(lively music) - [Announcer] From the WTVP-PBS studios on the historic Peoria, Illinois RiverFront, it's the Democratic Primary Forum for the open US Senate seat for Illinois.

This Forum is produced in partnership with the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria and the League of Women Voters of Illinois.

- Good evening.

I'm Jenn Gordon, CEO at WTVP-PBS.

As a local public broadcasting station, we are committed to creating spaces for civic discourse that are independent, non-partisan and neutral from influence and agenda.

Tonight we bring you back-to-back primary candidate forums for the open US Senate seat for Illinois.

This Forum is being facilitated and timed by the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria and the League of Women Voters of Illinois.

The Leagues invited candidates to participate based on their fundraising amounts in Federal Election Commission campaign disclosures filed October 15th, 2025 for the period ending September 30th, 2025, as well as evidence of an active campaign as determined by their website.

Participating in the Democratic Primary Forum are the following candidates: Robin Kelly, Raja Krishnamoorthi, and Juliana Stratton.

The candidates have agreed to the following ground rules for this forum: candidates have drawn lots to determine the order in which they will give their opening statements and will then alternate the order of speaking.

The candidate who makes the first opening statement will move to the end of the line for the first question, and this will continue through the questioning and closing statements.

Candidates will be allowed two minutes for opening statements, one and a half minutes to answer each question, and two minutes for closing statements.

Candidates' statements and responses will be timed.

League members will keep time and display countdown cards visible to the candidates and moderators.

The moderators are responsible for enforcing the time limits and may interrupt the Forum to enforce the ground rules.

And now I'm pleased to present our moderators for tonight's Democratic Primary Forum for the open US seat for the Senate in Illinois.

WTVP's host of "At Issue" Mark Welp and the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria President Chris Kaergard.

- Thanks, Jenn.

As she mentioned, the candidates drew lots to determine the order of opening statements.

- Robin Kelly will go first, followed by Raja Krishnamoorthi, and finally, Juliana Stratton.

Ms.

Kelly, you have two minutes for your opening statement.

- Well, thank you so much.

Thank you to the League of Women Voters.

Thank you to the moderators and thank you to the viewing audience.

I am Robin Kelly.

I'm the daughter of a grocer and a postal worker.

I'm a mom and a very dedicated public servant.

I've been in Congress 13 years and I'm running for US Senate because I wanna make your life more affordable and I just wanna make your life better.

It ticks me off, frankly, that Donald Trump and his millionaire, billionaire friends are getting richer when everybody else is feeling squeezed and struggling.

And that's why I'm running on a platform of people over profits where millionaires, billionaires and corporations finally pay their fair share of taxes.

And with that money, we can build affordable housing, we can have healthcare for everyone, we can cap childcare costs so people aren't paying more for childcare than they are for rent and mortgage.

We can raise wages, we can invest in economic development and economic growth so we have economic opportunity.

I'm a person that is not afraid to show up, stand up or speak up.

I've done it many times.

I've done it with the NRA, I've done it with health insurance companies and I've done it with political bullies and I'm doing it now.

I've spoken up about Donald Trump and his Gestapo tactics and made his hit list.

I have filed impeachment papers against Kristi Noem and I'm proud to say I have about 190 Democratic co-sponsors on that bill.

This is a critical time.

We need someone with proven experience.

We need someone that's been accomplished and we need someone... I've passed meaningful legislation under Barack Obama, under Donald Trump, and under Joe Biden.

I know how to work across the aisle without giving up my values.

And I would love to work for you as your next US Senator.

Thank you.

- [Chris] Thank you.

Mr.

Krishnamoorthi.

- Thank you so much for having me.

The reason I'm running for the US Senate is because of my backstory.

As some of you know, I was born in India.

I came to this country when I was three months old to Buffalo, New York.

Things were going good and then suddenly they turned bad in the recession of the 1970s.

Unfortunately, my father lost his income, but he was able to get on his feet and get a great job in, of all places, Peoria, Illinois.

And so this is my hometown.

He taught at Bradley University for 40 years.

This is where we entered the middle class.

And every night at the dinner table, my father would say, "Think of the greatness of this country.

Think of the greatness of this country and whatever you do, make sure this country is there for the next families who need it."

So that became the north star of my personal compass.

So fast forward through college and law school, came back to Illinois, worked in the private and the public sectors, ran a small business and then got elected to Congress.

And now 10 years later, five terms later, I'm still pursuing that mission statement given to me by my parents: "Make sure this country is there for the next families who need it."

But that American dream that we were privileged to attain is disappearing for millions of people.

You can just look at my personal story to understand why.

That legal immigration system that enabled us to come here is being actively dismantled every single day.

The public housing and food stamps that enabled us to survive are on the chopping block now and the public schools, the Peoria Public Schools, shout out to District 150, that enabled us a gateway to the American dream are under assault as Donald Trump actually seeks to close the Department of Education.

So I say we have one central question in this election: what kind of a government do we want?

Do we want a government that's there for those fighting to make it or a government that primarily caters to those who have it made?

I believe we want a government that is nurturing the American dream for everyone, regardless of who you are.

And that is why I'm running for the United States Senate.

I thank you for your attention.

I look forward to your questions.

- [Chris] Thank you.

Ms.

Stratton.

