Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton projected to win Democratic primary for U.S. Senate

Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton is projected to win the heated and crowded Democratic primary race for the U.S. Senate seat that Dick Durbin has held for nearly 30 years, according to CBS News analysis, coming out on top of a field of 10 candidates, including U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly.

With 80% of the vote in, Stratton is leading with 39.4% of the vote, Krishnamoorthi is in second with 33.6%, and Kelly is in third with 18.4%. None of the other seven candidates is in double digits.

Stratton will face Don Tracy, an attorney and former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, who is the expected winner of the Republican primary for the Senate seat, CBS News projects.

If Stratton wins, she would be the fourth African American elected to the U.S. Senate from Illinois, joining Carol Moseley Braun, Barack Obama, and Roland Burris. 

Stratton will be the heavy favorite in the general election in November. Illinois has elected only two Republicans to the U.S. Senate since Durbin was first elected in 1996: Peter Fitzgerald for one term in 1998 and Mark Kirk for one term in 2010.

Durbin, the fifth most senior member of the Senate and the Senate Democratic Whip, has held his seat in the Senate since 1997. He is retiring at the end of his term, and the race for his seat became one of the most closely watched and expensive Senate races in the nation.

“The people of Illinois have honored me to serve as their Senator for three decades,” Durbin said in a statement late Tuesday night. “I am forever grateful. But now, I look forward to passing the torch to Juliana Stratton at the end of my term.”

He is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he led the confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in 2022. He also sits on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. His retirement is expected to serve as the impetus for a broader shakeup of the Democratic Senate leadership.

The race to replace Durbin has been one of the most expensive Senate races in the U.S. in 2026.

According to federal campaign finance records, Krishnamoorthi significantly outraised his opponents in the race, having brought in more than $30 million for his campaign — the second most of any candidate for U.S. Senate. Stratton raised more than $4 million, and Kelly raised more than $3 million. According to Capitol News Illinois, Illinois Future PAC has filled the void for Stratton, spending more than $10 million to boost her bid for the Senate seat. Gov. JB Pritzker has funded the PAC to the tune of at least $5 million.

In the final debate last week between the Democratic candidates before the primary election, funding campaigns remained the number one topic. Kelly took direct aim at Stratton, who touts that she doesn’t take corporate PAC money. Kelly asked about the huge sums coming from billionaire Gov. JB Pritzker.

“One billionaire family has donated 73% of what you have received, so are you obligated to them?” Kelly said. 

Stratton, meantime, took aim at Krishnamoorthi, who received, then donated away, money from a Palantir executive — a company with major ICE contracts.

“Congressman, you did not even think about returning the funding until the public called for you to do so,” Stratton said. 

“When you presided over the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, under your leadership, the DLGA solicited and received tens of thousands from CoreCivic, the largest private prison operator in the U.S. that operated the ICE Broadview Center,” Krishnamoorthi responded.