Dear Sandeep,
Exactly one year from yesterday, Illinois voters will head to the polls to elect Illinois' next U.S. Senator in the 2026 general election. For Raja, it's a reminder of how far his campaign has come — and how much energy is still ahead. Since launching his campaign to lower costs and restore the American Dream just over six months ago, Raja has crisscrossed the state – from Rockford to Carbondale – listening to communities large and small, pledging to bring their voices with him to Washington.
Fittingly, just one week ago on Monday, Raja traveled to Springfield, where he was among the first candidates to officially get on the 2026 primary election ballot by submitting over 17,000 signatures. "I just want to point out that this is from my parents' petition collection," Raja pointed out to reporters outside the State of Illinois Board of Elections. "Thanks to my parents and to everyone who collected for me, you guys are the best. I spent a career in Congress standing up to bullies and bad actors…. today we have 17,000 petition signatures, we're going to be filing for the U.S. Senate. Onward and upward, and off to March."
On Tuesday, Raja held a press conference at the Itasca Fire Department to highlight how his office has continued to deliver critical constituent services to Illinois families even amid the ongoing federal government shutdown. Joined by local leaders and constituents his office has helped, Raja celebrated the milestone of more than 14,000 cases closed, over $70 million recovered for constituents, and 20,000 Illinoisans assisted—including 115 cases resolved since the shutdown began. "Even during a shutdown, our office never stops working for the people of Illinois," said Raja. "Every case we take on—whether it's helping a veteran access benefits, resolving a Social Security delay, or securing funding for local fire departments—reflects our team's commitment to delivering results for the families and communities we serve. I'm proud that my office has closed more than 14,000 cases, recovered over $70 million for constituents, and continues to be there for anyone who needs help navigating federal services. Even at a time of great gridlock and dysfunction, our team — the hardest working people you'll find in Congress — will always fight to deliver for our constituents, because that's what the people of Illinois's Eighth Congressional District deserve."
On Wednesday, Raja joined host Joe Mathieu on Bloomberg's Balance of Power to discuss President Trump's meeting with Xi Jinping, how the United States can win the AI war, and the government shutdown crisis. When asked if November 1st – the date when SNAP benefits will begin to expire and Open Enrollment begins – will be the day that brings this shutdown to a close, Raja responded, "Well, Mike Johnson can just call us to back in-session today, but I think the reason he doesn't is because of two things. One, the president doesn't want to call us back into session because shutting down the government also shuts down the Epstein Files inquiry. As you know, if we get called into session Adelita Grijalva from Arizona gets sworn in, and she's the 218th vote to force the legislation to come to the floor to make the president disclose the Epstein Files. That's point #1 – point #2 is that the president and his party control all branches of government," Raja continued. "That's why public sentiment has really turned against Republicans on the shutdown; they want the president to come to the table – don't spend time building a golden ballroom – come to the table, and we can solve the shutdown in ten minutes flat."
Later that day, Raja joined The Bulwark's Sam Stein on his podcast Bulwark+ Takes to discuss how President Trump has prioritized building a new ballroom in the White House over ending the government shutdown. When asked by Sam what he has been doing with his time during the government shutdown, Raja responded, "Yesterday, we just actually held a press conference talking about how our office is open. Unfortunately, people aren't getting paid around here either, but our office is open for business and we just want to be there for people however we can. And we just announced that we've closed 14,000 cases now and just 120 in the shutdown alone. And people have real needs, and so we want to help them however we can. I've been traveling a lot to kind of shine a light on some of the harm that's being done by the tariffs, by ICE. We're about to see people on a food stamp cliff, a SNAP cliff, if you will. I'm a product of food stamps and public housing myself, so this is personal to me.Basically, trying to do whatever I can to help people."
On Friday, Raja joined anchor Matt Chorley on the BBC's Newsnight to discuss the critical need for transparency and accountability during the ongoing investigations into Jeffrey Epstein's network of sexual abuse and trafficking. When asked how confident he was that the Oversight Committee can get to the truth, given the partisan nature of the Epstein Case, Raja responded, "Well what's very interesting is that a lot of Republicans have stepped up and worked with Democrats on a bipartisan basis to subpoena the Epstein Files in the first place, but also to interview and bring other witnesses in front of our committee. I intend to work with anyone who's willing – from Majorie Taylor Greene to Mr. Massie and others – to work with Mr. Comer and Ranking Member Garcia to do whatever it takes to get to the truth."
We will continue to bring you news about Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi's efforts to stand up to Trump and fight for Illinois.
Please visit rajaforil.com for more updates as well.
-Kian, Team Raja
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