Juliana Stratton Defeats Don Tracy to Take Illinois Senate Seat
The lieutenant governor secured the seat vacated by retiring Sen. Dick Durbin after winning the March primary and the November general election.
By Renata Mehta ·
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton will join the U.S. Senate on January 3. She defeated former state Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy in the general election held this week.
Stratton has served as lieutenant governor for eight years under Gov. JB Pritzker. Pritzker endorsed her Senate bid, a key support that helped her secure the Democratic nomination in the March primary.
In that primary, Stratton defeated two sitting U.S. representatives, Robin Kelly and Raja Krishnamoorthi. Her victory over Tracy clears the path for her to replace retiring Sen. Dick Durbin in the upper chamber.
During her campaign, Stratton advocated for raising the federal minimum wage to $25 per hour. The state of Illinois currently has a minimum wage of $15, a level set during her time as lieutenant governor. She pledged to push for the higher federal standard.
Stratton also positioned herself as a counterweight to the Trump administration. She called for the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. “It is a priority, because we are still seeing ICE terrorize our communities,” she said.
The Democratic Party hopes Stratton will be part of a Senate majority. The party is targeting potential seat gains in North Carolina, Ohio, Iowa, and Texas to achieve that control.
