Juliana Stratton wins Illinois primary on path to becoming only the sixth Black woman in US Senate

If elected in November, the Illinois lieutenant governor will become only the sixth Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton came out victorious in a competitive Democratic primary race on Tuesday, clinching the party’s nomination for U.S. Senate. Stratton will advance to the general election in November. If elected, she will join the history books as only the sixth Black woman to serve in the Senate’s 237-year history.

“We showed what’s possible when you listen to the people and give the people what they want,” Stratton said after winning more than 40% of the vote, defeating U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (33.2%) and Robin Kelly (18.1%).

Stratton focused her campaign heavily on confronting President Donald Trump, notably running a campaign ad titled “F–k Trump.” The progressive Democrat also ran on a platform in support of Medicare for All, raising the minimum wage to $25, and abolishing ICE, which became a lightning rod issue in Chicago when Trump attempted to deploy the national guard amid an aggressive immigration operation in the majority Black and brown city.

“Together we’ve confronted one of the most frightening moments of our lifetimes. But despite the fear, we never lost sight of what’s most important, and that is courage. Courage inspired me to run. Courage powered this campaign, and courage will bring this fight straight to Donald Trump’s door,” Stratton told her supporters. “We will fight for Medicare for All. We will fight to abolish ICE. We’ll fight for a real living wage, not just the bare minimum. We’ll fight to defend our rights and claw our democracy back from the brink.”

Stratton, 60, will face the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, Don Tracy, on Nov. 3. However, Stratton’s chances for a win are good given that Illinois has elected only one Republican to the U.S. Senate since 2005 and that Trump is deeply unpopular in the state, according to public polling. Trump’s approval ratings continue to suffer ahead of November’s midterm elections as gas prices and mortgage rates, among other economic indicators, remain high amid the president’s unpopular war in Iran.

If elected in November, Stratton would join a short list of Black women to serve in the upper chamber of Congress. Notably, Illinois made history in 1992 when it elected the first Black woman to the Senate, Carol Moseley Braun. It would take nearly 25 years before another Black woman entered the Senate, when Kamala Harris, former U.S. vice president, was elected in California in 2016. Stratton would also join U.S. Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland to mark the first time in U.S. history that three Black women have served concurrently in the U.S. Senate.

When asked about the growing conversations within the Democratic Party and the electability of Black women — particularly after Jasmine Crockett’s defeat in Texas — Stratton recently told theGrio there is a need to “build the pipeline” for Black women’s political power beyond organizing and showing up at the polls election after election.

“We bring the kind of leadership that’s needed…we bring an important voice for this country to move our country forward,” she told theGrio.

Glynda Carr, president and CEO of Higher Heights for America PAC, which is dedicated to electing more progressive Black women, said of Stratton’s path to the U.S. Senate, “In more than two centuries, only five Black women have served in the United States Senate. That tells you everything you need to know about the barriers that still exist.”

She added, “This body remains overwhelmingly white and male, and moments like this are how we begin to change that.”