With incumbent U.S. Senator Dick Durbin retiring at the end of his term, several candidates in Illinois have launched bids to run for the open Senate seat.
Illinois Public Media’s The 21st Show is interviewing the candidates and asking them about their views. This week, Congresswoman Robin Kelly of the state’s 2nd District spoke with Brian Mackey about her policy priorities.
Kelly has served in multiple government positions, including as a state lawmaker and in the Illinois State Treasurer’s office. She joined the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013 following a special election.
Kelly currently represents a district that stretches from the Museum of Science and Industry on the South Side of Chicago down through Pontiac and Danville.
She said her experience in government leaves her prepared to serve in the upper chamber of Congress.
“I have great relations in the House and in the Senate, and I know that I will be able to hit the ground running on day one,” Kelly said. “Trump will still be the president, and we need somebody that’s ready to go immediately to not only fight, you know, fighting is one thing, but serving and getting the job done is something else.”
Interview Highlights
On winning back young voters who drifted towards Republicans in 2024:
“People have to feel that we care about them and that we’re listening to them, and that they have a voice, and that there is economic opportunity … and we we just have to, you know, keep communicating in every way that we can. We learned that lesson in November … I just spoke to a young person that goes to [The University of Illinois], and he told me, ‘I don’t even have cable, and a lot of my friends get their news from other friends, and what other friends post or TikTok or Instagram,’ so we have to be in all those spaces.
On the impact of President Trump’s crackdown on immigrants without legal status:
“President Trump and his cronies have pushed so much fear, so much, you know, ‘it’s just about America, forget everybody else.’ And they’re coming to get your jobs, you know, [he] make comments. ‘He’s coming to get, like, your black jobs,’ you know, and things like that. So I think that he’s pushed division and people that follow him, you know, agree with that.”
On supporting universal healthcare:
“There’s no reason in the richest country in the history of the world that everyone doesn’t have quality health care. And if other countries can do it, we need to figure it out.”
On whether the U.S. has an interest in a free Ukraine:
“What’s going to stop [Putin] from going to the other countries? And of course, some of those other countries are NATO countries. So, you know, we have a decision: do we pay with money, or do we pay with our military? Do we … pay with blood?”
Kelly is one of three leading Democratic candidates in the race for Illinois’ open Senate seat. The other two are Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi.