Juliana Stratton, the former Illinois state representative and current lieutenant governor, will become just the sixth Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate following her historic victory in Tuesday’s election.
The Associated Press called the race for Stratton, who won a rare open seat in a contest that will reshape Illinois politics, cruising to victory over Republican challenger Don Tracy and independent Whitfield Harrington Jr.
Stratton leads with 63% of the vote ahead of Tracy at 35.5% and Harrington Jr. at 1.5% with 41% of the vote counted, according to unofficial returns.
The race was called immediately after polls closed across Illinois. The gathered crowd at Stratton’s election watch party inside the Ramova Theatre in Bridgeport burst into applause just seconds after 7 p.m.
She will replace retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who will end his political career in January after 30 years in the Senate.
In her victory speech, Stratton recalled some of the first advice she was given after she was elected to the Illinois legislature a decade ago — sit back, listen and don’t ruffle any feathers.
“I ignored that advice then,” Stratton said, “and I certainly won’t be sitting back and listening quietly when I get to Washington, D.C.”
Stratton told supporters Tuesday she intends to fight in Washington for affordable healthcare, reproductive rights and for the next generation of Illinoisans who “deserve the opportunity to build a good life right here.”
Stratton also recalled a recent conversation with Durbin, who told her the seat she was running for was the same one Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debated for.
“Those debates boiled down to one issue: slavery,” Stratton said. “And now, the seat where the future of slavery was once debated will be held by a descendant of someone who was enslaved.”
Stratton, boosted by her alliance with Gov. JB Pritzker, won the Democratic nomination in March after promising to aggressively confront President Donald Trump. As she’s now set to serve alongside U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Illinois will become the first state to ever be represented by two women of color in the Senate.
Durbin addressed the crowd at Stratton’s election party, saying that between Stratton and Duckworth, Illinois will have “the most powerful Senate team in Washington, D.C.”
“I could not be more grateful,” Duckworth added, “because now I get to go kick some ass with the best partner I could ever ask for.”
Tracy, a businessman and lawyer, was a member of the Illinois Gaming Board before leading the Illinois Republican Party. He conceded and spoke to supporters at 10 p.m. in Springfield.
“Although very disappointed, I congratulate Lt. Governor Stratton on her victory,” Tracy said. “The work of being a voice for working families, however, does not end when the ballots are counted. Those families still need an advocate for common sense solutions, lower costs and safer communities. And that fight continues.”
During the campaign to replace Durbin, Tracy repeatedly attacked Stratton as a socialist and accused her of wanting to fund unaffordable programs.
By contrast, Stratton frequently linked Tracy to Trump, blaming him for making everything from rent and gas to healthcare and groceries more expensive by launching a war with Iran and imposing tariffs the U.S. Supreme Court declared illegal.
As guests started to roll in to the Democratic Party of Illinois election night gathering before polls closed, WTTW News spoke with Dovile Cather, the campaign manager for Stratton.
Stratton, Cather said, spent the day visiting polling locations, and encouraged people to get out to vote. She said it’s been an exciting day, especially with the prospect that Stratton could be the sixth Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate and the second from the state.
“I think this race, especially across the team, we always knew it was bigger than any one of us,” Cather said. “It was about representing Black voters in Chicago and across the entire state.”
Stratton and Tracy faced off just once during the campaign, during a forum hosted by WTTW News.
Stratton, 61, has vowed to raise the federal hourly minimum wage to $25, to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and expand Medicare to all Americans to replace private health insurance.
“She has spent this entire race talking about being a caretaker for her mother and healthcare, I think, is going to be center to what she does in the Senate,” Stratton’s campaign manager Dovile Cather told WTTW News Tuesday. “I know she’s excited to hit the ground running.”
Tracy, 76, has promised he would chart a moderate course in the Senate, working to reduce inflation and gas prices while embracing initiatives that help businesses.
Also in the race was third-party candidate Whitfield Harrington Jr., running as the nominee for the American Center Party, which he called a middle ground for Illinoisans who are unsatisfied with polarizing politics. Harrington is a pastor and former financial services professional whose campaign centered on affordability, healthcare access and government reform.
“Right now, both the Democratic and the Republican parties, they used to present a vision to the American people and how they wanted to move the nation forward,” Harrington told WTTW News. “And you don’t see that anymore. What you see is just division — arguing and bickering. And I’m pretty sure it’s on full display all across the country.”
This U.S. Senate election is the first without an incumbent in Illinois since 2010, when Republican Mark Kirk won the seat once held by former President Barack Obama.
However, it has been 12 years since any Republican has won a statewide office in Illinois, as voters in the state began to regularly cast their ballots for Democrats, a trend that accelerated as the Republican Party moved to the right under Trump.
Trump did not endorse Tracy, although Tracy said he would welcome the president’s endorsement if it was offered.
Stratton’s ascension to the Senate comes more than 30 years after Carol Moseley Braun became the first Black woman to serve as a U.S. senator.
“It wasn’t handed to her, it was built by all of us, by people who believed in her long before the polls ever did,” Regina Wallace-Jones, president and CEO of the Democratic political action committee ActBlue, said following Stratton’s victory. “Thirty-four years after Carol Moseley Braun broke the barrier in Illinois, we’re doing it again.”
Heather Cherone contributed reporting.
