Juliana Stratton wins Illinois Democratic Senate primary race | Illinois

Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton won the Democratic primary to succeed Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin in Washington, edging out U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi.

Stratton, a progressive backed by Gov. JB Pritzker, was behind Krishnamoorthi in the polls until the last few weeks, when an infusion of money from Pritzker and a hardening of sentiment on immigration sidelined the relatively moderate congressman. Stratton also faced competition to his left from Rep. Robin Kelly, who threatened to split the progressive vote.

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 November general election. Stratton, who faces former Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy in November, would be the 15th Black U.S. senator in American history.

While Chicago is still recovering from the intensified ICE raids and concomitant street protests of Operation Midway Blitz, immigration policy has separated the two frontrunners. Stratton called directly for the abolition of ICE, while Krishnamoorthi was more nuanced, 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 campaign, second only to U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia this cycle. The five-term congressman has been criticized for raising money from Trump supporters, people aligned with the Indian nationalist movement and an executive at AI company Palantir, with critics saying the representative’s political allegiances are compromising, according to the Chicago Tribune.

A Pac that supports Krishnamoorthi, the Indian American Impact Fund, has aired ads encouraging Kelly, seen as a way to blunt Stratton, Politico reported. Kelly, the third major candidate, has served the 2nd Congressional District since 2013. Stratton and Kelly are both Black and have deep ties to the state’s Black community. Lori Lightfoot, former mayor of Chicago, supported Kelly, as did the Congressional Black Caucus.

Stratton was helped by Pritzker’s donations to the Illinois Future Pac, which runs pro-Stratton ads. She has served under Pritzker since 2019.