- Well, thank you so much, first and foremost, to the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria and the League of Women Voters of Illinois.

And thank you to our moderators for facilitating today's conversation.

I am Juliana Stratton.

I'm so proud to serve as your lieutenant governor and I'm especially proud to be running to represent you in the United States Senate.

This story for me really started 10 years ago.

I was caring for my mother, Velma, as she lived her final years with Alzheimer's.

I was her primary caregiver, I was a mom, I was working full time.

I was a part of what so many of you know as the sandwich generation.

And at that time, my state representative was working to strip away healthcare from seniors like my mom.

And I don't shy away from a good fight.

So I stepped up to run against that state representative.

And I won because I knew that government should be a partner to the people, not a roadblock.

And here we are 10 years later, and it's not just healthcare that's on the line.

We see Donald Trump making attacks on the constitution, attacks on the rule of law, attacks on our communities and attacks on our rights and our democracy.

And if there's ever been a time that we need fighters in Washington, it's right now.

And I came here to tell you that I will be that fighter.

Look at what we've been able to accomplish here together.

Under the leadership of Governor JB Pritzker and my partnership with him, we have raised wages, we've created thousands of jobs, passed seven consecutive balanced budgets and passed commonsense gun safety legislation while also making sure we protected reproductive freedom.

That's the Illinois blueprint that I wanna take to Washington, D.C.

and I wanna take your voices with me.

I'm proud to be here today and I look forward to taking your questions.

- Thank you, all.

- All right, we have our first question and we start with Mr.

Krishnamoorthi.

President Trump's trade wars have had an impact on farmers in Illinois and around the country.

China stopped buying soybeans, which is traditionally Illinois's largest agricultural export.

Are tariffs doing more harm than good or should the federal government keep financially subsidizing farmers for their losses?

- No, these blanket tariffs are doing vast harm, especially to our farmers.

And our farmers want trade, not aid.

They don't want aid from the government.

They wanna be able to sell their exports abroad.

And what we see with President Trump is when you levy blanket tariffs on everything from everywhere, it raises prices on everything for everyone.

And that's what's happened.

And it's also hurt small businesses, it hurt farmers and it's hurt working families.

I visited a farm not far from here in Atlanta, Illinois, a soybean farm where basically they're getting hit in two ways.

They're seeing higher prices on their input costs, including fertilizer from, of all places, Canada.

And they're seeing counter tariffs applied on their exports of soy to China, meaning that it's hard for them to sell soybeans.

Now, we are the number one producing soybean state in the country.

So we are taking it disproportionately in the chin.

Now, today, thankfully, thanks to partnership between Congress and others, and I signed onto the amicus brief in this particular lawsuit, the Supreme Court struck down Donald Trump's blanket tariffs as an illegal violation of the IEEPA, the International Emergency Economic Act.

And this is exactly what should have happened.

The president does not have the power to levy blanket tariffs.

That is taxation.

That belongs to the people and the Congress.

And so we need to make sure that the people possess that power and possess it jealously.

- [Mark] All right, thank you.

Ms.

Stratton.

- Yes, well, I certainly was heartened to see that the Supreme Court, which typically rubber stamps Donald Trump's authoritarian agenda, decided to put an end to these tariffs, the president's tariffs, and the trade war that he has inflicted.

But we know that that's not the end of this because we see Republicans in Congress already talking about how they want to go back to these tariffs, knowing that these are really a tax on working families that have caused so many costs to go up at a time where everything is just too expensive for everyday Illinoisans.

I was glad to see it, but I think it's also a warning that we have to be vigilant and we have to make sure that we do not allow Congress to come back and try to reinstitute these tariffs.

Here in Illinois, we have made it a real point to try to build relationships with some of these countries because we've seen Donald Trump just sort of haphazardly put these tariffs forward.

And so Governor Pritzker and I took a delegation, for example, to Mexico with representatives from the soybean industry, from beef, from pork, from corn industries because we wanted to make sure that when this president is kind of taking these actions that we would do what we need to do to build the relationships and keep trade going at a statewide level.

That's the kind of leadership that's needed.

And I will always fight back against Donald Trump's efforts that have really made our country more and economy more unstable.

- [Mark] Thank you.

Ms.

Kelly.

- As I said, my district is urban, suburban and rural.

I have 4,500 farms in my district currently.

Every year I have barn hall meetings with my farmers and do ag tours.

And in the barn hall meetings, Democratic farmers come, Republican farmers come in and out of my district.

Tariffs have been very harmful, as you've already heard.

Soybeans, we're the number one producer.

China was our number one customer.

And in Trump 1.0, when he did what he did, China already started investing in Brazil.

So even though these tariffs have been pulled back, a lot of my farmers think they'll never get the product share back because China's invested so much in Brazil.

And also, the other thing is despite what they did today, there was still no talk about how we're gonna pay back companies and consumers that have suffered so much from these terrorists.

And I think we needed to go a little bit further.

And I just wanna give a shout out to the Illinois toy company Learning Services because they're the ones that started the lawsuit.

I believe in a free and fair market.

The farmers believe in that.

I'm on something called House Democracy Partners and I was on foreign affairs and I traveled to Cuba, South America, Mexico, other places.

The farmers want those markets open and, you know, we need to pursue that.

