Television and radio spots dominate the airwaves with negative messages. Political mailers flood mailboxes and campaign signs adorn lawns and fences.

It’s the final week of a bitter campaign season, with candidates in major races getting louder in their messages as voters prepare to head to the polls for the Democratic Primary on Tuesday, March 17.

The race drawing the most attention in Illinois is the campaign to replace U.S. Senator Dick Durbin. The race is fueling concerns that Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi will win the Democratic Primary with the help of a split Black vote between candidates Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton and Congresswoman Robin Kelly.

With data showing Krishnamoorthi leading in opinion polls, Stratton and Kelly are locked in a battle to win the Black vote in a race where they also need support from voters from other ethnic groups.

There are 10 candidates in the Senate race, but Krishnamoorthi, Stratton and Kelly are viewed as the top three contenders. In the past several weeks they have squared off in locally televised debates. While Krishnamoorthi and Kelly used their experience to tout their qualifications, Stratton brought fire and energy to argue that the political establishment in Washington is out of touch and needs new leadership.

But Stratton and Kelly’s chances of being elected to the job are tight. With $19 million in campaign donations, Krishnamoorthi leads in fundraising and in polls showing that voters downstate and in suburbs outside Chicago are likely to support him.

All three candidates have political endorsements; none has the support of Durbin, who did not endorse anyone.

That leaves Stratton and Kelly battling to capture Chicago’s Black electorate on the South and West Sides, which together have more than half a million voters. Both candidates need to win the majority of the Black electorate just to keep their political hopes alive against Krishnamoorthi.

That may be difficult for Stratton and Kelly, two Black candidates whose names are already familiar to many Black voters.

With Stratton’s statewide profile as lieutenant governor, she has been endorsed by Governor J.B. Pritzker, who gave her a $5 million campaign donation last month.

Kelly has experience as a congresswoman, serving 13 years in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As they step up their campaigns among Chicago’s Black electorate, the two candidates may split the Black vote, potentially helping Krishnamoorthi win the Democratic nomination.

Stratton is going against history. A largely ceremonial role, lieutenant governors in recent memory have struggled to get elected to higher political positions. And while Kelly has experience and name recognition among her constituents in Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District, voters downstate and in Chicago’s outlying suburbs may not know her name or experience well enough to support her at the polls.

No Black candidate in Illinois has occupied a U.S. Senate seat since Roland Burris, who was appointed after his predecessor Barack Obama was elected president.

But this year’s Democratic Primary has renewed talk of the rise of Black women in politics. Today, there are a record 29 Black women serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and in state legislatures, more than at any other period in American history.

Since the historic election of Chicago’s Carol Moseley Braun to the U.S. Senate in 1992, only one Black woman, Kamala Harris of California, has achieved the same feat.

Last week, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett of Texas lost the Democratic Primary in the Lone Star State to James Talarico, a white evangelical Christian who won with support from Latino voters. After a heated, racially charged Texas Democratic Primary, Talarico won 53 percent of the vote while Crockett grabbed 47 percent.

In Illinois, the hot U.S. Senate race began last May when Durbin announced he would not seek a sixth term for a seat he held for 30 years.

Governor Pritzker and Christian Mitchell, his running mate for lieutenant governor, are running unopposed and will face their Republican challengers in November.

Another important race in the Democratic Primary is for Cook County Board President. Incumbent Toni Preckwinkle is running for a fifth term after serving in the seat for 16 years. Her opponent is 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly, who has attacked Preckwinkle’s past record of taxing residents. Reilly has also criticized the Cook County Assessor’s Office and its contractor Tyler Technologies, which is accused of wasting $40 million on a database system that has been criticized by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi is being challenged by Lyons Township Assessor Patrick Hynes.

Jesse Jackson Jr., who laid his father to rest last weekend, is seeking to regain the 2nd Congressional seat that Kelly gave up to run for the U.S. Senate. His campaign has been low-key, while Donna Miller, his main opponent, has run a campaign full of television ads and political mailers.

Last month, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky withdrew her endorsement of Miller after learning she had taken campaign donations from AIPAC — a super PAC and powerful pro-Israel organization that has also given donations to Trump supporters, as some Democrats and activists remain unhappy with Israel’s tactics in the war in Gaza.

Voters on Tuesday will also decide the race to replace Congressman Danny K. Davis, who is retiring after serving the 7th Congressional District for 30 years. He has endorsed La Shawn Ford, who faces stiff competition from Richard Boykin, City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin and Kina Collins, who is running for the fourth time. Conyears-Ervin has also been criticized for accepting $2.8 million in campaign donations from AIPAC through its super PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP).

Voters will also decide races in the Illinois Legislature and in judicial contests.