EXCLUSIVE: “I’m going to push our party to be more bold and courageous…because that’s the kind of leadership people are expecting right now,” the Illinois LG told theGrio.
Juliana Stratton is seeing a newfound surge in the closely watched Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate in Illinois. The state’s current lieutenant governor–who is backed by Governor J.B. Pritzker–is leading in a recent poll released by Public Policy Polling.
“We have the momentum, and our message is resonating,” Stratton told theGrio during a recent interview just a week away from the primary elections in Illinois, where voters will have their say in which Democrat will go on to face the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate this November.
Stratton, a progressive candidate running against Illinois U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly, has leaned more to the left in making the case for why she is the better Democrat to go up against the Trump MAGA-friendly party’s nominee and potentially enter Congress in January 2027. The Chicago native is calling for the abolishing of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and backs Medicare For All and raising the minimum wage to $25 an hour.
Illinois’s first Black female lieutenant governor was also bold in her approach in a campaign ad that simply says, “F–k Trump!“
The in-your-face ad, released last month, represented “what so many people are feeling right now” with Trump back in the White House, Stratton shared with theGrio. She explained, “I think the ad just broke through because it tapped into what people are feeling…They’re fed up with the sort of go-along-to-get-along mentality and people who are folding instead of fighting.”
“We’re going along as if this is a normal president, a normal president that I say, is not even a normal person,” she said of Trump. “And why are we still using the same old responses and tactics and techniques and strategies to go against somebody who is a wannabe dictator? Who is trying to advance an authoritarian agenda? Who doesn’t want to see elections go forward? Why are we using the same strategies?”
If victorious in the March 17 primary and the November general election, Stratton would become only the second Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Illinois, following in the legacy of Carol Moseley Braun, who was elected in 1992. “I’m proud to have her support in this race and her endorsement,” she told theGrio.
Stratton would join U.S. Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (Delaware) and Angela Alsobrooks (Maryland), marking the first time in U.S. history that more than two Black women have served concurrently in the U.S. Senate. Alsobrooks has also endorsed Stratton, who said that having a third Black woman in the U.S. Senate would bring even more advocacy for policy issues affecting Black women and their families.
“There’s certainly structural barriers for Black women, and it’s something that we need to continue to have conversations about,” she said.
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 said 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.
However, Stratton has faced pushback on her candidacy, as the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus denounced Governor Pritzker’s involvement in boosting her campaign and said the CBC stood firmly behind Rep. Kelly, a current CBC member.
“Governor Pritzker’s effort to tip the scales in Illinois’ U.S. Senate race is beyond frustrating for the Congressional Black Caucus. A sitting governor shouldn’t be heavy-handing the race. Quite frankly, his behavior in this race won’t soon be forgotten by any of us,” said U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke of New York.
Stratton told theGrio she was “disappointed” by the statement, but said she supports the CBC’s mission of electing Black candidates and growing the caucus and “looks forward to joining this caucus when I’m elected.”
The Illinois LG said the real concern about someone “tipping the scale” in the race is the $7.6 million in backing from the pro-crypto network Fairshake for Rep. Krishnamoorthi.
“I hope in these critical moments of this race that people stay focused on the fact that I am the only Black candidate with a path of beating Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthy, and…I’m the only one with a path in the entire country to elect a Black woman senator in this election cycle,” said Stratton.
Stratton fashioned her candidacy as being willing to take on President Trump, who made her state the center of his aggressive immigration enforcement when he sent hundreds of ICE and Homeland Security agents to Chicago for what the Trump administration dubbed Operation Midway Blitz. The president also attempted to deploy the National Guard until a federal judge ruled it unconstitutional.
“We saw up close and personal people getting snatched off the streets by masked agents stuffed into unmarked vehicles. No due process, no warrants, nothing…they were terrorizing our community,” said Stratton, who said she would like to see every federal agent who has broken the law in the process of enforcing the Trump administration’s immigration policies “investigated and prosecuted.”
Stratton touted her and the governor’s Illinois Accountability Commission, which will document Operation Midway Blitz, including images, data, personal accounts and videos, to capture the true impact of ICE’s actions in the city.
“This President will not always be president, and we need to make sure that we hold him and any of the other bad actors accountable,” she told theGrio.
Ultimately, Stratton would also be a crucial vote in the U.S. Senate should Democrats win back the majority power in Congress and Trump is impeached for a historic third time.
“We need to be, you know, strong, courageous voices. We need to hold the line. We have that opportunity and not give in to this President’s authoritarian agenda,” said Stratton. “I’m going to take the role as the next senator to not just pass common sense legislation, not just use my bully pulpit, but I’m going to push our party to be more bold and courageous as well, because that’s the kind of leadership people are expecting right now.”