So not just in the United States but in other countries they have the ability to sell.

Then we have to bring back USAID, that's hurt the farmers.

And also what SNAP has become, that's hurt the farmers too because less people will have food vouchers to buy food.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

- All right, our next question, we're gonna start with Ms.

Stratton and we're gonna stay on the general subject of economics.

This month, a survey by Talker Research showed 9 in 10 Americans believe we're in a cost of living crisis.

So what actions would you take if elected to the Senate to help Americans struggling with affordability?

- Well, this is an issue that I hear every single day as I'm on the campaign trail talking to Illinoisans, affordability, because everything is just too expensive.

We have a president who said that on day one he was going to lower the price of groceries.

We have a president who said that on day one he was going to lower inflation.

And not only has he done the opposite, but everything has become worse.

One of the things that I believe is important if we're going to address affordability is raising wages.

And I'm proposing and will fight for a $25 minimum wage.

Right now the federal minimum wage is $7.25.

No one can take care of themselves or their families at $7.25 an hour.

And I'm proud that in Illinois we raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

It was the first big bill that Governor Pritzker and I got signed into law.

But I can tell you that even at $15 an hour, that's $31,200 a year.

It's why so many people continue to work two and three jobs.

It's why we see people who are working full time still getting SNAP benefits.

So we need people to not just have a minimum wage, we need them to have a livable wage, and that's what I will fight for.

That way they can have a little more money in their pockets, put food on the table, take care of their children, but also have some disposable income to be able to spend at some of our small businesses.

And I wanna do this in partnership with our business community, with their voices at the table so that we can make sure that this is done in a way that works for everyone.

- [Chris] Thank you.

Ms.

Kelly.

- Well, as I said, I'm running on a platform of people over profits where we need to raise taxes on millionaires, billionaires, and corporations.

And when we do that, then we'll have the money for affordable housing, healthcare for everyone, capping childcare costs, economic development and economic growth, and raising wages.

I think that if we can get all of that accomplished, plus clawing back on what he did in the Big Ugly Bill, giving over a trillion dollars worth of taxes to millionaires, billionaires, and corporations, all of that money can go into investing in our people and in the United States, and that will lower wages.

I feel like $17 an hour we can do.

I've met with over 50 small businesses and it scares them because the margins of their success, so what they net is so small, and some of them feel like they'll go outta business or they'll have to lay off people and not hire as many people to work in their shops.

And usually small business is the backbone of the United States.

I come from small business.

They hire the people in the neighborhood.

So that's why I'm looking at $17 an hour.

I'm a co-sponsor of Raise the Wage Act that Bernie Sanders has put forward.

And I think also that we need to look at how can we help small business, either with tax credits or something like that to make sure that they stay afloat 'cause again, they're the backbone.

And I think it's important, it's nice to put numbers together, but it's what is going to pass or people will still lose if it doesn't.

- [Chris] Great.

Thank you.

Mr.

Krishnamoorthi.

- Well, thank you.

Look, Donald Trump says he's presiding over an A+++ economy.

I think it's an F-- based on what my constituents and others say.

We talked about tariffs, that will help with lowering prices, but more has to be done.

So one of the things we have to do is we have to prevent and break up monopolies that exist in so many different industries, such as in the food industry.

I helped to lead the charge in preventing the merger of Kroger's and Albertsons, which would've hiked prices for all of us and hurt workers.

And in successfully leading that charge, we helped thousands of people.

And the United Food and Commercial Workers have endorsed me because of that and other activities.

Secondly, electricity bills are going through the roof and we know one of the reasons is because of the repeal of the tax credits in the IRA, the Inflation Reduction Act, especially for renewable sources of power.

And I have proposed that we restore those particular cuts.

Why?

Because when you take wind and energy offline at a time when demand is going up, that means higher electricity bills for all of us.

So we need to get that wind and solar back online.

As the co-founder of the Solar Caucus in Congress, that's a very big priority for me.

Third, housing affordability is at an all-time crisis, I've proposed a 10% refundable tax credit for the purchase of your first home.

And that helps, especially young people, defray the cost of buying a home.

It worked in the Obama years, we should bring it back right now at a time when people really need it.

- [Chris] Thank you.

- Ms.

Kelly, we're gonna start with you for this next question.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' 2025 Report Card for America's infrastructure is a C. Illinois got a C- with drinking water, stormwater, roads and transit getting the worst grades.

With the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure law ending this year, how would you like to see the money spent in a new bill?

- Well, we definitely need to bring back the Inflation Reduction Act, but we need to build upon that.

I will say when Democrats take over, we can't go back to business as usual.

We have to build on what we were able to pass under the Biden-Harris administration.

And the Inflation Reduction Act was the biggest investment in our environment: water, air, next-generation energy.

And we need to go back to that.

But again, build upon it and to get, you know, our levels up to not a C or a C-.

The other thing I think we need to do, you know, Trump just passed his executive order that made it worse around fossil fuels.

So when we get in, we need to do away with his executive order and close all of those loopholes.

The other thing I would suggest, that we need to join the Paris Accord again because it's about the United States, but we're all on this planet together.

So definitely, you know, investing in air, water, lead pipes.

I would say that Chicago has one of the biggest, the largest lead pipes I would say.

So this hurts, you know, our children, it hurts our families.

