In Stratton, Illinois voters chose a progressive voice with a campaign slogan of “F*** Trump” to take the reins from Durbin, the senior senator who held the seat since 1996.
Juliana Stratton’s fiery anti-President Trump messaging helped her deliver a resounding victory over Republican Don Tracy in the open U.S. Senate seat to replace Sen. Dick Durbin.
The Associated Press declared Stratton the winner when the polls closed at 7 p.m.
Stratton, 61, has also made history in becoming the second Black woman to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate.
In Stratton, Illinois voters chose a progressive voice with a campaign slogan of “F*** Trump” to take the reins from Durbin, the senior senator who held the seat since 1996. Stratton, Gov. JB Pritzker’s running mate since 2018, repeatedly vowed she’d stand up to the president, and her primary campaign helped to energize voters in a field of 10 candidates.
Now she’ll bring her progressive platform of abolishing ICE and a push for a $25 minimum wage to Washington alongside five new Democratic colleagues in Congress — part of a new wave of the Illinois congressional delegation after a series of resignations and moves this year.
On Chicago’s Southwest Side, supporters filed into the Ramova Theatre for an election night watch party akin to a night out at the club. They were greeted by a lively DJ playing pop music remixes as they awaited Stratton’s victory speech.
Multiple bars offered complimentary beer, wine and seltzer, with a cash bar for cocktails and 5 mg THC drinks. Campaign signs scattered throughout the theatre read “Give the people what they want” and “Black women for Juliana.”
Pritzker has downplayed his role in helping Stratton, including a hefty $10 million contribution in the primary campaign which helped her run TV ads. But the governor can now boast that he helped elect a close ally to the U.S. Senate.
Stratton, a former mediator, was first elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 2016. As lieutenant governor, she helped lead the Birth Equity Initiative, which helped address the racial disparity in Illinois’ maternal mortality rates for Black women. She also spearheaded the Justice, Equity and Opportunity Initiative, with the goal of shifting the state’s criminal legal system towards more restorative programs.
Her work with the Ag Connects Us All Initiative, which helped to highlight the ways in which the agriculture industry could address inequities and food security, helped Stratton connect to more rural areas of the state in her years as lieutenant governor.
Stratton will serve as Illinois’ fourth Black senator in the Senate and also the second Black woman to represent Illinois. She’s also becoming the sixth Black woman to serve in the current Senate.
Stratton defeated fundraising leader U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Rep. Robin Kelly and eight other candidates in a contentious primary that included a late campaign surge and millions in support from Pritzker. She was also the first Democrat to announce a bid for Durbin’s seat, and announced Pritzker’s endorsement just two days later.
In announcing her bid, Stratton touted her accomplishments as lieutenant governor, including raising the minimum wage, the state’s infrastructure accomplishments, gun safety laws and enshrining abortion laws in Illinois.
Republicans haven’t won a statewide seat in Illinois in 12 years, when Pritzker unseated GOP former Gov. Bruce Rauner, a close ally of Tracy. But Tracy said he ran to give a voice to the millions of Republicans in the state.
Tracy is a Springfield attorney and businessman. He served as the chair of the Illinois Republican Party from 2021 until his resignation in July 2024. He is also the former chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board, appointed in 2015.
Tracy pointed to Republican infighting for his exit from his chairmanship of the state GOP party in 2024 after three and a half years, a tenure that saw the party’s influence wane further in the state as its base moves further right.
Tracy ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2010 — and won a Democratic primary for a state Senate seat in 2002. He lost in the general election.
Sfondeles and Woelfel reported from Chicago; Weathersby reported from Springfield.