U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi’s bid to become the first Indian American senator in Illinois and only the second in U.S. history ended in defeat on March 17, 2026, as Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton pulled off an upset victory despite being massively outspent, raising questions about money’s role in politics and the impact of controversial donor ties—though no evidence suggests anti-Indian sentiment played a determining role in the outcome.

According to NBC News, Lt. Gov. Stratton won the Democratic nomination to succeed Dick Durbin after defeating Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Rep. Robin Kelly. Krishnamoorthi raised and spent enormous sums of money on ads, while Stratton benefited from Gov. JB Pritzker’s support, including spending from a Pritzker-funded super PAC. 

Krishnamoorthi’s Concession

According to CNN, as he has done throughout his political career, Krishnamoorthi, whose full name is Subramanian Raja Krishnamoorthi, poked fun at his 29-letter name and leaned on his immigrant backstory. Krishnamoorthi was born in New Delhi and immigrated with his parents as a child. He would’ve been the first immigrant to represent Illinois in the Senate in generations. 

CNN reported that Krishnamoorthi said: “I want to thank this country, the greatest country on Earth, for giving an immigrant kid and his family the chance to live the American Dream. Only in this country could my story happen, and only in this country could a kid like me serve in the Hall of Congress. And now we must come together as Democrats and as Americans to make sure that we return to the principles that made us a beacon of freedom and opportunity for the world.” 

Key Factors in the Loss

1. Controversial Donor Ties Became Central Issue

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Krishnamoorthi accepted more than $90,000 in contributions from key donors to President Donald Trump and MAGA, including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar. Palantir has a $30 million contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide tools to track self-deportation. 

According to Roll Call, since the primary’s first debate in late January, Stratton has hit Krishnamoorthi for accepting donations from an executive of Palantir, a company that has a contract with ICE. She has also criticized Krishnamoorthi for votes to provide funding to the agency and for voting to “thank ICE,” while calling to abolish the agency.

2. Money Couldn’t Buy Victory

According to NBC News, Krishnamoorthi raised and spent enormous sums of money on ads, while Stratton benefited from Gov. JB Pritzker’s support, including spending from a Pritzker-funded super PAC.

According to Roll Call, Krishnamoorthi’s FEC reports through Feb. 25 show that Krishnamoorthi raised $30.4 million for his Senate campaign since last year, including a $19 million transfer from his House campaign. He had $6.6 million available as of Feb. 25. Stratton, meanwhile, had raised $4 million and had $1.3 million on hand for the campaign’s final stretch. 

The American Prospect noted that despite railing against Trump, Krishnamoorthi, who has led in polling from virtually the beginning, has benefited from MAGA-affiliated donors, including venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, Heritage Foundation senior adviser Michael Pillsbury, and Shyam Sankar, the chief technology officer at Palantir and a Trump adviser who has donated hundreds of thousands to Republican causes already in 2026. 

3. Crypto PAC Spending Backfired

According to Roll Call, Stratton has also faced more than $5 million in spending opposing her campaign from Fairshake, a super PAC aligned with the cryptocurrency industry. 

However, this spending may have backfired. According to The American Prospect, Fairshake, the pro-cryptocurrency PAC that has also spent millions in Illinois’s Second District and Seventh District races, has spent almost $10 million opposing Stratton, a number that far outweighs their spending in the other Illinois races. 

4. Split Black Vote Strategy Exposed

According to Punchbowl News, “It is a deliberate attempt to split the Black vote. And the only beneficiary of that in the U.S. Senate race would be Congressman Krishnamoorthi,” Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Senate Chair Willie Preston said. 

Punchbowl News reported that the Impact Fund, a group that typically backs Indian-American candidates, has spent roughly $1 million on similar ads. Progressive Values Illinois, a group backing Krishnamoorthi, has spent nearly $600,000 on mailers that urge voters to back Kelly or Krishnamoorthi over Stratton, per FEC data. 

5. Pritzker’s Kingmaker Role

According to CNN, Pritzker, who is closely eyeing a 2028 Democratic presidential bid, emerges from the primary as a winner and a kingmaker. What it ultimately means for a future White House campaign is an open question, but for tonight, it’s a double win Pritzker will gladly bask in. 

The Question of Anti-Indian Sentiment

Despite the rising anti-Indian sentiment documented nationally in the Network Contagion Research Institute study and incidents Krishnamoorthi himself had condemned, there is no verified evidence in the available sources that anti-Indian prejudice played a determining role in his primary defeat.

In December 2025, Krishnamoorthi had warned about rising bigotry. He cited personal attacks: “An elected official from Florida called for me to be deported. He called me a foreign occupier,” he said, adding, “I said, just call me Raja — I’ll just call you racist.” 

• His acceptance of donations from Trump-aligned donors and Palantir
• His ties to Hindu nationalist groups, which alienated progressive voters
• The perception that outside PACs were trying to manipulate the Black vote
• Stratton’s momentum and Pritzker’s powerful backing
• The effectiveness of attacks on his immigration enforcement-related donors in a state where ICE enforcement had become a major issue

According to The Hill, racial identity also seems to be playing a role. If elected, Krishnamoorthi would be only the second Indian American to serve in the Senate, while Stratton or Kelly could help set a new record for the number of Black women serving in the chamber. 

Hindu Nationalist Controversy

The Chicago Sun-Times reported in 2022 that Krishnamoorthi is on the right side on domestic matters — Black Lives Matter, the environment, etc. — but when it comes to India, he’s “cheerleading for the Modi government” said Nikhil Mandalaparthy, the advocacy director of Hindus for Human Rights. 

The Sun-Times noted that it is hard to ignore Krishnamoorthi’s reported attendance at several events organized by Hindu nationalists, including a 94th birthday commemoration of the RSS, a group Tyler Williams, an associate professor at the University of Chicago, described as the Indian equivalent of the Proud Boys. 

Krishnamoorthi’s loss represents a stunning upset in which the nation’s second-highest fundraising federal candidate in 2026 was defeated despite spending nearly $30 million. The defeat was driven primarily by controversies over his donor base—particularly connections to Trump allies and companies tied to immigration enforcement—combined with Pritzker’s decisive intervention and a late surge by Stratton. While Krishnamoorthi had spoken out against rising anti-Indian sentiment and experienced racist attacks personally, no evidence suggests his ethnicity was a factor in Democratic primary voters’ decision-making. Instead, his loss appears rooted in policy disagreements, fundraising controversies, and the successful mobilization of Stratton’s coalition.