And also the other thing is I have a lot of small towns in my district, and so many of them are having water and sewer problems and it's wasting water actually.

So I've been helping them now trying to fix their water and sewer systems, and I would definitely continue that with all my work with the Army Corps of Engineers.

- [Mark] Thank you very much.

Mr.

Krishnamoorthi.

- Well, look, in Congress, I was the ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the US and the Chinese Communist Party, the longest name of any committee in Congress, so I feel very much at home on that committee.

One of the things we notice is that our competitors, especially places like China, are investing in infrastructure at a rate that makes us pale in comparison.

So we've gotta get our act together.

First, we have to make sure that all the remaining funds from the bipartisan infrastructure deal are actually spent.

Second, we have to continue to make sure that Illinois gets its fair share of these particular dollars.

We send more federal tax dollars to Washington, D.C.

than we get back in terms of money coming back to Illinois.

And so we need to make sure in Washington, D.C.

we get a higher proportion of those types of projects, especially to places like Central Illinois.

Third, I'm proud to announce that I helped secure $15 million in infrastructure investments in the latest round of what are called Congressional Project Funding Grants.

And this is for everything for upgrading stormwater systems, sewer systems, roads, and bridges.

And I would continue to do that throughout Illinois because our infrastructure should be our strength, it should never be a weakness.

And then last, I'm also proud to have secured a million dollars for lead service line replacement in Elgin, but we need to do that on a much broader basis.

So I've introduced legislation to make that possible as well.

- Thank you.

Ms.

Stratton.

- Well I'm very proud that Governor Pritzker and I got the largest investment in infrastructure passed in our state's history, the Rebuild Illinois Program, a $42 billion investment to improve our roads, our bridges, our railways, our waterways, schools, hospitals.

And we made those investments in every corner of the state.

And as we did so, we created thousands upon thousands of good paying union jobs.

And that's important because the infrastructure is certainly important as we think about making our state attractive to businesses and making sure communities have the resources they need, but it's also about job creation.

And I'm proud that we've created thousands of jobs in our state.

There's certainly more that we must do and I will be an advocate when I get to Washington, D.C.

to bring back resources to make sure that we can continue to partner with the state of Illinois in making those investments.

But you also asked about some of the work that we can do around clean energy.

And we have a president and an administration right now that does not believe in science, does not believe that climate change is real.

And I am going to be someone who will not confirm anyone that Donald Trump appoints to lead an agency or be a part of his cabinet that does not believe in science.

I think that at the very minimum, if we're gonna make sure that we address these environmental issues, like we've done here in Illinois, that we need people who understand that climate change is real and will work to protect our planet for future generations.

- [Mark] Thank you.

- All right, we move on to the next question, which goes first to Mr.

Krishnamoorthi The Congressional Budget Office is forecasting the US budget deficit to grow slightly in fiscal year 2026 to $1.853 trillion.

How can the US increase revenue or reduce spending to reduce this deficit and pay down the national debt?

- Well, I think that one of the reasons why the budget deficit increased is because of what President Trump calls his Big Beautiful Bill.

I call it the Large Lousy Law.

And the Large Lousy Law basically ended up allocating 50% of the benefits of that particular bill to the top 5% of income earners.

But how did it pay for it?

It paid for it by cutting healthcare for 13 million Americans, mainly through cuts to Medicaid, and by putting the rest on our nation's credit card, adding to our cumulative debt.

That is unacceptable.

And so how do we deal with this situation?

First, we undo the Large Lousy Law, which is I think going to be actually fiscally sound.

Second, we have to start cutting in certain areas.

So one good example is in Medicare Part D and the negotiation of prescription drugs.

I and Robin co-sponsored the legislation that became the law that helped to allow for the negotiation of a number of medications.

But we should be negotiating a lot more of those because if we do so, we'll see much more savings to the federal government in terms of reducing spending on Medicare Part D prescription drugs.

But we need to do more than that.

We need to fix our legal immigration system, which is messed up, which is turning away people from this country who would otherwise come here, be the innovators and entrepreneurs of the future.

We should also upgrade the skills of our indigenous workforce.

I'm the author of the law that modernizes our skills-based education system and we gotta work on that more.

- [Chris] All right, Ms.

Stratton?

- Well, as part of expanding access to opportunity to the middle class and also making sure that we make life more affordable for Illinoisans and all Americans, I certainly want to see us give a tax break to middle class Americans.

And I wanna pay for that with a tax increase to those that are making a million dollars or more.

That would bring in more revenue.

And certainly we want to close any tax loopholes and make sure that corporations are paying their fair share.

But we also have to look at how this president has reallocated what we are spending taxpayer dollars on.

And one of the reasons why I've called to abolish ICE is because look at the terror that they are inflicting on our communities.

And yet we are also seeing that this budget has been increased exponentially.

And I know that everyone that I talk to on the campaign trail has made it very clear that they do not want their taxpayer dollars going to the kind of terror that we are seeing where people are being snatched off the streets and stuffed into unmarked vehicles by masked agents, that that is not about public safety, it's not about immigration.

So we have to look at where this president has put resources that do not align with what the American people are looking for their government to do.

And I think that that's one of them.

And when we reduce the cost for things like what ICE is doing, then we can have some more money freed up to make sure we're taking care of the families of Illinois.

