Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate Bryan Maxwell talks representing downstate Illinois, advocating socialist policies on campaign trail

The race to succeed Dick Durbin as U.S. Senator for Illinois continues … and today, we bring you the latest in our series of conversations with candidates in the primaries.

There are 16 candidates in total including both Democrats and Republicans. Bryan Maxwell is one of the 10 people hoping to represent the Democratic Party in this fall’s election. He’s an environmental research scientist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign- making him one of the few candidates in the race not to be based in Chicago.

Maxwell was raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, and earned a doctorate in agricultural engineering from North Carolina State University. Postdoctoral work took him to Champaign-Urbana in 2020-where he’s resided ever since. Maxwell has been involved in political volunteer work -supporting progressives running for local office and anti-war causes. Now, he’s running as a first-time candidate in the Senate race.

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Bryan Maxwell
Candidate for U.S. Senate, Democratic Primary 2026