Although the 2026 U.S. midterm election is more than a year away, candidates are already launching websites and declaring their intentions to run.

Two Democratic candidates, Dylan Blaha and Emily Lux, have entered the race to challenge Rep. Nikki Budzinski in the Democratic primary for Illinois’ 13th congressional district, which spreads across much of central and southern Illinois, including Champaign County and Springfield, Illinois’ capital.

The Daily Illini spoke with Blaha and Lux about their platforms. Here’s an introduction — get ready to meet your Democratic challengers.

Dylan Blaha

Dylan Blaha, a 32-year-old decorated U.S. Army veteran and research scientist, is a progressive seeking to unseat incumbent Nikki Budzinski. As he says on his website: “our Democratic leaders care more about their wallets than their constituents.”

Blaha served over 12 years in the Illinois Army National Guard, including active duty deployments to Afghanistan and Germany. In 2022, he worked with NATO on war plans in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I’m not a politician,” Blaha said. “I’m a 12-year U.S. Army veteran and scientist … I’ve always just wanted to help as many people as I can, and that’s what drew me into politics.”

Blaha earned a bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology and a master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Illinois, where he later conducted research.

Emily Lux 

Emily Lux, a remote adjunct professor of social work at Tulane University, earned all three of her degrees from the University of Illinois.

“I got my bachelor’s degree here, and then I worked in a lot of community service agencies,” Lux said. “Then I went for my MSW (Master of Social Work) and then, after that, I went straight into the PhD program for social work.”

Lux says when she was a child, her family relied on social services — giving her a “perspective that’s very genuine to the campaign.” Lux said she decided to run for Congress two weeks after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, frustrated by what she viewed as an inadequate response from Democrats to his executive orders.

“No one was doing anything — Congress wasn’t doing anything,” Lux said.

Disagreements with Budzinski

Blaha and Lux both disapproved of Budzinski’s comments in a town hall where she was asked the question, “‘President Trump said … ‘There are two genders, two sexes, male or female.’ Do you agree, yes or no?”

Budzinski responded, “I think that yes, there are male and female genders.”

Budzinski’s Communications Director Josie Lionetti clarified this response in an email statement to The Lavender Newsletter. 

“The Congresswoman’s response on the town hall was that male and female are genders,” Lionetti wrote. “She understands that while the vast majority of people identity [sic] as male or female, for some people their experience is different. She believes every American deserves to be respected and protected.”

Blaha also mentioned his disapproval of Budzinski’s support for a version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which the American Civil Liberties Union says removed “gender-affirming care for transgender youth whose parents are service members.” 

Both Blaha and Lux criticized Budzinski for her “yes” vote on House Resolution 488, titled ‘Denouncing the antisemitic terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado.’ The resolution condemned the attack that injured eight at an assembly raising awareness for Israeli hostages, but controversially included a clause that “expresses gratitude to law enforcement officers, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel.” 

In an email statement to The DI, Budzinski wrote, “Out of the many clauses of this non-binding resolution, Republicans inserted language about ICE to divide Democrats on this issue … my support for this resolution was rooted in the need to stand against antisemitic violence, not an endorsement of the unconstitutional raids we are seeing across the country.”

Israel-Palestine conflict

Both Blaha and Lux disagree with Budzinski’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Blaha labeled it a genocide, condemned the conflation of antisemitism and anti-Zionism and expressed disapproval of Budzinski’s funding source.

“I was definitely disappointed to learn that, looking at Rep. Budzinski’s donations on OpenSecrets, there’s donations from organizations like AIPAC and JStreetPAC,” Blaha said. “And so, while I don’t know her true thought process, that does lead me to believe that some of her votes were based on those rather than the interests of our constituents.”

According to OpenSecrets, over her career, Budzinski has received over $100,000 from individuals or PACs associated with JStreet, and over $40,000 from individuals and PACs associated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

In a 2024 interview with The DI, Budzinski said she voted to send Israel aid to “help them ensure that they can defend themselves in cases of attack, like what had happened on Oct. 7.” She also maintained that she would like to see the U.S. work towards a “de-escalation in the region, and a mutually agreed upon ceasefire.”

Lux disagreed with this vote and said, “Nikki Budzinski, I’m sure she’s lovely — we disagree on a couple of things … she voted to give money to Israel.”

Lux says she doesn’t view the conflict as a war but as a humanitarian crisis in Palestine.

