Gov. JB Pritzker pumped $10 million into Juliana Stratton's Senate primary win through outside PAC

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker contributed more than $10 million to help his two-time running mate, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, win last month's Democratic U.S. Senate primary, nearly all of it funneled through an ostensibly independent political action committee whose spending on the race more than tripled that of Stratton's own campaign.

While Pritzker's backing was no secret, the full extent of his financial support was only revealed in new federal campaign disclosures filed this week and covering the weeks immediately before and after the March 17 primary, in which Stratton topped a field that included two veteran members of Congress.

The Senate race was the most high-profile of several crowded Democratic primaries for federal offices in which the sources of campaign contributions and spending by outside groups became a major flashpoint. As Illinois' congressional delegation prepares for a significant turnover set in motion by the retirements of Sen. Dick Durbin and three other veteran Democrats, money came flooding in from the tech industry, the pro-Israel lobby and others.

Pritzker, a billionaire Hyatt Hotels heir seeking a rare third term as governor in November and eyeing a bid for the White House in 2028, made two contributions to Illinois Future PAC totaling $5 million in late February and early March, according to Federal Election Commission records. Both Pritzker deposits were made just after the Feb. 25 cutoff for contributions that had to be reported publicly before voters went to the polls. The governor already has contributed the maximum amount, $7,000, directly to Stratton's campaign, as have first lady MK Pritzker and their two adult children.

In her bruising race against U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly, Stratton's campaign committee, Juliana for Illinois, raised nearly $4.8 million and spent nearly $4.1 million through March 31, records show. During the same period, Illinois Future, headed by Pritzker's former deputy campaign manager, spent nearly $12.7 million, including almost $8.9 million on ads supporting Stratton and more than $3.3 million on ads opposing Krishnamoorthi.

Pritzker's $10 million in contributions to Illinois Future accounted for a substantial portion of the roughly $24 million in outside expenditures reported in the race. Meanwhile, pro-cryptocurrency group Fairshake reported spending almost $9.9 million opposing Stratton, while two other PACs with ties to Krishnamoorthi reported spending $1.7 million, more than half of which went to ads supporting Kelly, a backhanded attempt to weaken Stratton.

The biggest spender of all in the Senate primary, however, was Krishnamoorthi's campaign fund, Raja for Illinois, which spent $15 million since January and more than $28.3 million overall en route to finishing second, 7 percentage points behind Stratton.

After an unrelated event in Chicago on Thursday, Pritzker didn't explain his substantial contributions to the pro-Stratton super PAC, other than saying he wanted her to win. Stratton has proved she was the right person for the job, he said.

"She was outspent. People said she couldn't possibly win. I think there were people who had written the political obituaries of everyone supporting her, and what happened in the end was her overcoming all of that," Pritzker said.

While Stratton is the prohibitive favorite to win the general election in November over Republican Don Tracy of Springfield, the former chair of the Illinois GOP, she ended March with less than $700,000 in her campaign's bank account.

Tracy, who easily won the Republican nomination as the only candidate with any statewide name recognition, had more than $1.5 million on hand at the beginning of April. An attorney and a member of the family that owns food redistributor Dot Foods, Tracy said he lent his campaign $2 million in August. After his victory last month, he said he would "self-fund to a reasonable extent" and expected to attract more support from Republican donors.

Without acknowledging Pritzker's substantial financial support in the primary, Stratton's campaign sent an email to donors Thursday that played up Tracy's early fundraising edge.

"He's using his personal fortune to self-fund his campaign and launch attacks against me - he even created an entire website to slander me and tear down our people-powered movement," the email signed by Stratton said. "Our campaign must meet the urgency of the moment - because if we fall short, we won't have the resources to fight back."

Stratton spokeswoman Allison Janowski said Thursday that the campaign does not expect outside spending in the general election to match the level seen in the primary.

Illinois Future had less than $40,000 remaining at the end of March, but there are no limits on how much Pritzker or other wealthy backers can contribute to the PAC, which is legally prohibited from coordinating with Stratton's campaign.

Aside from the governor, other late contributors to Illinois Future included casino magnate Neil Bluhm, developer Elzie Higginbottom, and philanthropist Cari Sacks, who, along with husband Michael Sacks, is a major Democratic donor.

After widespread criticism of the involvement of anonymous committees with apparent ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in several area Democratic congressional primaries, Michael Sacks wrote an op-ed in The Chicago Tribune explaining his support for AIPAC-adjacent groups in the Tribune.

This week's federal campaign finance disclosures showed clearer ties between one of those committees and the pro-Israel organization.

The committee, Chicago Progressive Partnership, received $1 million from Elect Chicago Women, which, in turn, was funded in large part by AIPAC's affiliated super PAC, United Democracy Project. Chicago Progressive Partnership's other largest donors were Michael Sacks and Linden Capital Partners President Anthony Davis.

Chicago Progressive Partnership spent more than $1.1 million to oppose Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive commentator who ultimately came in second to Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss in the North Side and north-suburban 9th Congressional District primary, and suggested in ads that she might hold Republican views. It also spent heavily against progressive tech entrepreneur Junaid Ahmed, who lost his race in the mostly northwest suburban 8th District.

"Imagine being so unpopular and evil that you have to drop this amount of money and invent new forms of (expletive) so you can beat a 27-year-old who regularly wears a Snorlax (Pokemon) onesie to bed," Abughazaleh posted Wednesday on the social media platform Bluesky.

Throughout the campaign, a handful of high-spending super PACs appeared to be affiliated with AIPAC, which supports candidates that back pro-Israel policies. But the super PACs' donors largely didn't have to be disclosed until after the election under federal campaign finance laws. The filings in the weeks since the election have cut through some of that opacity and shown AIPAC's allies' leading role in a surge of outside Congressional primary spending that reached an unprecedented level this cycle.

While last month's Democratic primaries selected nominees who are expected to win the general election races for the Senate, the 9th District and three other congressional races in safe blue districts, U.S. Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García's late decision to drop out in the Latino-majority 4th Congressional District has set up what could be the most competitive Chicago-area race on the November ballot.

García's insider move handed former chief of staff Patty García, who isn't related to the Southwest Side congressman, an uncontested primary. But three other Democrats have launched independent campaigns for the seat.

Patty García reported raising more than $147,000 in the first three months of 2026 and began April with more than $195,000 in her campaign fund, records show.

During the same period, Democratic operative Mayra Macías reported raising nearly $102,000 and had more than $159,000 on hand.

Progressive Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, raised more than $141,000 and had nearly $105,00 on hand, while Lyons Mayor Chris Getty had yet to report raising any campaign funds.

Macías, Sigcho-Lopez and Getty all still must file petition signatures from enough voters in the district, which stretches from Pilsen to Oak Brook and from Franklin Park to Burbank, with state election officials to qualify for the November ballot.

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