- [Chris] Thank you.

Ms.

Kelly.

- I agree, we need to reverse the Big Ugly Bill and all of that over trillion dollars that has cost us in tax credits.

Also, I go back to my plan, people over profits.

We need to tax millionaires, billionaires, and corporations at a fair share.

So many corporations don't even pay any taxes.

Also, we need to look at the $20 billion that Donald Trump gave to Argentina to bail them out.

That should never happen when people in this country are hungry, they don't have a roof over their head, paying more for childcare than they are for rent.

So we need to check that to not let any president, Democrat or Republican, spending money in that way.

I would also suggest that we look at what we spend on the military.

I support men and women, but if we look at the Department of War now or the Pentagon, we spend more on that one area, over a trillion dollars, than we do everything else added together.

And I know that there's weapons and things that we're still creating or making that we really don't use.

I've talked to military people about that.

And let's look there where we can cut out and where we're spending too much money, but I don't think we can cut our way out of it.

You know, a lot of times people say that.

I don't think we could do that, but there's certainly places that we're spending money that we shouldn't be.

Again, the $20 billion to bail out Argentina.

- Thank you.

The three of you have said that immigration and customs enforcement needs to be reformed or dismantled.

What major changes would you make to ICE if elected and why?

We'll start with you, Ms.

Stratton.

- Well, let me begin by just talking about what we've been seeing, including right here in the state of Illinois with Operation Midway Blitz.

Whereas I said previously people are being snatched off the streets.

They were being stuffed into unmarked vehicles, no due process, no warrant, and the terror that was inflicted.

I'm a mom of four and I have a little one whose school was on lockdown twice because of ICE activity.

And I had to talk to my 10-year-old about what it means to see a military presence or a force like ICE and Border Patrol, CBP, on the streets of the City of Chicago, and the fear that it instilled in children like my daughter.

What I want to see, and especially as right now, there is an opportunity for Democrats to hold the line and really put some guardrails in because everyone that I talk to wants to see ICE reined in.

And what does that look like to me?

Well, number one, I want to abolish ICE.

That means I would not give a vote to fund ICE at all.

We need to make sure that there's no immunity for these federal agents, that any agents that have broken the law should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent.

And we need ICE and Border Patrol out of our American cities.

They've invaded and occupied our cities.

And again, this is not about immigration, this is not about public safety.

This is Donald Trump wanting to normalize the presence of the military in American cities, especially Democratic-led cities.

- [Mark] Thank you very much, Ms.

Kelly.

- I think the Department of Homeland Security needs to be dismantled.

It's about ICE, but it's about Border Patrol, it's about how we handle asylums, how we handle citizenship.

The whole thing needs to be dismantled and we need to start all over again.

It doesn't mean we're gonna have a Department of Homeland Security.

We may decide enforcement and there's no member of Congress that says we don't need enforcement.

We know we need enforcement.

We know we need Border Patrol, but should it be under what it is now or should it be under the Department of Justice?

Because it's law enforcement, not this Department of Justice, but a revamped Department of Justice also.

I believe that it is about immigration also.

We need to make the Dreamers American.

This is the only country they know, the over 11 million undocumented that are working in this country, paying taxes, paying in the benefits, and they'll get nothing when they retire.

They're undocumented.

We need to find a quick pathway for them.

So yes, ICE needs to go, Border Patrol, the asylum agency, the citizenship agency.

We just need a fresh start with all of it.

And also, that's why I'm impeaching Kristi Noem.

I filed the impeachment papers because she has led this reign of terror under Donald Trump.

Thank you.

- Mr.

Krishnamoorthi.

- Well, I'm an immigrant, so this is very personal to me.

It's not just a professional issue.

And so I believe we have to abolish Trump's ICE.

This is a position that's shared by Governor JB Pritzker and others, and for good reason.

To me, we can't send a single dollar more.

And I voted against funding for DHS because of various problems.

I'll just tell you some.

One is Kristi Noem.

I actually joined Congresswoman Kelly's excellent impeachment resolution with regard to Kristi Noem.

She should be fired or impeached.

Next, take the masks off, put the body cameras on.

They must wear ID, no more warrantless arrests.

There must be third-party investigations of the use of force.

There cannot be roving gangs anymore of ICE or CBP agents stirring up trouble in cities in America.

One other piece of legislation I've introduced is to bar CBP or ICE agents anywhere near a polling place because I believe that Donald Trump may use DHS or elements to essentially intimidate voters in the upcoming elections, and we can't have that.

At the end of the day, this government must be accountable to its citizenry.

Right now ICE and CBP are acting with impunity.

They are acting out of control.

That is unacceptable and has to change right now.

- [Mark] Thank you.

- All right, our next question, we'll start with Ms.

Kelly.

Many federal policies related to diversity, equity, and inclusion have either been reversed, altered, or eliminated in the past year.

What should the government's approach to DEI be for its own employees and for entities receiving federal grants?

- Well, first of all, over 300,000 Black women have lost their job because of what he's done with diversity, equity, and inclusion.

And I feel like we need to reverse whatever we can reverse.

It's been proven that diversity, equity, and inclusion is good for business.

It's not bad for business.

Also, I have legislation, actually, I've been working with John Rogers, that if you get grant money, if you're a business or NTJ has a contract with the federal government, that part of your evaluation is to look and see not who you hire in your company, but who do you do business with?

