Illinois Dem party hopes to pick up seats across the state
[October 07, 2026]
By Sean Reed | The Center Square
(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.
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Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul speaks during a reelection
campaign event for Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other statewide
Democratic candidates at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield,
Aug. 19, 2026. Photo: Sean Reed / The Center Square
“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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