Juliana Stratton wins Illinois Democratic Senate primary race | Illinois

Illinois lieutenant governor Juliana Stratton won the Democratic primary race to replace Illinois’ U.S. senator Dick Durbin in Washington, edging out U.S. representative Raja Krishnamoorthi.

Stratton, a progressive candidate with the support of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, was trailing Krishnamoorthi in the polls until recent weeks when an influx of cash from Pritzker and hardening sentiment on immigration sidelined the relatively moderate congressman. Stratton also faced competition from congresswoman Robin Kelly, who threatened to split the progressive vote to her left.

Republicans haven’t won a statewide election in Illinois in more than a decade; The winner of the Democratic primary is expected to win the general election in November. Stratton, who will face former Republican state party chairman Don Tracy in November, will become the 15th Black U.S. senator in American history.

With Chicago still recovering from the impact of increased ICE raids and the accompanying street protests of Operation Midway Blitz, immigration policy has separated the two frontrunners. While Stratton directly called for the abolition of ICE, Krishnamoorthi took a more subtle tone, calling for the abolition of “Trump’s ICE” in a barrage of endgame ads across the state.

Krishnamoorthi has raised more than $30 million for this Senate race, finishing second this cycle to U.S. senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia. The five-term congressman has been criticized for raising money from Trump supporters, people aligned with India’s nationalist movement and an executive at AI company Palantir; critics said the representative’s political commitments were conciliatory. According to the Chicago Tribune.

Indo-American Impact Fund a Pac backing Krishnamoorthi runs ads featuring Kelly, seen as a way to blunt Stratton and Politico reported. Kelly, the third major challenger, had been serving in the second congressional district since 2013. Both Stratton and Kelly are Black with deep ties to the state’s Black community. Former Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot supported Kelly, as did the Congressional Black Caucus.

Stratton was helped by Pritzker’s donations to the Illinois Future Pac, which ran pro-Stratton ads. He has been serving under Pritzker since 2019.