Juliana Stratton wins Senate seat in Illinois

Democrat Juliana Stratton, the lieutenant governor of Illinois, is projected to win the state’s Senate race, according to Decision Desk HQ .

Stratton was generally expected to win the safe Democratic seat, which is open as longtime Sen. Dick Durbin (D) is retiring. She will become the sixth Black woman to be elected to the Senate.

Stratton emerged from a bruising primary in March with help from Gov. JB Pritzker (D), who contributed $10 million to Stratton’s PAC. Her victory is a win for Pritzker, too, as he plots his political future and potential run for president.

Stratton, 61, has been the lieutenant governor alongside Pritzker since 2019. Previously, she was a state legislator from a Chicago-area district for one term.

As lieutenant governor, she has prioritized early childhood education, reproductive healthcare and criminal justice reform, among other issues. She began her career as a lawyer and later worked in criminal justice-related local organizations in Chicago.

Stratton is among the more progressive Democratic candidates for Senate this year. She supports Medicare for All, a $25 minimum wage and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

She has said she will not support Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) for Democratic leader if elected and also pledged to take no corporate PAC money in her Senate race.

She had endorsements from several fellow Democratic senators, including Durbin, her soon-to-be delegation partner, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and retiring Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.).

Don Tracy, the Republican candidate, did not have much backing from national Republicans, who were focused on competitive races and protecting Republican incumbents. Tracy mostly self-funded his campaign.