Juliana Stratton Set To Make History With Win In Illinois Senate Primary  

Illinois held its primary elections on Tuesday, which gives us a good sense of who will ultimately be heading to the halls of Congress next year. Plenty of money was spent by AIPAC, cryptocurrency, and AI lobbyists, but it was ultimately Gov. JB Pritzker who came out on top. 

According to the New York Times, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s victory in the race to replace retiring Sen. Dick Durbin was a major sign of Pritzker’s influence. The billionaire governor invested heavily in Stratton’s race and appeared at several campaign events. Making Stratton’s win more notable is the fact that Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi drastically outspent her in the Senate race. While Stratton received $12 million in donations through various super PACs, Krishnamoorthi had amassed a war chest of $20 million. 

While undoubtedly an impressive sum, the question of who was funding Krishnamoorthi’s campaign may have ultimately hurt him. Krishnamoorthi received donations from several cryptocurrency lobbyists, AI companies, and even some Trump supporters. Stratton tore into Krishnamoorthi about his donations during a January debate, calling him out for accepting money from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contractor. 

Another point of contention was the stances of Stratton and Krishnamoorthi on ICE. While Stratton campaigned on outright abolishing ICE, Krishnamoorthi was more technical, saying he would “dismantle Trump’s ICE.” 

Nationwide, public sentiment has been increasingly negative against ICE, but even more so in the cities that have been subject to ICE’s draconian mass deportation tactics over the last year. ICE and Border Patrol conducted “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago last year, which resulted in several court orders being filed to prevent ICE and CBP from using tear gas, elected officials being harassed, and an innocent woman being shot for absolutely no reason. 

In the likely event that Stratton wins in November, she will become the sixth Black woman in U.S. history to serve in the Senate. It will also mark the first time three Black women serve in the Senate at the same time, joining Senators Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware.

One of the big question marks in Illinois’ House primaries was how effective the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) would be in its campaigning. The war in Gaza and the blatant genocide of the Palestinian people have made AIPAC a particularly polarizing topic during the primary elections. 

Rochelle Brockenborough, 64, told AP News that Stratton not receiving AIPAC donations was partially why she voted for her. “I wanted to make sure there was no AIPAC money. That’s important to me,” she said, adding that U.S. tax dollars shouldn’t be used to support Israel.

Most of AIPAC’s spending was focused on Illinois House primaries, and the results were mixed. The most notable of their losses came in Illinois’ Ninth District primary, where Daniel Biss beat out fellow progressive Kat Abughazaleh and AIPAC-endorsed candidate Laura Fine. 

AIPAC even supported a late, fourth candidate, Bushra Amiwala, whom they labeled as “anti-Israel” in an effort to siphon votes from Abughazaleh. AIPAC did gain some victories with Melissa Bean and Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller winning in their respective primaries, but the group spent far more money in the races they lost. 

During his victory speech, Biss directly addressed AIPAC, saying, “The Ninth District is not for sale.” 

It was also an underwhelming night for progressive groups who were hoping to push the House further left. Of the four candidates endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus’s political arm, only Biss won. While Abughazaleh finished a close second behind Biss, and Stratton was endorsed by progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, those hoping to see the ascent of a Zohran Mamdani-like figure in the Illinois primaries were left disappointed. 

The night was far from a loss for the left, though. While not every progressive won, there was still progress, most notably through Stratton’s victory. She’s set to make Black history while remaining unapologetic about her progressive priorities. I’d consider that a win. 

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