Illinois Democrats focused on Trump as they seek third sweep of statewide races

SPRINGFIELD — Though hundreds of Republican candidates will appear on the ballot in Illinois in November, the state’s Democrats are focused on a common opponent: President Donald Trump.

The party’s leaders gathered in Springfield on Wednesday for their annual Democrat Day at the Illinois State Fair and at a brunch with county party leaders where they attempted to draw contrasts between themselves and Republicans. Amid their various names for the country’s leader — such as the “Cheeto president” whose agenda is a “river of sewage” — Democrats patted themselves on the back as a model of governing success.

While the sense of urgency in confronting Trump and national Republicans was unmistakable, there was little evidence Democrats fear being dislodged as the state’s dominant party. After a March primary election that featured several high-profile contests, the statewide general election campaign has largely been a sleepy affair. This was reflected in the focus of the speeches Democrats delivered to party faithful.

“We are only 19 months into Donald Trump’s term and what he and his MAGA Republicans are doing to this nation is disgraceful,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.

Pritzker and running mate Christian Mitchell invoked the names of their Republican opponents, Darren Bailey and Aaron Del Mar, respectively, only a handful of times. Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, didn’t utter her GOP opponent Don Tracy’s name once. And none of the other statewide Democratic elected officials mentioned the names of the little-known Republicans running against them.

It’s a reflection of the sheer dominance Democrats have built in Illinois, which Sen. Tammy Duckworth referred to as the “rebar” in the Midwestern blue wall. The party holds all statewide offices, supermajorities in the state legislature and 14 of 17 congressional seats.

And if anyone needed a reminder of the advantage Democrats have, Pritzker last week cut a $65 million check to his campaign fund, which will support his bid for a third term and help Democrats up and down the ticket. Bailey, who will rally with Republicans at the fairgrounds on Thursday, had just $127,990 in the bank at the end of June and has reported just $115,000 in contributions since.

Though Pritzker, speaking to reporters after the rally at the fairgrounds, suggested state Democrats wouldn’t be complacent despite the party having swept statewide offices in both 2018 and 2022.

“We’re fighting it out in every district, so it’s not a one-party state,” Pritzker said. “We got battles going on toward the general election, and we’ll see who wins. But I’m very proud of the fact that Democrats actually represent the working people of the state and are standing up for their rights and making sure that we’re putting money in their pockets and lowering costs for them.”

‘Don’t toy with Illinois’

Democrats running for statewide office couldn’t wait to share with supporters what they’ve done to fight Trump during their tenure.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul touted his office’s legal tussles with the Trump administration, including its successful efforts to beat back the president’s attempt to deploy the National Guard to the streets of Chicago.

“Some may say ‘Don’t mess with Texas,’ but we went all the way to the Supreme Court to tell Donald Trump, ‘Don’t toy with Illinois,’” Raoul said.

Minutes later, Duckworth told Raoul that “if you want to put that on a T-shirt and say ‘Don’t f—ing toy with Illinois,’ I’ll buy a dozen of them.” It was one of two expletives Illinois’ soon-to-be senior senator deployed.

Though he’s unpopular in the state, Trump had his best performance in Illinois of his three campaigns in 2024. While he didn’t substantially receive more votes, many Democratic voters appeared to skip over Kamala Harris on the ballot. Democratic Party Chair Lisa Hernandez said her party isn’t taking the state’s dark blue leanings for granted.

“We’re doing all we can to bring back the trust of the vote, based on what we saw in the last election,” Hernandez told Capitol News Illinois.

With Trump the focal point of Democratic campaigns, Pritzker argued there’s no daylight between the president and Bailey, who Trump endorsed four years ago but hasn’t so far this year.

“This is the government that Darren Bailey rooted for,” Pritzker said. “This is the vision that he and his Illinois Republicans want to impose on working families across Illinois. I think it’s instructive for us to put side-by-side two visions of Illinois.”

Pritzker got high praise from one prominent national politician on Wednesday: Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who keynoted the breakfast.

“JB Pritzker stood up and delivered a message directly to Donald Trump,” Warren said. “He said, ‘You come for my people, you come through me.’ And I thought that is leadership. JB Pritzker was showing some old school loyalty to the people of Illinois and showing that Democrats, or at least some Democrats, don’t back down from bullies.”

Fight over affordability

Democrats argued Trump’s Republican Party has only made life worse for Americans through “wars of choice” that have driven up gas and grocery prices.