Who are your accountants?

Who are your lawyers?

Who do you invest in?

Who do you give money to?

Not just your janitorial service, which is very important, but all of those other professional agencies also, or businesses also, those small businesses, so then they can hire other people.

But diversity, equity and inclusion is extremely important.

Again, it's been proven over and over and over that it helps business.

It helps the United States of America.

So I would do everything I can.

I started the caucus with some colleagues on Black women and girls.

So I see, we look at how much Black women in particular have suffered from what he's done.

- [Chris] Thank you.

Mr.

Krishnamoorthi.

- Look, I'm a racial, religious, ethnic minority, and I'm an immigrant with 29 letters in my name.

I believe in diversity.

Diversity is what makes America exceptional in my opinion.

And I believe that we need diversity not only because it's the right thing to do because it allows everyone to participate, whether it's in federal procurement or whether it's in hiring, but it's also the economically right thing to do.

I'm a former small businessman.

I like to say I signed the front of the check and the back of the check.

And I can tell you when you have more diverse choices, especially for contracting, that means you have more options, you have lower prices, and you have higher quality of services.

Why?

Because you have more competition.

When you have more choices for hiring, again, you get access to a broader labor pool and you get better quality applicants for any particular consideration or any position you are hiring for.

At the end of the day, I am reminded also of Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr.

who passed away recently, who often spoke about making sure that America is a place for everyone, whoever you are, whether you are an immigrant like me, whether you're poor, whether you're disenfranchised or as they like to say disinherited.

We need to be the country that is always inclusive, that makes sure that everyone has a shot.

And unfortunately right now, that is not the case and that has to change.

- [Chris] Ms.

Stratton.

- Well, when I hear this question about diversity and equity and inclusion, I think about the opportunities that are presented and how this president, who should be thinking about what's best for all Americans, is deciding who's worthy of opportunity and who is not.

And it is wrong.

This is a president who is not making these decisions based on merit.

It's a decision that he is making based on division.

And this president wants us to be in America where we blame each other, where we point the finger at each other, where we are pitted against one another.

And again, it is wrong.

I think about access to opportunity and how even my own dad, who I just lost at the end of last year, at the age of 92, my dad wanted to go to the United States Capitol for his senior trip and he couldn't go because there was no place for him to stay and no restaurant he could eat in because of the color of his skin.

So when we talk about diversity, it is about genuinely creating opportunities for those who have faced barriers for generations.

And here I am running for Senate because I wanna make sure that that opportunity exists.

Diversity's not a bad word in the state of Illinois.

In fact, we know diversity is our strength and I will never abandon that value when I get to the Senate.

- Thank you.

Mr.

Krishnamoorthi, this question will start with you.

We've recently seen revisions to the child vaccine schedule, states like Illinois adopting its own series of recommendations, and ongoing tension over other health and vaccination advice from the government.

What would you do in Congress to restore Americans' faith in federal health recommendations?

- Well, I can tell you, I would not have confirmed Bobby Kennedy Jr.

to be the Health and Human Services Secretary.

In fact, at his confirmation hearing, he said he would not substantially revise the vaccine schedule, especially for children.

And that is what apparently won the vote of Bill Cassidy, the chair of the committee confirming him.

He then proceeded to do just the opposite.

And that is wrong because now we're talking about people's lives and we're seeing the incidents of measles and mumps and other diseases, including polio, that we had long ago thought we conquered.

Remember, Peoria was very important in the conquering of some of these incredible diseases that vexed humanity.

And the reason why we need to avoid confirming people like him is because now people are gonna die.

That is what happens when someone doesn't believe in science and then they perform actions that go against what is in the best interests of the public.

So I think at this point we have to do the following.

We have to block appropriations to HHS.

That means blocking money to HHS unless they get their act together on the vaccine schedule.

I will not confirm any nominees who don't believe in science, who don't believe in the power of vaccines.

And then third, I think that we have to continue to shine a light on the harm that's being done and win in the courts of public opinion.

And then we have to pursue litigation in the courts as well.

- [Mark] Thank you.

Ms.

Stratton.

- Well, I'm very proud of what we've done here in Illinois because in the wake of Donald Trump's administration deciding that we were not going to follow clinically proven and researched schedules for vaccinations, here in Illinois, we took action, just like we always do, to stand up against this administration.

And we made sure that we had our own recommendations to let families know that there still is a schedule for vaccinations that we are going to follow through our Illinois Department of Public Health.

So I'm proud of that.

And I've said previously that I would not confirm anyone who does not believe in science that Donald Trump appoints.

And I will make sure that I'm always going to be a voice to call it out.

But it's not just vaccinations.

I think about the research that is being lost, the data that is being lost, research for diseases, such as Alzheimer's, which I said impacted my own family.

I lost my mother to Alzheimer's 10 years ago.

And how far we have come to find a cure.

And because of this president, many of the clinical trials are being stopped, not just for Alzheimer's, but for sickle cell, for cancer.

And you can't just come back years later and just snap your fingers and think you just pick back up where the research left off.

So this is critical and it's a matter of life or death.

And we need real fighters in Washington who understand why this is so important and who will not only fight to expand access to healthcare, as I will, which is why I am supporting Medicare for All, but also make sure that the public health and everything that we do to make sure that research continues is protected.

