ABC7 Chicago presents 2026 Democratic U.S. Senate Primary Forum

CHICAGO (WLS) -- ABC7 Chicago presented the 2026 Democratic U.S. Senate Primary Forum on Thursday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m., live and without commercials.

ABC7's anchor Judy Hsu led the 60-minute forum, with questions also asked by the station's political reporter Craig Wall and WGBO/Univision Chicago anchor/reporter Enrique Rodriguez.



Three of the Democratic candidates running for U.S. Senate in Illinois participated in the forum:
-U.S. Representative Robin Kelly
-U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi
-Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton

SEE ALSO: 2026 elections: What to know about major political races in Illinois this year

All eligible candidates in this race were considered for inclusion in this Democratic forum, and we invited these three candidates based on the following criteria: Being legally qualified to hold the office they're seeking, having a campaign website, being among the top three in fundraising as of December 31, 2025, and achieving certain performance in independent polling, if available at that time.



The 2026 Democratic U.S. Senate Primary Forum streamed live on ABC7Chicago.com, on ABC7 Chicago's news app and Facebook page, and on ABC7's 24/7 streaming channels.



It will be broadcast on ABC7 directly following the station's late newscast on Friday, Jan. 30 at 10:30 p.m.

The forum will also be translated and streamed live on Univision's digital platforms, and it will air on Univision's main channel on Saturday, Jan. 31, at 4:00 p.m.



ABC7 will hold a 2026 Republican U.S. Senate Primary Forum that will stream live on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. It will air in full on ABC7 on Friday, Feb. 13 at 10:35 p.m.

We invited the candidates who didn't qualify for inclusion in our Democratic forum to deliver a two-minute statement to viewers.

Part 1:

Part 2: