Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton has won the Democratic Senate primary in Illinois, NBC News projects, vaulting ahead of two members of Congress with a boost from Gov. JB Pritzker in the expensive race.
Stratton defeated Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, taking aim at members of her party in Washington, D.C., for not standing up to President Donald Trump.
Stratton was leading vote-rich Cook County with 40% to Krishnamoorthi's 29% and Kelly's 23%, with around 80% of the expected vote in. Stratton, a South Side native, was defeating Krishnamoorthi by 20 points in the city of Chicago, and they were tied in the Chicago suburbs.
If she is elected, Stratton would become the sixth Black woman to serve in the Senate. And it would be the first time three Black women served in the Senate at the same time.
“What I’ve heard from people very clearly is that they are fed up with what’s happening in Washington,” Stratton said in a recent interview with NBC News. “They are frustrated and angry that they see a president who stomps on the Constitution, who kind of takes action on a whim without thinking about what’s best for the American people. And they’re looking for a fighter in Washington, somebody who’s going to stand up and be a check on this president.”
Stratton managed to overcome a significant financial disadvantage. Krishnamoorthi, who became a prolific fundraiser during his five terms in the House, spent $29 million on ads in the primary, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Kelly’s campaign spent $1.4 million, and Stratton’s campaign spent $1.1 million.
Stratton had served in the Legislature before Pritzker tapped her as his running mate in 2018. She was endorsed by Pritzker in the crowded primary, as well as Sen. Tammy Duckworth. Pritzker, who is also a billionaire and a potential presidential contender in 2028, helped fund Illinois Future PAC, which spent $14.9 million on ads in the race boosting Stratton and attacking Krishnamoorthi. Stratton also faced nearly $10 million in attacks from Fairshake, a group funded by cryptocurrency executives.
A spokesperson for Fairshake declined to comment on its spending in this specific race. But there could be a connection to measures Pritzker signed into state law last year that established new crypto regulations. Stratton has also been endorsed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who supports crypto regulations.
Stratton cast herself as the most progressive candidate in the race, supporting policies including "Medicare for All" and a $25 minimum wage, as well as abolishing ICE amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.
The three Senate candidates had diverged over approaches to ICE, with Krishnamoorthi calling to “abolish Trump’s ICE” and Kelly suggesting the Homeland Security Department should be dismantled altogether.
Stratton dismissed concerns that policies like abolishing ICE could be problematic for the Democratic Party and easily weaponized by Republicans.
“Anyone who wants to talk about what can be weaponized, how about the fact that the federal government is being weaponized against our own citizens? That’s the real travesty here,” Stratton said in a recent interview.
Stratton has also said she would not support Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to continue as the party’s leader in the chamber.
“I’m the only candidate in this race that has made it clear I’m not going to support Chuck Schumer to lead the Democratic caucus, Senate caucus, because that’s not what people are looking for right now,” Stratton said in an interview. “They want someone who’s going to fight, and we need fighters and not folders.”
Stratton is expected to be in a strong position to win the general election in November in the historically Democratic state. She will face former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy, whom NBC News projects as the winner of the Republican Senate primary. Former Vice President Kamala Harris won Illinois by 11 percentage points in 2024.
