mass data aggregation, predictive tracking, and enforcement targeting. Palantir executives have openly toured ICE facilities and Homeland Security leadership through expanded enforcement capabilities.

When a Senate candidate accepts funding from executives building the architecture of a surveillance state, that is not incidental. That is alignment.

ICE: Performance vs. Record

You may have seen Raja recently post a video in front of the Broadview ICE facility suggesting he is “holding ICE accountable.” The optics are convenient.

But just months before filming that video, Raja voted with MAGA Republicans to formally thank ICE—at a time when ICE detention deaths were reaching record levels and civil rights organizations were documenting systemic abuses inside facilities.

While activists were protesting outside that same facility demanding oversight and accountability, Raja was voting to commend the agency.

And even now, despite mounting evidence of constitutional violations, documented deaths in detention, and credible reporting on abuse inside ICE facilities, Raja refuses to call for abolition — insisting instead that ICE can simply be “reformed.”

That position conveniently aligns with the interests of surveillance contractors like Palantir.

You cannot accept funding from the architects of ICE’s data infrastructure, vote to commend the agency, and then rebrand yourself as an opponent once the political winds shift.

TikTok and 7 Million Small Businesses

And yet Raja’s record gets even worse. Are you frustrated that TikTok was forced into a sale that benefited right-wing billionaire interests aligned with Trump? You can thank Raja, who authored the legislation that forced that sale—and publicly bragged about it in his own op-ed.

Over 7 million American small businesses relied on TikTok for customer acquisition and revenue. For many working-class entrepreneurs—especially Black, Latino, immigrant, and rural creators—TikTok was an economic lifeline.

Raja’s bill destabilized that ecosystem and handed leverage to billionaire interests.

Do we really want to elevate the architect of that decision to the United States Senate?

Silence on Genocide, Comfort with Autocrats

And yet, even worse, Raja has remained conspicuously silent on the genocide in Palestine, the moral crisis of our time. It should not shock you that AIPAC has invested absurd amounts of money into Raja Krishnamoorthi’s time in public office.

It should also not surprise you that Raja has continued to maintain warm relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi is not only a close Netanyahu ally, he is himself widely known as the “Butcher of Gujarat” for his documented role in the 2002 Gujarat pogrom.

Raja has shown little appetite to meaningfully challenge Netanyahu’s war policies. He has shown no urgency in opposing the expansion of state violence abroad. And he is funded by donors aligned with Trump’s worldview.

Raja Krishnamoorthi warmly greeting the “Butcher of Gujrat” Modi

When a candidate is soft on Netanyahu, comfortable with Modi, funded by Palantir executives, and supported by Trump-aligned billionaires—that is not coincidence. That is a governing coalition. That is someone we must not elect to the US Senate.

The Alternative

So let’s talk about solutions. Raja is not alone in this race. While polling currently holds him atop a crowded field, two highly qualified Black women are also running in this race—Illinois Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton and Illinois Congresswoman Robin Kelly. Both of these leaders are far better choices than Raja. And one of them—Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton—is polling within the margin of error and is currently best positioned to defeat Raja. The new PPP poll reports:

A new PPP poll among Democratic primary voters in Illinois finds that Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton has made significant gains in the race for U.S. Senate. In our early February poll, she trailed Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi 23% to 34%. She now trails just 27% to 29% - a nine-point swing towards Stratton in the last three weeks.

Listen, no candidate is perfect. But in a state as progressive as Illinois, we can do far better than elevating someone who:

• Takes money from Trump-aligned billionaires

• Accepts funding from ICE surveillance executives

• Authored the forced sale of TikTok

• Votes to commend ICE

• Accepts AIPAC money

• Maintains political comfort with autocrats

Electing Raja would be another Fetterman moment—only more polished. Unlike Fetterman, Raja wears a suit and a smile that make him appear progressive, but his donor base and legislative record tell a different story.

The United States Senate is too important for marketing illusions.

Crypto, Billionaires, and the Final Play

Raja knows he is losing momentum and knows that Stratton is poised to pass him. So, he’s pulling out the final ace up his sleeve—crypto money. Raja voted for a pro-crypto bill called the CLARITY Act—a bill Sam Altman has praised as a “huge achievement for Donald Trump.” Ask yourself—why would we want to elect a Democrat to the US Senate who is focused on “huge achievements for Donald Trump,” especially at the cost of economic security for working people? Obviously, we do not want to elect such a person to the Senate. But now that they know Raja is in their pocket, crypto billionaires are entering the race to help save his campaign.

This is how billionaire capture works. First comes favorable legislation. Then comes financial reinforcement. Those politicians who bend the knee to crypto billionaires get their money to stay in power. Those who stand up to crypto billionaires get absurd amounts of money spent against them. We’re seeing it play out in real time, as now anti-Stratton attack ads funded by crypto bros go live.

This is not how democracy is supposed to function. Yet, here we are. So while Raja presents himself as a polished progressive who cares about democracy, his record places him firmly in the camp of corporate-aligned, MAGA-lite politics. The kind of broken politics that smiles for the camera while quietly empowering state surveillance, billionaire deregulation, and authoritarian allies.

Illinois deserves better.

What You Must Do

Illinois is a deep blue state, and whoever wins this primary will be the next Senator from Illinois. One beautiful thing about Democratic voters is that facts matter to us. We are in a primary where we can elect the best fighter for us. If we want true change in Washington in November, we need to elect a true change maker now in Illinois. So, if you live in Illinois, here’s what I need you to do.

• Do not vote for Raja Krishnamoorthi.

• Talk to your friends and family and make sure they do not vote for Raja Krishnamoorthi.

• Share this article widely so they have the receipts in hand.

• Support candidates who actually reflect our values.

• Reject billionaire capture masquerading as pragmatism.

And if you do not live in Illinois—please share this article and video on your social media so everyone you know in Illinois sees it, and knows that we cannot allow Raja Krishnamoorthi to win this primary.

Conclusion

Who funds a candidate matters. Who they vote with matters. Who they stand beside matters. And when a Senate candidate takes money from Trump-aligned billionaires, ICE surveillance executives, crypto financiers, and authoritarian-friendly donors, that is not incidental—it is alignment.

Illinois is a deep blue state. We are not forced into false choices. We can—and must—elect leadership that reflects our values on civil rights, economic justice, and opposition to state violence. Do not be distracted by polished ads. Follow the money. Follow the record. Share the receipts. And vote accordingly.

Sadly, corporate media has ignored much of Raja’s atrocious record, but as a human rights lawyer my responsibility remains to speak truth to power. That’s how I know we have two powerful Black women who are far more qualified than Raja in this race—with Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton poised to win if we get her the support she needs.

Let’s use our collective voices and speak up now. And if you value this kind of fact-based accountability, subscribe to Let’s Address This. Join more than 170,000 readers committed to protecting democracy and human rights. Your support allows me to keep doing this work—consistently, independently, and without corporate influence.

Illinois deserves better. Let’s deliver.

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