“At a time when Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans and his entire freak show are demonstrating how the government can be distorted to satisfy the greed of the wealthy and the greed of Donald Trump’s own pockets, while robbing working families blind, Illinois Democrats are showing what it means to truly fight for the people,” Pritzker told supporters at the fair.

But as Democrats bashed Trump for rising prices, the Illinois Tollway on Wednesday morning approved a 57% increase on cars and 30% on trucks beginning next year. It will increase by inflation every two years after that without further public hearings or board votes. The rate increase will fund a capital program for the Tollway and was permitted by the transit reform bill lawmakers approved last year.

“We want to make sure that our roads are pothole-free, that we’re making sure to build more so that we can build our economy across the state of Illinois,” Pritzker told reporters.

Bailey has suggested eliminating tolls, but Pritzker said that would only cause more downstate communities to foot the bill for Chicago area expressways. More broadly, Bailey has tried to say Pritzker’s criticism of Trump on cost-of-living issues rings hollow as Illinois has implemented dozens of new taxes during his governorship.

“We feel great about our record and that shows that we are deeply focused on the people of Illinois and will continue to be through Nov. 3,” Mitchell told Capitol News Illinois.

Ethics issues

Republicans are hoping to derail Democrats’ electoral hopes by focusing on a series of alleged ethical lapses unearthed this summer.

Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that she orchestrated a scheme to receive illegal cash kickbacks from her own campaign account and from local nonprofits for which she helped secure state grant funding.

House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, didn’t attend any of the Democrat Day festivities on Wednesday.

He is under scrutiny for his handling of sexual harassment allegations against disgraced ex-Rep. Harry Benton, D-Plainfield, who resigned in July after a Legislative Inspector General report found he engaged in “a pattern and practice of inappropriate sexual conduct” that began soon after he took office in 2023.

Welch’s office knew about an allegation against Benton but did not address it for several months. Welch then subsequently spent $1.4 million in support of Benton’s reelection in 2024.

A Chicago Tribune report also highlighted Welch’s behavior on social media, which included reacting to a former staffer’s Instagram photos with heart eyes and inviting her to a bar through an encrypted messaging app.

As Welch made the rounds to a series of fundraisers and receptions in downtown Springfield on Tuesday, mobile billboards circled the block airing an Illinois House Republican message highlighting posts Welch has liked on social media. Other billboards tied newly appointed Rep. Jessica Dixon Heitman, D-Plainfield, and Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, both in relatively competitive districts, to Welch.

Hernandez acknowledged the incidents could undermine trust with voters.

“I believe that the speaker is doing all he can and I think he is putting himself out there and doing what he (can) to put in place what we have learned based on the current incidents that we have to do better,” she said.

But other Democrats dismissed the notion that they will be punished at the ballot box for the ethical lapses.

“I mean, Republicans are always going to find something to run on where they are going after individual candidates for, you know, reasons that are outside of their control,” said Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago, the party’s nominee for comptroller, referring to the Heitman and Stuart billboards. “But no, I think that we just have to continue to run on the things that people are hearing about right now: affordability, healthcare, education. And if we continue that message, we’ll be successful in November.”

Mitchell echoed those sentiments.

“Obviously those ethics issues should be dealt with,” Mitchell, a former representative, said. “Sounds like the House is trying to do that. We want to focus on the issues facing the voters in November, and when we do that, I think we’ll win.”

Looking ahead

With Democrats heavily favored in all statewide contests, many are already looking ahead to the Chicago mayoral election next February.

Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias and Comptroller Susana Mendoza are among several declared candidates challenging incumbent Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Mendoza ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2019. She received criticism that year for seemingly having her eye on the Chicago City Hall while running for reelection as comptroller in 2018. This time, Mendoza opted against seeking reelection to her statewide office to focus on the mayor’s race.

Giannoulias, on the other hand, is running for reelection and mayor simultaneously, for which Mendoza took a not-so-subtle jab, saying that voters “deserve a candidate who’s going to be all in the position that they’re asking you to support them for.”

Giannoulias told reporters at the fairgrounds that he didn’t hear Mendoza’s remark, adding that his current role is “the best job in government” but that he wants to be “part of the solution” to the issues plaguing the state’s largest city.

“And as I’ve said, when you’re applying for a job, when you’re interviewing for a job, which is what you do when you run for mayor, you don’t quit the job you’re in while you’re interviewing for the next one,” Giannoulias said.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.