Juliana Stratton is trying to succeed Dick Durbin in the U.S. Senate, and a late September Public Policy Polling survey put her 13 points ahead of Don Tracy. The race now moves toward Election Day in November, when Illinois voters will decide whether the seat stays with Democrats.
Stratton's Senate bid
Stratton has built her campaign around a progressive pitch. Her platform includes a $25 minimum wage, abolishing ICE, and not supporting Chuck Schumer as the party's leader. She also used the slogan "F*** Trump, vote Juliana" as she sought the nomination.
Her path to this race began in the Illinois House of Representatives in 2016, and she has served as JB Pritzker's lieutenant governor since 2018. She also led the Birth Equity Initiative, helped spearhead the Justice, Equity and Opportunity Initiative, and promoted the Ag Connects Us All Initiative.
Don Tracy's Republican bid
Tracy, a Springfield attorney and businessman, says he is running to give a voice to the millions of Republicans in the state. He served as chair of the Illinois Republican Party from 2021 until his resignation in July 2024, and he was chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board in 2015.
He and Stratton faced off in a lone WTTW debate last month. Tracy's run comes in a state where Republicans have not won a statewide seat in 12 years, and the general-election contest has been described as a lukewarm campaign battle after Stratton's fiery primary.
Illinois 2026 election
Stratton won her primary against Raja Krishnamoorthi, Robin Kelly and eight other candidates, while JB Pritzker spent $10 million to help her campaign through a pro-Stratton PAC. If she wins in November, Illinois would get its second Black woman in the U.S. Senate, and the current Senate would gain its sixth Black woman.
The late September polling lead gives Stratton an early edge, but the race is still in the campaign phase and the final result will turn on how voters respond to the two candidates' contrasting records and messages before Election Day.