Politics
Democratic Senate Candidates Talk Iran War, Immigration Enforcement During WTTW News Debate
Video: Joining “Chicago Tonight” for a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate forum on March 9, 2026, are Lt. Gov Julianna Stratton and U.S. Reps. Robin Kelly and Raja Krishnamoorthi. (Produced by Shelby Hawkins)
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly vowed Monday to vote against any additional funding for the war launched by President Donald Trump against Iran in the last debate in the intense Democratic primary to replace U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.
With a little more than a week until the March 17 election, the debate hosted by WTTW News’ “Chicago Tonight” was the first after Trump launched the war against Iran that has already killed seven members of the U.S. military.
While both Kelly and Stratton during the debate flatly ruled out supporting any additional funding for the war effort, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi did not. All three Democrats blasted the president for launching the war without first getting congressional approval, as required by federal law.
Both chambers of Congress failed to pass a war powers resolution that would have restricted military action in Iran. Both Kelly and Krishnamoorthi voted to rein in the president, while Stratton said she also supported it.
“I do not believe this war is justified, and I would not vote to authorize additional supplemental funding for this war to continue,” Stratton said.
Trump’s decision to launch a war with Iran is “absolutely ridiculous,” said Kelly, who has represented the state’s 2nd Congressional District, which stretches from Chicago’s lakefront south through the suburbs to Kankakee, since 2013.
“We’re talking about an affordability issue,” Kelly said. “He’s already spent $3.7 billion. I would not vote for any more funding.”
Krishnamoorthi said the war was “illegal and unconstitutional,” and called for Trump to release oil from the nation’s strategic reserves to bring down the price of a gallon of gasoline, which jumped 46 cents in the past week, according to AAA.
That will “ease the burden on working families, because they should not have to fund the cost of this yet another forever war, which nobody wants,” said Krishnamoorthi, who has represented the state’s 8th Congressional District, which includes Chicago’s northwest suburbs, since 2017.
After this story was published, Krishnamoorthi said he agreed with Stratton and Kelly.
“As I said today, I do not support Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional war in Iran,“ Krishnamoorthi said in a statement. ”As such, of course I would not support funding to pay for Trump’s impulsive war.”
The Trump administration has not yet requested supplemental funding from Congress for the war effort.
During the hourlong debate, the candidates also clashed over how to respond to Trump’s aggressive efforts to carry out the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history. All three vowed to support efforts to rein in the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents.
Stratton, who represented Hyde Park in the Illinois House for one term before becoming lieutenant governor with Gov. JB Pritzker, again called for ICE to be abolished, while Kelly said the Department of Homeland Security should be dismantled, “the whole kit and caboodle.”
By contrast, Krishnamoorthi has said he will “abolish Trump’s ICE,” calling for the agency to focus on core functions as it did before Trump took office.
Federal immigration agents should not be allowed to wear masks or make warrantless arrests, Krishnamoorthi said.
As in previous debates, Stratton was the most aggressive during the debate Monday, blasting Krishnamoorthi for voting for a resolution that included a provision that expressed “gratitude” to ICE officers.
“I don’t believe that this agency can be reformed,” Stratton said.
Krishnamoorthi said he voted for that resolution because it condemned antisemitism in the wake of a terrorist attack that injured at least a dozen people at a rally for Israeli hostages in Colorado, killing one person.
Stratton also criticized Krishnamoorthi for soliciting a donation from the chief technology officer of Palantir, which has contracts with ICE to help it meet the Trump administration’s deportation goals. Krishnamoorthi said he returned that donation when he became aware of it.
“I’m an immigrant, I don’t need to get lectured by anybody about holding ICE accountable,” Krishnamoorthi said. “Unlike you, I have actually done that in Congress.”
Krishnamoorthi accused Stratton of “adopting a policy of hypocrisy,” noting that the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association accepted contributions from Core Civic, which operates the ICE detention center in Broadview, while Stratton led the organization.
Stratton said she called for the organization to return that contribution before public outcry, unlike Krishnamoorthi, who returned the contribution after a Chicago Sun-Times report.
Kelly said both Stratton and Krishnamoorthi had accepted campaign contributions from billionaires and large corporations.
“It is almost like the teapot calling the kettle black,” Kelly said.
The winner of the Democratic primary will advance to the Nov. 3 general election against the winner of the Republican primary: R. Cary Capparelli, Casey Chlebek, Jeannie Evans, Pamela Denise Long, Jimmy Lee Tillman II or Don Tracy.
Other Democrats in the race include Kevin Ryan, Steve Botsford Jr., Bryan Maxwell, Jonathan Dean, Sean Brown, Awisi A. Bustos and Christopher Swann.
To learn more about the candidates, read the WTTW News Voter Guide.
Note: This story has been updated with a statement from U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