- [Mark] Thank you.

Ms.

Kelly.

- I had the unfortunate experience of having Secretary Kennedy come to my committee.

I'm on Energy and Commerce, the Health Subcommittee, and it was embarrassing, frankly.

He's another person that needs to be fired or quit or impeached.

But you only could do so many at one time.

And the things that we talked to him about, every answer was, "No, that's not true.

I don't believe it," even though we read it from his own website.

Healthcare for everyone is so important.

That's where you get preventative care.

In South Carolina, they've had the biggest outbreak of measles that they've ever seen or seen in a long time.

And most of the kids that have died, they have not been vaccinated.

And hopefully that will teach the other parents that there needs to be vaccinations.

We need to get the resources to the NIH, to CDC.

So many people there have lost their jobs.

I know someone that lost her job, and before she lost her job, they asked her was she MAGA and did she vote for Donald Trump?

But I guess somehow they figured out she didn't and she was fired.

But we have to get resources back.

NIH is so important.

CDC is so important.

Medicare for All is so important for preventative care and also getting education out to everybody of why it's so important to be vaccinated and do everything you can in a preventive way, so we're not dealing with what we're dealing with now.

But again, people will die and especially if the Big Ugly Bill goes into full effect.

- [Mark] Thank you.

- All right, Ms.

Stratton, this next question will begin with you.

It is also, candidates, our final question before closing statements.

If elected, whichever of you is nominated, if you are elected, you will be representing all Illinoisans in the Senate, Democrat, Republican, and Independent.

So please give all Illinoisans an instance of a successful bipartisan piece of work you have accomplished while you have been in the office you hold.

- Thank you.

Well, I'm proud that for the past seven years I've already represented all of Illinois and I've been proud to not just represent by sitting in my office, but traveling all of the state, every corner of the state, Central Illinois, Southern Illinois, and all the way up to Winnebago County and down to Pulaski County.

It's been the honor of my life to do so alongside Governor JB Pritzker.

And everything that we have done has been to uplift Illinoisans, and I've talked a lot about that today.

I think about, for example, the investments in infrastructure where we've invested in every single corner of our state, the historic investments that we've made in education, working to end preschool deserts, investing in K-12 education and making college more affordable.

Just this week the governor spoke about the fact that now 40% of our college students are going to college for free.

That's a big accomplishment.

That's not about any one town or any one geographical area of our state.

It impacts everyone.

But I wanna point out something that has been good for all Illinoisans.

And that is the fact that we inherited a state that had gone almost two years without a budget.

And we understand what chaos looks like and what you need to do, what kind of leadership you need to bring to put the state back on the proper fiscal footing.

We have now passed seven consecutive balanced budgets, and the governor just proposed his eighth.

We've earned 10 credit rating upgrades, paid down our bill backlog, and now we have a rainy day fund that's over $2 billion.

That's the kind of leadership that we need.

And we've demonstrated what can happen.

With the chaos coming out of Washington, we need people who are gonna understand what's best for Illinoisans.

And I will be that fighter.

- [Mark] Thank you.

Ms.

Kelly.

- In my district now, I always say, whether you voted for me or not, I represent you.

And I feel like my job is to lift all boats because we all do better when we all do better.

I neglected to say this earlier, but my first home in Illinois was Peoria, Illinois.

So I'm very sensitive to how people feel that not everything goes, you know, upstate.

And I'm proud to say I've been in Congress 13 years, but only in the majority four of those years.

Every bill I have passed has been bipartisan.

I was a part of a program where I picked a Republican whose district I wanted to go to, and then he came to my district.

I picked Ohio for some reason instead of Florida or California.

That would've been more fun, but I've passed bills, healthcare bills, I brought maternal mortality and morbidity to Congress, gun violence prevention bills, AI bills.

I worked with my fellow Republican, Will Hurd, who's not there anymore, tech bills I passed.

So I have the biggest Democratic district, but it is truly a microcosm of Illinois on the federal level.

And also, I've served statewide as the party chair and working for Alexi Giannoulias.

I was his chief of staff.

And we did things all over this whole state, up and down the state, satellite offices, you know, forums, workshops, and things like that.

So the whole state is very important to me, and that's one of the reasons that I'm running for US Senate.

Thank you.

- [Mark] Thank you.

Mr.

Krishnamoorthi.

- Well, I'm a son of Peoria.

I got my first job here at Peoria Journal Star delivering papers, my second job working at the McDonald's at University and War Memorial.

And this place shaped my values and allowed us to enter the middle class.

And so I think a lot about Peoria and I visit here often where many of my friends reside.

Some of the bipartisan piece of legislation that ended up helping all of Illinois and the country include the following.

I authored the law that modernizes our nation's skills-based education system for the 62% of Americans without a four-year college degree.

And that particular law has been wildly successful in helping 13 million Americans get a higher-quality skills-based education.

But it's been terribly underfunded and it's very important that it doesn't matter whether you go to college or you don't go to college, you need to have a ladder into the middle class.

And we need to upskill people to make sure that they have access to the greatest social welfare program known to human beings, and that's a J-O-B.

If they don't have access to a job and a career, then their post-secondary education is not good.

