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Illinois Voter Guide 2026: Meet the Candidates Running for Statewide Office
After Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton decided to run for the U.S. Senate, Gov. J.B. Pritzker selected Christian Mitchell as his running mate.
Updated Oct 16, 2026, 2:28 PM ET
Juliana Stratton, a Democrat and lieutenant governor of Illinois since 2019, won her party's 2026 nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Senator Dick Durbin.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Juliana Stratton.
Latest coverage
Live News
Recent media coverage for Juliana Stratton.
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Lobbyist campaign cash helps fuel Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton's run for U.S. Senate seat - Chicago Sun-Times
As she vies to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton is accepting a number of campaign contributions from lobbyists representing special interests, records show.
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Guns, F-bombs, alpacas. What do wild 2026 campaign ads say?
"They're usually just sort of, 'How can I activate latent beliefs that somebody already has with very, very simple language and simple images?'" Shelton told USA TODAY.
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Full list of 2026 Senate race candidates
There are 35 Senate seats up for grabs in the 2026 midterm elections.
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U.S. Senate candidate Juliana Stratton talks about whether ...
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton has won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, edging out two sitting members of the U.S. House. in a race that will see her
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When @julianaforillinois launched her first campaign for ...
Juliana Stratton is running for Senate in Illinois on Medicare for All without a single dollar of corporate PAC money. Lucky you if you get to vote for her
More coverage 3
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Stratton seeks Illinois U.S. Senate seat in November
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton is the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in the November 3, 2026, general election.
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Although the numbers are in Stratton's favor in blue Illinois ...
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton has won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, edging out two sitting members of the U.S. House. in a race that will see her
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20 days until Election Day, and I need YOU to ...
Juliana Stratton, the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois and a U.S. Senate candidate, shares her personal journey into politics. She explains that her experience
No story this week names this candidate.
- Born
- September 8, 1965
- Birthplace
- Chicago, Illinois
- Education
- Kenwood Academy
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Bachelor of Science)
DePaul University (Juris Doctor)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Juliana Stratton, born Juliana Wiggins in Chicago on September 8, 1965, grew up in the Pill Hill neighborhood of the city's South Side, the daughter of a radiologist father and a mother who taught in the Chicago Public Schools and the City Colleges of Chicago.
After Kenwood Academy she earned a Bachelor of Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1987, worked as a video producer for Chicago's city government, and completed a Juris Doctor at DePaul University in 1992.
Following a period in private law practice, she founded JDS Mediation Services in 1997 and acted as an arbitrator, an administrative law judge and a hearing commissioner for several Chicago agencies.
She led the Cook County Justice Advisory Council from 2011 to 2014 and was director of the University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Public Safety and Justice from 2015 to 2017.
Career
In the March 2016 Democratic primary for the 5th district of the Illinois House of Representatives, Stratton defeated incumbent Ken Dunkin with 68% of the vote, and she held the seat from 2017 to 2019.
JB Pritzker chose her as his running mate in August 2017, and the ticket defeated Republican incumbents Bruce Rauner and Evelyn Sanguinetti on November 7, 2018. She took office in January 2019 as the 48th lieutenant governor, the first African American and the fourth woman to hold the office.
Pritzker and Stratton won a second term on November 8, 2022, over Darren Bailey and Stephanie Trussell.
2026 race
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, in office since 1997, announced on April 23, 2025, that he would not run for another term, leaving the seat open. Stratton entered the race the following day with Pritzker's endorsement.
She carried the March 17, 2026, Democratic primary with 40.4% of the vote, ahead of U.S. Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi (32.7%) and Robin Kelly (18.3%). Her opponent in the November 3 general election is Republican Don Tracy, a former chair of the state party.