Politics
Juliana Stratton Wins Democratic Primary to Replace Dick Durbin in Senate
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton appears in a March 9, 2026, candidate forum on "Chicago Tonight." (WTTW News)
Stay updated on local news. Sign up for the Daily Chicagoan newsletter.
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton won the Democratic primary in the race to replace U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, according to the Associated Press.
Stratton comes out ahead of U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly who were battling to win a rare open seat in a contest that will reshape Illinois politics.
Stratton will face Don Tracy, a former head of the Illinois Republican Party, in November’s general election.
After promising during the campaign to fiercely oppose President Donald Trump and abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Stratton took an early lead over Krishnamoorthi that held up throughout the night.
With an estimated 90% of the vote counted, Stratton had 40% to 33.2% for Krishnamoorthi and 18.2% for Kelly, according to unofficial results.
Krishnamoorthi and Kelly both conceded the race to Stratton who told a crowd of supporters Tuesday night that courage inspired her to run.
“Courage will bring this fight straight to Donald Trump’s door,” Stratton told the cheering crowd.
Stratton, 60, also promised to work to expand health care for all Illinois residents.
“We will fight for Medicare for All,” Stratton said. “Tomorrow the work begins again.”
However, Stratton is widely expected to win November’s general election. The last time a Republican won a statewide election in Illinois was 2014.
If elected, Stratton would be the sixth Black woman to serve in the Senate, joining U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, of Maryland, and U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, of Delaware.
With a soundtrack of loud house music, Stratton’s supporters cheered at her election night party as she took an early lead, enjoying the free buffet and open bar.
Since Stratton’s lead never wavered, revelers celebrated as only Chicagoans do, dancing the Percolator and the Cha-Cha slide as they waited for the race to be called.
Jasmine Michaels, a friend of Stratton, said she was incredibly excited to see her leading in the early returns.
“Where the country is right now, we really need leaders like Juliana,” Michaels said. “She’s absolutely what we need right now.”
Many of those at Stratton’s party wore stickers emblazoned with an expletive directed at President Donald Trump, a phrase Stratton featured in a campaign commercial.
The intense race has drawn tens of millions of dollars spent by outside groups on television, mail and online advertisements, with most coming from pro-Israel, pro-artificial intelligence development, pro-cryptocurrency and pro-cloud data center interests.
Most of that spending went to tout Krishnamoorthi’s candidacy and slam Stratton, records show.
While Krishnamoorthi, of Schaumburg, had the largest campaign war chest, Stratton, of Chicago, benefited from millions of dollars spent by Gov. JB Pritzker to boost her candidacy with a super PAC.
Pritzker, whose bid for the Democratic nomination in his bid for a third term in office was unopposed, helped introduce Stratton to the cheering crowd — evidence that Stratton’s victory will help fuel his political future. Pritzker has declined to rule out a run for president in 2028.
Other Democrats in the race included Kevin Ryan, Steve Botsford Jr., Bryan Maxwell, Jonathan Dean, Sean Brown, Awisi A. Bustos and Christopher Swann.
Don Tracy Wins Republican Nomination
Stratton will advance to the Nov. 3 general election against Don Tracy, who the AP declared the winner of the Republican primary. With about 90% of the vote counted, he led with 39.8%. Jeannie Evans had 22.8%, according to unofficial results.
Tracy is an attorney and the former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party.
“I am deeply honored to accept the Republican nomination for United States Senate,” Tracy said in a statement. “There are many great stories in politics about the underdog coming out on top… and this I think is already one of them, with the best yet to come.
In his victory speech, Tracy emphasized the “sky-high cost of living in Illinois.”
“I’ve spent my career working for families and small businesses. I’m ready to take that fight to the US Senate, where my top priority will be to lower the cost of living,” he said.
In addition to Evans, Republicans R. Cary Capparelli, Casey Chlebek, Pamela Denise Long and Jimmy Lee Tillman II also ran in the primary.
WTTW News reporters Eunice Alpasan and Shelby Hawkins contributed.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
