Every single Democratic candidate aligned with the Squad lost their Illinois House primary race Tuesday evening. Six races, six defeats. Not a close call. Not a split decision. A shutout.

The rout spanned multiple congressional districts and sent a clear signal: even Democratic primary voters in deep-blue Illinois want nothing to do with the furthest-left flank of their party. AIPAC, which targeted all six candidates, took a victory lap on X:

Democratic voters rejected their extreme anti-Israel candidates, instead choosing mainstream candidates. AIPAC is proud to help defeat six would-be Squad members tonight!

The pro-Israel lobby also noted the radioactive endorsement trail that followed every losing candidate:

Being endorsed by @BernieSanders, @RoKhanna, @justicedems and @sunrisemvmt was a kiss of death in Illinois.

Kiss of death is right.

The Marquee Race: Abughazaleh vs. Biss in the 9th District

The highest-profile contest pitted Palestinian-American influencer Kat Abughazaleh against Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss in the 9th Congressional District, the New York Post reported. Abughazaleh carried endorsements from Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, two of the Squad's most prominent members. It wasn't enough.

Biss won despite holding many of the same positions as Abughazaleh, including wanting to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement and endorsing a single-payer health care system. He drew backing from Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairman Greg Casar, former CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren. So the winner is hardly a moderate. But the distinction voters drew is instructive: even within the progressive lane, there's a ceiling for Squad-style politics.

Abughazaleh brought baggage that apparently mattered to voters. She was arrested and charged last year for trying to impede ICE during a September 2025 protest in Broadview, Ill. Running on a record of physically obstructing federal immigration enforcement turns out to be a harder sell than posting about it online.

Skokie school board member Bushra Amiwala also ran in the crowded 9th District field against Biss, Abughazaleh, and 12 other Democratic candidates. State Sen. Laura Fine, who was backed by AIPAC, finished third behind Biss and Abughazaleh.

Across the Board

The losses piled up in district after district:

• 7th District: Activist Kina Collins, targeted by AIPAC, lost.
• 8th District: Tech businessman Junaid Ahmed, backed by Warren, Bernie Sanders, and the CPC, fell to AIPAC-backed former Rep. Melissa Bean by 5.1 percentage points. Village of Hanover Park Trustee Yasmeen Bankole, also targeted by AIPAC, lost in the same district.
• 2nd District: Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, also supported by AIPAC, edged out former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Lefty state Sen. Robert Peters came in a distant third.

The pattern is unmistakable. Candidates who wore the Squad brand, carried endorsements from Justice Democrats and the Sunrise Movement, and ran on the furthest-left platform available got rejected by the voters they claimed to represent.

Former Jill Biden spokesman Michael LaRosa, a critic of the far left, summed up the evening on X:

The common sense wing of the Democratic Party looking pretty good tonight.

The Senate Primary Tells a Different Story

Before anyone declares the Democratic Party's leftward drift reversed, there's the small matter of the Illinois Senate primary. Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton prevailed over the comparatively moderate Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi. Stratton has pushed to abolish ICE and vowed to challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's leadership status. She was backed by Gov. JB Pritzker, who has attracted chatter about a potential 2028 presidential run.

So the same Illinois Democratic electorate that rejected six Squad-aligned House candidates elevated a Senate candidate who wants to abolish ICE and challenge her own party's Senate leader from the left. The contradiction tells you something about the state of Democratic politics: voters don't want the Squad brand, but they'll buy the same policies if they come in different packaging.

That's not moderation. That's marketing.

What It Means for November

Conservatives watching this primary should resist the temptation to celebrate. Yes, the Squad took a beating. Yes, AIPAC proved it can play kingmaker in Democratic primaries. But the candidates who won are not allies. Daniel Biss wants to abolish ICE. Juliana Stratton wants to abolish ICE. The "mainstream" Democrats who triumphed Tuesday evening are progressive by any national standard.

What Illinois demonstrated is that the Democratic Party's civil war isn't really ideological. It's tribal. Squad endorsements have become toxic not because Democratic voters suddenly discovered the merits of border enforcement or fiscal restraint, but because the Squad itself has become synonymous with performative disruption. Tlaib is shouting during the State of the Union. Omar is heckling the president. Abughazaleh is getting arrested at an ICE protest. Democratic voters saw the circus and chose candidates who at least project seriousness.

The policies remain the same. The tone changed. And for a party trying to claw its way back to relevance heading into the November midterms, tone may be all they have left to adjust.

Six races. Six losses. The Squad's endorsement machine produced nothing but defeat in a state that should have been its friendliest terrain. Illinois didn't move to the center Tuesday night. It just got tired of the noise.