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It’s Monday. There’s a big shift happening in Illinois politics and we’ll walk you through the potential players. Plus, what local scientific researchers are saying about federal cuts and the history of an "exploding" scoreboard. |
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Top left to right: U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi. Bottom left to right: U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, former Illinois state Rep. Tom Demmer |
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An open seat representing Illinois in the United States Senate is so rare that it makes a blue moon seem positively routine and a bit boring. But there promises to be nothing boring about the race to replace U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who will retire in 2027 after 30 years in office. Here’s who is in the race and who might be thinking about tossing their proverbial hat in the ring:
Running
Juliana Stratton
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Current job: Lieutenant governor
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Big endorsements: Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Sen. Tammy Duckworth and the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association
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Fun fact: Stratton won her first elected office with an endorsement from another big name: then-President Barack Obama
Democrats Who Are Not Running … Yet
Raja Krishnamoorthi
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Current job: U.S. representative, 8th District
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Fun Fact: Krishnamoorthi has a massive campaign war chest, with $19.4 million in cash on hand
Lauren Underwood
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Current job: U.S. representative, 14th District
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Fun fact: Underwood is the youngest Black woman to ever serve in Congress
Robin Kelly
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Current job: U.S. representative, 2nd District
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Fun fact: Kelly briefly replaced former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan as head of the Illinois Democratic Party, after the now-convicted Madigan resigned under pressure
Other potential contenders: Treasurer Michael Frerichs, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias and state Sen. Robert Peters
Republicans Who Are Not Running … Yet
Darrin LaHood
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Current job: U.S. representative, 16th District
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Fun fact: LaHood’s father, Ray, served as former President Barack Obama’s transportation secretary
Tom Demmer
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Current job: president of the Lee County Industrial Development Association
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Fun fact: Demmer represented north-central Illinois in the state House for a decade, rising to deputy minority leader.
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Stateville Correctional Center is pictured in a file photo. (Blair Paddock / WTTW News) |
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After 12 years, the class action lawsuit over living conditions at Stateville Correctional Center that helped bring the prison to a close has been settled. The settlement, approved by U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood, vacated Stateville’s general housing unit in September, transferring men to other facilities across the state.
“What was considered an impossible outcome at the start of this litigation—the closure of Stateville—became a reality,” filings state. Representatives for the Illinois Department of Corrections declined to comment.
The lawsuit was originally filed by Lester Dobbey in 2013 while he was incarcerated at Stateville. He alleged unconstitutional conditions at the prison: physical deterioration and structural unsafety of buildings, unsafe drinking water, vermin, poor ventilation and exposure to excessive heat and cold.
Some backstory:
Over a decade later, a motion was filed last summer to transfer more than 420 men in the general housing unit out of the facility.
Last year’s order did not include 21 men who were left in the health care unit at the prison. During their months inside the unit, men said they were held in “third-world” conditions in segregation without access to recreational activities, the law library, education programs or time in the chapel. Disability rights group Equip for Equality filed a lawsuit on behalf of those men. They were transferred to other facilities in March, bringing Stateville to an official close.
The lawsuits pushed the department to speed up the state’s plan to close Stateville, which Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced last March. It’s part of the $900 million pitch from Pritzker to close and rebuild both Stateville and the women’s prison Logan Correctional Center. |
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(Joe Hendrickson / Stock) |
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Professors and researchers at Chicago-area universities said federal funding cuts are leaving research projects unfinished. The Trump administration is freezing $790 million for Northwestern University. The Department of Defense issued stop-work orders for more than 100 research grants, putting faculty projects on pause.
Two local examples:
Julius Lucks, a chemical engineering professor at Northwestern, said the stop-work orders put one of the biggest projects in his lab on pause: efforts to develop kits to test water for lead. His team is already deploying test kits throughout the Chicago area, with plans to expand all over the country. He said that while Northwestern is a well-resourced elite institution, it can’t make up for the lost federal grants in the same way.
Research funding from the CDC and National Institutes of Health is also at risk. Dr. Linda Forst, a health professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, said she received informal communications that her research grant from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) could be put on pause. She hasn’t received official communication from the government about the grant’s status, and her lab has continued work with hopes that funding will still come. She said a pause in funding could put students and staff in limbo. |
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More From WTTW News |
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From a towering 120-foot-tall black oak to a 20-foot redbud, the Forest Preserve District of Cook County has mapped the largest specimens of each tree species identified in the preserves and has made it easier for people to find them with an interactive web tool.
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A food assistance program called the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer, or Summer EBT, is aimed at giving school-age children access to nutritious meals during the summer. It will begin to issue benefits to low-income Illinois families starting in May.
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Back in the Day: April 28, 1960 - White Sox Unveil ‘Exploding’ Scoreboard
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White Sox President Bill Veeck was a skilled marketer who had the idea of making an “exploding” scoreboard at Comiskey Park after watching a movie from 1948 called “The Time of Your Life.” “This character in the film was always playing pinball machines,” Veeck told the Tribune in April 1960. “Toward the finish, he finally hit the jackpot and there was the darndest racket and flashing of lights you ever heard or saw.” On this day 65 years ago, the "Monster," a $300,000 or (nearly $3 million in today's dollars), “130-foot-wide scoreboard [featuring] lights, sirens, a “Soxogram” message board and multicolored pinwheels” debuted at the ballpark. While it was supposed to debut with a White Sox home run, no dingers were hit by the roster that beat Cleveland 3-1. At the end of the game, the scoreboard premiered with a fireworks display. According to the Tribune, Veeck could be heard from the press box telling his crew, "Where are the bombs? Put the sound on!" The White Sox would get their home run—and the exploding scoreboard—on May 1, 1960. |
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This Week’s Civic Events and Meetings |
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Every Monday, WTTW News highlights the best ways to get involved with local government.
Show Up Chicago
Hosted by the Blue Beginning chapter of Indivisible Chicago, this is a hybrid event that's part panel discussion, part happy hour and part community party. This month’s guests include Ed Yohnka, director of communications and public policy at ACLU of Illinois, and Sheila Bedi, director of the Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. The event is 7 p.m. on Monday at Hideout Chicago. RSVP here.
The Civic Federation
On Tuesday at 9 a.m., the Civic Federation’s April Speaker Series event is called “Modernizing Illinois’ Sales Tax for a 21st Century Economy.” It’ll be at DePaul Center, Room 8005 (1 E. Jackson Blvd.). Register here.
WTTW
On Friday, in Lincoln Square at the Davis Theatre at 5:45 p.m., join WTTW, Doc10/Docs Across Chicago and Frontline for a screening and discussion of “Antidote,” an immersive docu-thriller that follows Christo Grozev, lead researcher at the investigative journalism group Bellingcat, who famously identified those who poisoned Alexei Navalny. Details here. |
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The 2025 NFL Draft ended last weekend. How are you feeling about the Chicago Bears' moves for next season?
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. |
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5:30 PM | 10:00 PM |
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Want more WTTW News content? Follow WTTW on Instagram to check in with us daily, go behind-the-scenes, and more. |
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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