Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) announced on May 7, 2026, that he will run for the U.S. Senate in Illinois in 2026 rather than another term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The seat is open since incumbent Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) announced he would not seek re-election. As of May 6, 2025, independent race forecasters The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections have rated the general election for the seat as Solid Democratic. Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Democratic.
On his campaign, Kishnamoorthi said, “Whoever the next senator is has to continue Senator Durbin’s incredible legacy of representing the entire state in the U.S. Senate. As somebody who’s from downstate, who represents the suburbs and who’s worked in the city for many years, I think that I bring some of the qualities necessary to represent the full breadth of what it means to be an Illinoisan.”
In 2012, Krishnamoorthi ran to represent Illinois’ 8th Congressional District, but lost to Tammy Duckworth (D) in the Democratic primary election, 66% to 34%. Duckworth ultimately defeated then-Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) in the general election, 55% to 45%.
In 2016, Krishnamoorthi again ran to represent Illinois’ 8th Congressional District, after Duckworth announced she was running for the U.S. Senate in Illinois rather than another term in the House. In the general election, he defeated Pete DiCianni (R), 58% to 42%. In Krishnamoorthi’s four subsequent re-election bids, he won by 32 percentage points in 2018, 46 percentage points in 2020, 14 percentage points in 2022, and 14 percentage points in 2024.
As of May 6, 2025, The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections have rated the 2026 general election for the district as Solid Democratic. Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Democratic.
As of May 7, 2025, 17 members of the U.S. Congress—five senators and 12 representatives—have announced they will not seek re-election to their current seats in 2026.
Of the 12 representatives—seven Democrats and five Republicans—not seeking re-election:
- Two Democrats are retiring from public office.
- Six—five Democrats and one Republican—are running for the U.S. Senate.
- Four—all Republicans—are running for governor.
Compared to the last four election cycles, there were 10 retirement announcements at this point in 2024, 12 in 2022, five in 2020, and eight in 2018.
From January 2011 to now, Ballotpedia followed 364 announcements from Senate and House members who announced they would not seek re-election. January had seen the highest number of announcements of any month at 69. The fewest announcements—12—happened in June.