“I know some people think Israel is a bully, some people think Israel has a right to protect itself,” Lux said. “And I’m not so much about that. What I see as a social worker is a humanitarian crisis in Palestine … if I were to get into office, I would do everything I could to continue and sustain aid to Palestine.”

As of a June 18 update, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs reported that Gaza is facing “a growing likelihood of famine,” 680,000 “newly displaced” people since March 18 and a death toll of 55,637 since Oct. 7. The death toll figure cited was according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

Blaha said he views Irael’s government as a far-right movement “actively committing genocide in Gaza” and that “the data speaks for itself.” 

His proposals relating to the subject include an immediate arms embargo and the adoption of a long-term ceasefire.

“Something that Hamas has proposed recently was at least a 10-year ceasefire while they can continue diplomacy and come up with a better way in the region,” Blaha said. “But ultimately, whether it’s one state or two states, I’m in support of states that promote equality.”

Money in politics

Blaha says he is concerned about the presence of money in politics.

“There were 100 wealthy families that contributed 2.6 billion to the 2024 election,” Blaha said. “The wealthiest man in the country, Elon Musk, owns more wealth than the bottom 53% of households. He is able to threaten Republicans and say that he will primary them if they don’t side with Donald Trump. Those are just things that we should never allow in our government.”

Blaha is inspired by New York’s mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who both ran grassroots campaigns. Blaha pledges to not accept money from any corporate super PAC, but isn’t divesting from all PACs, such as Planned Parenthood, whose money he says he would accept.

Lux views money as an inequitable barrier preventing people who don’t have the funds from running for office. 

“When you make politics about money, you get people like Mark Zuckerberg, you get people like Donald Trump, Elon Musk,” Lux said. “They’re the ones that have power because they have the money to rise.”

Lux says she will be taking money from PACs, but pledges not to take money from “anything that damages the environment, is anti-LGBTQ+, anything that represents Trump’s agenda” and “anything that supports ICE.”

As of June 2025, Lux and Blaha have taken only individual donations. 

Views on ICE

Both candidates support the abolishment of ICE. Lux says what ICE is doing is unconstitutional and violent.

“Maybe I’m missing something, but if you want to have an organization that does some sort of vetting of criminal undocumented immigrants, you could have a small department,” Lux said. “But what’s going on definitely needs to be disbanded.”

Lux does not support the deportation of undocumented citizens and advocates for a path toward citizenship.

Blaha agrees with Lux about the abolishment of ICE and increasing pathways toward citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

“I’m part of the abolish ICE movement,” Blaha said. “I think that the Department of Homeland Security and ICE as a whole is an outgrowth of the War on Terror … It’s an archaic system that needs to be completely reformed.”

Blaha said even foreigners who worked with the U.S. government during its military operations face difficulties obtaining citizenship.

“My linguist in Afghanistan — it took him over 4 years to go through the process and before that process concluded, Kabul fell,” Blaha said. “He was able to get to America, but right now I’m unsure if he was ever able to get his citizenship.”

Afghan interpreters who worked with the American military have faced issues immigrating to the U.S. after American troops withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban took power, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times. 

Topic spotlight

The DI asked each challenger to talk about a topic not previously discussed that they were passionate about.

Blaha said, above all, he recognizes that people’s basic needs are not being met. He says that he’s “going through a similar situation that a lot of people are.”

“I have credit card debt, you know,” Blaha said. “I own a home, but only because with the V.A. (Veterans Affairs) loan I was able to put zero down. I’ve seen how hard it is to get a job in today’s economy.”

Blaha also says he is disappointed the Democratic Party is not fighting for Medicare for all.

“I believe healthcare is a human right … I’ve lived in Germany for three years, and I went to the emergency room one day, and I paid nothing,” Blaha said. “The army had to pay $12. It’s insane — so many families are one massive medical bill away from going into huge debt.”

The issue Lux spotlighted was the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community. She shared a story about the all-gender bathroom at her husband’s place of work. Her husband works for the military.

“After Trump was inaugurated, they just ripped the (bathroom) sign off,” Lux said. “They didn’t even paint over it … we are literally erasing this community.”

Lux claimed that many of the Trump administration’s executive orders targeted transgender individuals and their ability to receive healthcare and is empathetic towards the concerns of the LGBTQ+ community.

“I think the LGBTQ+ community is scared,” Lux said. “And I’m scared … that’s kind of my focus right now — the reason I got into the campaign was because of the LGBTQ+ community.”

The Democratic primary is set for March next year, with the general midterm election to follow Nov. 3.

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