Yesterday’s primary election included some painful losses in races that The People’s Lobby threw down on, which show the escalating power of corporate money to subvert our democracy. At the same time, progressives won other key races, and this election teaches us important lessons that should inform our organizing in the years to come.
In the 2nd Congressional District, Senator Robert Peters was defeated by Donna Miller, who was backed by millions of dollars in outside money from AIPAC. The People’s Lobby members knocked tens of thousands of doors in this race and raised money for digital communications that reached hundreds of thousands of voters, and Robert ran a strong campaign that spoke to the most important issues facing our state and country, but ultimately, we came up short.
This election was marked by the highest spending ever in an Illinois primary. Super PACs spent $31 million in our state’s four open Congressional races, and the vast majority of that — $26.9 million — was spent by AIPAC, cryptocurrency, and artificial intelligence PACs to elect candidates who support corporate power and unlimited U.S. military support for Israel. Robert faced $817,000 in attack ads by a cryptocurrency PAC, while his opponents received $875,000 directly from AIPAC donors and $5.7 million from AIPAC and crypto super PACs. This is a direct attack by corporate America on people power and democracy from MAGA-aligned donors hoping to quash progressive momentum in Democratic primaries in favor of candidates who are fighting corporate power and inequality and supporting Palestinian liberation.
The fact that wealthy, MAGA-aligned, outside interests were able to parachute into Illinois and influence these races shows us that we need to fight harder than ever to build people power, succeed in grassroots fundraising, and get big money out of electoral politics.
In the meantime, we look forward to continuing to work with Robert as he serves his district by fighting for our needs over corporate greed in Springfield.
Wesam Shahed ran one of the strongest organizing operations in the state, and we contributed meaningfully to his campaign for County Commissioner in the South Suburbs. He identified thousands of supporters, and it showed, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the entrenched remnants of old-guard machine politics that are still a force in parts of the South and Southwest Suburbs.
In more positive news, AIPAC-backed candidate Laura Fine lost to Daniel Biss in Illinois’ 9th congressional district. We look forward to continuing to work with him on our shared issues, such as Medicare for all, abolishing ICE, and winning public financing for elections so more working-class candidates can win public office. Daniel ran a strategic campaign that mobilized progressives to action in a race with 15 other candidates, and his victory is a testament to his strengths as a legislator, leader, and organizer.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle defeated a challenge from Alderman Brendan Reilly, who attacked criminal justice reform, voted to weaken the city’s sanctuary policies, and took huge donations from the family that tried to move General Iron to the South Side. We are grateful to have President Preckwinkle’s leadership over the next four years as our county continues investing in health care, criminal justice reform, community development, and more.
We’d also like to congratulate two other TPL-endorsed candidates who won important races yesterday: Democratic nominee for State Representative Miguel Alvelo Rivera and Democratic nominee for County Commissioner Elizabeth Granato. Miguel is a community organizer who has served as Executive Director of the Latino Union and ran a grassroots progressive campaign against a dramatically better-funded machine incumbent. Liz brings experience making Cook County government work for people now to a role in which she will be a co-conspirator with TPL in protecting our health care system and criminal justice reform from attacks by the forces of MAGA in Cook County and Washington.
The People’s Lobby did not make an endorsement in the race to replace US Senator Dick Durbin, but we joined the Illinois Against MAGA campaign that progressive organizers formed to oppose Raja Krishnamoorthi. He took hundreds of thousands of dollars from AIPAC donors, weapons manufacturers, and ICE contractors, cozied up to corporate interests, and opposed limits to U.S. military spending. We texted more than 250,000 voters across the state to make sure voters were aware of the corporate and warmonger donors trying to buy this seat, along with the four Congressional seats, and, in a first for TPL, we received a donation to pay for three billboards to share this message. Krishnamoorthi’s defeat is a win for all of us who are against ICE and corporate influence in elections.
Check out the Sun-Times tracker to see how the rest of our endorsed candidates performed last night. Again, tremendous thanks to all of our members and leaders who donated, took a canvass shift, made a social media post, or otherwise pitched in on these races.