Illinois Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi’s Senate campaign was caught in a blunder recently, after emails went out to donors that claimed he was endorsed by California Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu, despite the lawmaker never publicly endorsing a candidate.

Krishnamoorthi is running in the state's March 17, 2026, primary to replace retiring Democratic Senator Dick Durbin. As of last month, there were already 22 candidates vying for the open seat, including 14 Democrats and eight Republicans.

A staffer for Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth notified Rep. Lieu's office of the alleged endorsement last week, questioning why he appeared to weigh in on the race without contacting her. 

The congressman's office said he was not aware of the endorsement, and did not authorize any emails to be distributed this election cycle, even though the emails went out with what appeared to be his signature, according to NBC News. 

“Congressman Lieu had no prior knowledge of these emails and has not endorsed anyone in the Illinois Senate primary,” Marc Cevasco, Lieu’s chief of staff, said. “We’re still gathering information to figure out what happened here. But obviously elected officials should be aware if emails are sent using their name.”

Krishnamoorthi's campaign sent the emails touting the lawmaker's endorsement for months, the outlet reported, and the campaign said it got confused with a previous email that had been approved, though it's not clear what year the original was from.

"A previous version of this email was approved, and there was a miscommunication internally," Krishnamoorthi's campaign said. "We have rectified this with Rep. Lieu's team, and the email copy is no longer being sent."

Krishnamoorthi is facing Rep. Robin Kelly and Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in the Democratic primary to replace Durbin. Duckworth has endorsed Stratton.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.