At their regular meeting on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, the Carroll County Democratic Central Committee decided to provide information on their preferred candidates for the U. S. Senate. The top three contenders for retiring Senator Dick Durbin are Congresswoman Robin Kelly; Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi; Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton.
The group also thought highly of candidate Kevin Ryan, a [Chicago Public Schools] teacher and [U. S. Marine Corps] Afghan veteran.
There was debate over who was financing Congressman Raja’s expensive TV commercials. “Congressman Raja Campaign” contributions must be filed with the Illinois Board of Elections; they are open for anyone who wants to examine them. Apparently, Lt. Gov. Stratton did. She chided Raja for taking huge sums of money from a Palantir CEO, which is a company founded by billionaire Peter Thiel. Thiel is a huge backer of President Trump. Palantir does a great amount of business with I.C.E., the Department of Defense, and the Israeli Military.
The group went on to endorse Governor J. B. Prizker and Congressman Eric Sorensen for re-election.
New to politics, then endorsed Joe Berring from Jo-Davis County for State Senator of the 45th district. Their pick in the race for Illinois Comptroller is Holly Kim, because of her experience. She was elected Treasurer of the third-largest County of Illinois in 2018 and has worked with our current Comptroller, Susanna Mendoza.