Raja Krishnamoorthi Leads Tight Illinois Senate Primary Amid Fundraising Controversies and Hindu Nationalist Ties

With just days remaining before Illinois’ March 17 Democratic primary, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi holds a narrowing lead in the race to replace retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, even as controversies swirl around his prolific fundraising operation and ties to supporters of India’s Hindu nationalist movement.

The Race Tightens

According to a Public Policy Polling survey sponsored by the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, Stratton has surged to 33% support, leading Krishnamoorthi at 29% and Kelly at 11%. Over the last three polls since early February, her vote share has steadily increased from 23%, to 27%, and now 33%—a 10-point gain in the last four weeks. 

However, other polls show varying results. An Emerson College Polling/WGN-TV survey found 31% support Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi for the Democratic nomination for US Senate, 10% Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, and 8% Rep. Robin Kelly. A plurality of voters (46%) are undecided ahead of the primary. 

According to Decision Desk HQ’s polling average, Raja Krishnamoorthi leads at 34.0%, Juliana Stratton at 25.2%, and Robin Kelly at 11.3%. 

Fundraising Dominance and Scrutiny

The Chicago Tribune reported that having raised $30.5 million between the start of 2025 and Feb. 25 — including more than $19 million transferred from his House campaign fund — Krishnamoorthi is the nation’s second-highest fundraising federal candidate this election season, trailing only Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff.

According to the Tribune, opponents have argued Krishnamoorthi’s donor base has made him beholden to special interests, including supporters of Republican President Donald Trump. The Tribune reported that some fellow members of the Indian American community have criticized him for accepting contributions from figures aligned with India’s Hindu nationalist movement.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Krishnamoorthi has accepted more than $90,000 in contributions from key Trump and MAGA donors, and has also taken in more than $120,000 in corporate PAC contributions from the same companies that are helping to fund Trump’s new $300 million White House ballroom construction, including Google, Amazon, Booz Allen Hamilton, Microsoft, T-Mobile, NextEra Energy, Union Pacific and Lockheed Martin. 

Krishnamoorthi’s donors include Marc Andreessen, a Trump adviser and venture capitalist, Michael Pillsbury, Project 2025 contributor and Heritage Foundation senior adviser and Shyam Sankar, a Trump adviser who donated at least $260,000 to Republican causes this year alone. 

Hindu Nationalist Connections

According to the Chicago Tribune, scattered throughout the list of Krishnamoorthi’s top contributors are several individuals affiliated with groups representing the Hindu right’s presence in the U.S., such as the Hindu American Foundation, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America and Overseas Friends of BJP. The Tribune cited a 2025 report from the Center for Security, Race, and Rights at Rutgers University Law School describing such groups as belonging to “a transnational far-right political ideology grounded in Hindu supremacy,” closely aligned with Modi’s political movement.

The Tribune identified Dr. Bharat Barai, a physician in northwest Indiana and Modi friend, as an example. According to the Tribune, Barai has helped arrange large events with the prime minister, including a 2019 rally in Houston where Krishnamoorthi attended and Modi appeared onstage with Trump. The Tribune reported that Barai has given Krishnamoorthi’s campaign funds roughly $35,000 since the 2016 election cycle and has also contributed to GOP groups and funds aligned with Trump.

Nikhil Mandalaparthy, the advocacy director of Hindus for Human Rights, stated: “Krishnamoorthi is on the right side on domestic matters — Black Lives Matter, the environment, etc. — but when it comes to India, he’s cheerleading for the Modi government.”

In 2018, Barai was one of the organizers of the Second World Hindu Congress, held at a hotel in west suburban Lombard. 

According to the Tribune, State Sen. Ram Villivalam, a Chicago Democrat who was about to become the first Indian American elected to the Illinois General Assembly, was invited to speak but refused after learning it involved Hindu nationalist elements. The Tribune reported that Villivalam issued a statement denouncing “the participation of those extremist elements.”

According to the Organization for Minorities of India, in mid-October 2019, Krishnamoorthi keynoted a Chicago event hosted by the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh celebrating the founding of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Krishnamoorthi joined Shridhar Damle, HSS-Chicago sanghchalak (chief), on stage alongside a saffron flag, the symbol of the RSS. 

In a 2022 Chicago Sun-Times column, Nikhil Mandalaparthy, the advocacy director of Hindus for Human Rights, stated: “Krishnamoorthi is on the right side on domestic matters — Black Lives Matter, the environment, etc. — but when it comes to India, he’s cheerleading for the Modi government.” 

Krishnamoorthi’s Defense

According to the Tribune, in written responses to questions, Krishnamoorthi pushed back on such criticism, vowing to “be a U.S. senator for all the people of Illinois regardless of where my support originates.” He said having received campaign contributions from 90,000 donors over the past decade allows him to “be strong in the face of attacks from the MAGA Republicans” and avoid “being beholden to any one person or special interests.”

The Tribune reported that Krishnamoorthi said he has “received support from an extremely diverse group of people, which includes Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Christians, and others” and has “fought to defend the rights of all groups, whether Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Christians, non-believers, or anyone else.”

In response to questions about how supporters aligned with the Hindu right would influence his approach to U.S.-India relations as a senator, the Tribune reported that Krishnamoorthi said his own views “would be shaped by what is in the best interests of all Illinoisans” and that any implication he holds “‘dual loyalties’ … is, frankly, racist.”

Staff Treatment Allegations

The Tribune reported that former staffers described a nearly round-the-clock fundraising operation in which some workers burned out after only a few months. According to the Tribune, some former staffers said they would work 80 or 100 hours a week and were pushed to raise at least $10,000 a day or the congressman would lose his temper.

The Tribune reported one former staffer recalling a September 2019 weekend when Krishnamoorthi was racing to make a third fundraiser in northern Virginia. According to the Tribune, the staffer said: “So he says, ‘You gotta speed.’ If I hit below 80 (mph), he was getting mad.”

According to the Tribune, when stopped by a New Jersey state trooper, Krishnamoorthi said, “I’m a member of Congress. We’re trying to get to D.C.” The trooper told them to drive the rest of the way under the speed limit, the Tribune reported.

In his statement to the Tribune, Krishnamoorthi said he had no specific memory of the event, though he acknowledged speeding “once or twice” in the past. He said he didn’t recall the $10,000 daily fundraising goal, nor did he raise his voice or harshly criticize staffers, according to the Tribune.

Super PAC Spending

According to the Tribune, Illinois Future PAC, flush with at least $5 million from Gov. JB Pritzker and another $1 million from his cousin Jennifer Pritzker, has reported spending an estimated $11.8 million on ads attacking Krishnamoorthi and boosting Stratton.

The Tribune reported that Krishnamoorthi has been getting a late boost from three outside PACs: the pro-cryptocurrency group Fairshake, The Impact Fund (an affiliate of the nonprofit Indian American Impact), and Progressive Values Illinois, a group funded by Krishnamoorthi donors.

Fairshake has spent more than $7 million in ads in Illinois alone, including nearly $5.5 million against Stratton. 

This will be the first open Senate seat race in Illinois since 2010 and the first for this Class II seat since 1996, when Durbin was first elected. The Democratic nominee is expected to be strongly favored in the November general election in reliably blue Illinois.