And so that is an issue that I've worked on successfully and I'll continue to for the entire country, and, of course, all of Illinois.

I also helped lead the charge against big tobacco and the vaping epidemic that they fueled.

I held the first hearings investigating Juul, and because of my work, we have the first bipartisan regulations of vaping in the country.

In addition, I went after others and I'll continue to stand up to bullies wherever they are.

- Thank you.

Well, that is our time for questions.

It's time for closing statements.

Wanna remind you, you each have two minutes and we will start with Ms.

Kelly.

- Oh, I thought it was the other way around.

Okay.

(Robin chuckling) Well, thank you to the League of Women Voters.

Thank you to the moderators and thank you to the audience.

I am Robin Kelly, and I'm working so very hard to be your next US senator.

I know that people, no matter where you live, since I represent urban, suburban, and rural, that people are worried, they're scared, they're angry.

Donald Trump has spent more time pitting neighbor against neighbor instead of truly running this country in a democratic way.

And he has not held millionaires, billionaires, or corporations accountable.

I promise you, when I'm in the US Senate, I will work on affordability and accountability every single day.

And it bothers me, makes me angry that these same millionaires and billionaires that are not paying their fair share of taxes are also trying to buy this election.

And that should make you angry too.

And I'll just leave you with, if you want a workhorse, not a show horse, you want me?

If you want someone transformative, not transactional, you want me.

If you want someone unbossed and unbought, then you want me.

So I have hope I've earned your vote.

Please go to robinforsenate.com and I hope you join the team.

And it's great to be back in Peoria.

I'm going to get my gondola before I leave.

Thank you.

(audience chuckling) - [Mark] Thank you.

Mr.

Krishnamoorthi.

- Thank you very much to all of you for your attention and to the moderators and to WTVP and the League of Women Voters.

I'm running for the US Senate to preserve, protect, and defend the American dream, which I believe is under mortal attack by Donald Trump.

And as I mentioned before, that American dream that my family was privileged to attain has disappeared for millions of people.

And so I say the question before us is do we roll over or do we fight?

I say we fight.

We have to fight in the courts where we are pursuing litigation, we have to fight in the court of public opinion and get public sentiment increasingly on our side.

We have to make sure that in Congress, we perform our oversight duties to make sure that the administration is accountable to the people.

And, of course, we have to do everything in our power in the US Senate to make sure that Donald Trump is not allowed to continue with the damage that he is doing to our institutions and indeed to our democracy.

And that American dream must be available to everyone, regardless of the color of your skin, regardless of how you pray, regardless of whom you love.

And regardless of the number of letters in your name.

There're 29 in mine.

And so I believe very strongly that we are at an inflection point in our democracy and in our country, and we have to band together to stand up, speak up, and show up for our country because it's worth fighting for.

That is the country that my parents brought me to.

That is the country that I will always fight for.

Thank you so much for listening to me.

Thank you for your consideration.

I hope to earn your support.

God bless.

- [Mark] Thank you.

And finally, Ms.

Stratton.

- Thank you.

Well, first of all, thank you to the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria, and thank you to the League of Women Voters of Illinois.

To our moderators, thank you for facilitating today's conversation.

And thank you to the voters and viewers who are tuning in for being civically engaged and hearing more about why I believe I'm the best person to represent your interest and take your voices with me to Washington, D.C.

You know, there's something that I've heard on this campaign trail that makes me so proud.

The number of people who walk up to me and say, "I'm so glad that I live in Illinois, especially with what we see happening in Washington, D.C."

And I really believe at the root of that is the fact that we don't approach our issues here in Illinois by saying what's not possible.

We come to the table dreaming of what is possible.

How can we make life better, more affordable, safer for all Illinoisans?

And I believe that's the kind of leadership we need in Washington, D.C.

right now.

Not the status quo, not the go along to get along, not the approach that says, "Well, it might be too hard, so we should kind of temper our expectations."

But someone who's not just gonna know what we're fighting against, and there's a lot to fight against right now, but what we are fighting for.

Look what we've gotten done here.

We've raised wages.

We've put Illinois on a path to a clean energy future, created thousands of good paying union jobs.

We've invested in education and made Illinois an island for reproductive freedom in the Midwest.

That's the Illinois blueprint that I want to take to Washington, D.C.

My campaign is about giving the people what they want.

What do people want?

I'm hearing it every day.

They want higher wages.

They wanna make sure that we get corporate PAC money out of politics, and they wanna make sure that they have access to a doctor when they need one.

Well, that's what I'm gonna fight for.

And I humbly ask for your vote.

Election day is March 17th, and I look forward to representing you in the United States Senate.

- Thank you very much.

Thank you to all of our candidates.

We are out of time.

We wanna remind all the voters out there that the primary election is Tuesday, March 17th.

- And the general election is Tuesday, November 3rd.

Jenn.

- Thank you, Chris.

Thank you, Mark.

We want to recognize our presenting partners, the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria and the League of Women Voters of Illinois for making this program possible, as well as each candidate who participated in the Forum.

Thank you.

And a special thank you to our viewers and listeners.

If you missed part of the Democratic or Republican forums, you can stream them on demand through the PBS app or online at video.wtvp.org.

For WTVP-PBS, I'm Jenn Gordon.

Goodnight.

(lively music) (audience applauding) (lively music continues)