Potential Sorensen Challenger Emerges
Congressman Eric Sorensen (D-Moline).
Multiple sources have told The Illinoize that Galesburg businessman and philanthropist Rafael “Ray” Estrada will launch a challenge to freshman Congressman Eric Sorensen (D-Moline).
We told you last week that Republicans were having a difficult time fielding a top tier candidate to face Sorensen, who was placed on a target list by the National Republican Campaign Committee yesterday. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy personally called Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Andalusia) in an effort to recruit him in the race, but Anderson declined. Esther Joy King, who lost races to Cheri Bustos in 2020 and Sorensen in 2022 says she won’t be running again either.
Rafael “Ray” Estrada
Enter Estrada, who came to the country from Nicaragua in 1979 at age 12.
Estrada is a businessman who runs the Estrada Global Foundation and has been noted for providing humanitarian aid to his home country during a 2018 civil war and has been praised for providing over 500,000 free meals in western Illinois.
Little is publicly available about Estrada’s business interests, other than to say he has had a successful national and international business career in finance, real estate, and business management.
Multiple sources say Estrada has scheduled his announcement for April 15.
In a text message Tuesday, Estrada would not confirm his plans, only saying “I’ll keep you posted.”
But Estrada was already sounding like a candidate.
“It is clear ordinary families need someone aggressively fighting for their interests. Prices are skyrocketing, families have no financial stability, and bad actors are using this pain to push radical policies and undermine our institutions,” he wrote via text message. “I’ve seen the dangers of this approach: my family fled the communist takeover of Nicaragua and came to Galesburg over four decades ago. I wont let that happen here, too.”
The Sorensen campaign did not return a message seeking comment.
