Illinois Dem party hopes to pick up seats across the state
(The Center Square) – A top Democratic Party official in the state says the party is aiming to maintain its wide share of elected officials across the state, pick up even more seats in the legislature, and engage more voters during this election cycle.
Ben Hardin, the executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois, spoke with The Center Square, detailing the party’s strategy as the midterm election quickly approaches.
“Our goal this cycle, I’d say, is probably two-fold, broadly. And one of those goals of course is to elect and protect as many Democrat candidates as we can. And then the other is to start to sort of work to do a more positive trajectory,” Hardin said.
He detailed that the central state party aims to support candidates up and down both the ballot broadly, not just putting extra dollars behind key candidates.
“The vehicle that we’ve created here to dual track both of those goals is Organize Illinois 2026. It’s the party’s coordinated campaign,” Hardin said. “We’ve done that from the ground up with direction from county chairs, township committeemen, from our state central committee, and then from the candidates on the ground themselves and the organizations that support them.”
Among the key races at the state government level Hardin listed is in the 26th Senate district, with incumbent Sen. Darby Hills, R-Lake Zurich, who was appointed to the seat in February 2025 facing a challenger in state Rep. Nabeela Syed, D-Palatine.
With neither of the two candidates having run for the seat previously – and the previous 2022 election resulting in a difference of only 385 votes in favor of the Republican – the outcome of the race is still up in the air.
Syed, who aligns with the further left wing of the Illinois House Dems, told The Center Square she’s not sure which way her race will go, but she’s making efforts to meet voters where they are.
“I think what I’ve even seen in my previous race is when there was a red wave, we actually doubled our margin in my last House election. So, we went from winning by six points the first time I ran to winning by 12 points. So all that to say is there’s no way of telling even despite national trends,” Syed said.
The Senate hopeful said she wants to reschedule a candidate forum with Hills – who dropped out of their previously scheduled event despite previously confirming months before.
“Our team has not heard from them. So, all that’s to say we’re willing to be transparent and honest and, you know, my website has where I stand on a number of issues and I hope to earn voter support,” Syed said.
While Hills hasn’t responded to Syed’s request to reschedule, she has shared videos to her campaign’s Facebook page criticizing Syed’s platform in recent days – pointing out multiple votes by the representative which she said raises the cost of living for her constituents.
“She voted for the largest budget in state history. She voted for higher taxes on your phone bill. She voted for an energy bill that adds new charges to your electric bill,” Hills said. “She voted to raise her own legislative pay by more than $4,500. Families here already pay some of the highest property taxes in the country. We pay more and she gives herself a raise with our money? That’s just wrong.”
Aside from the suburban Senate race, Hardin said there are races all over the state they see as potential pickups given the generally negative opinion of the Republican party nationally.
“I think with the the damage the Republican Party has done, both to itself, but also to our state, I think we have a ton of disaffected voters in both [the 114th and 104th districts], and hopefully 118 – and I’m keeping my fingers crossed there – who are looking for a change, who are looking for a party that better represents their interests, bringing down costs,” Hardin said.
Hardin also addressed a dispute between the central party and the Illinois House Democratic Caucus, noting a recent disagreement in the level of funding candidates should give the party in exchange for services provided hasn’t soured the relationship.
“Absolutely nothing is stopping either party from doing the best we can do to elect and protect caucus members. Like I said, we feel really good about the ability to be helpful here and flipping some seats,” Hardin said.
Illinois Republican Party Chair Bob Grogan recently shared details of his party’s similarly coordinated efforts with The Center Square, as did Mark Cavers, the political director for the House Republican Organization – noting they’re attempting to have candidates ground their statehouse races on local, everyday issues they can address if elected or reelected.
With early voting underway, Hardin said the party would begin ramping up efforts to gain voters across the state through many mediums, including a widespread door-knocking campaign, through the remainder of the election.
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