Democratic Candidate · Illinois U.S. Senate 2026
Lieutenant Governor of Illinois (since 2019) · First Black woman to serve as IL Lt. Governor
Juliana Stratton has served as the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois since January 2019, having been elected on the ticket with Governor JB Pritzker. She is the first African American woman to serve as Illinois Lieutenant Governor. [Official LG bio]
Before becoming Lt. Governor, she served a single term in the Illinois General Assembly representing the 5th House District on Chicago's South Side (2017–2019). She holds a law degree and has a background in criminal justice reform, community organizing, and legal advocacy. She served as Executive Director of the Center for Conflict Resolution and worked on restorative justice programs before entering elected office.
As Lieutenant Governor, Stratton has chaired the Governor's Rural Affairs Council, led the state's Justice, Equity, and Opportunity Initiative (focused on criminal justice reform and reducing recidivism), and played a role in Illinois's landmark 2019 cannabis legalization, including provisions directing tax revenue toward communities disproportionately affected by the war on drugs.
Stratton entered the Senate race within days of Dick Durbin's April 2025 retirement announcement. Governor Pritzker endorsed her immediately, giving her a significant institutional boost before the field had fully formed. [Chicago Sun-Times, April 2025]
Stratton led the JEO Initiative, a statewide effort to reform Illinois's criminal justice system. The initiative focused on reducing the prison population through evidence-based policy, expanding re-entry programs for people leaving incarceration, and investing in communities with high rates of incarceration. [JEO Initiative]
Played a central role in implementing Illinois's Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (2019), which included historic equity provisions: expungements of low-level cannabis convictions, social equity applicant licensing, and directing 25% of cannabis tax revenue to disproportionately impacted communities. [IL Cannabis page]
As Rural Affairs Council chair, she worked on broadband access expansion, agricultural support, and economic development for downstate and rural Illinois communities—an effort that broadened her coalition beyond Chicago.
Stratton's central campaign message is fighting for "working people." She supports expanding union rights, raising the federal minimum wage, paid family leave, and affordable childcare. She frames economic policy through the lens of equity—addressing racial wealth gaps and economic disparities across Illinois. [Campaign website]
Her signature policy area. Supports ending mass incarceration, eliminating cash bail at the federal level (building on Illinois's historic SAFE-T Act), investing in alternatives to incarceration, expanding re-entry services, and addressing racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
Strong supporter of abortion access. Campaigned on protecting reproductive rights as a federal priority in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson, supporting codification of Roe v. Wade's protections into federal law.
Supports expanding Medicaid access, protecting the ACA, and working toward universal healthcare coverage. Particular focus on mental health parity and substance use disorder treatment access—issues she worked on as Lt. Governor.
Supports aggressive climate action including clean energy investment, environmental justice for communities disproportionately affected by pollution, and transition support for workers in fossil fuel industries.
Like other major candidates, Stratton has positioned herself as a fighter against the Trump administration's agenda, emphasizing the stakes of controlling a Senate seat in the Trump era for issues like reproductive rights, workers' rights, and democracy.
Stratton has staked out the most aggressive immigration enforcement position of the three candidates, calling for complete abolition of ICE — going further than even Governor Pritzker, who supports dismantling only "Trump's ICE." [Capitol News Illinois]
She attacked Krishnamoorthi repeatedly for voting on a resolution she said "thanked ICE" and for accepting a $29,300 donation from a Palantir executive (Palantir holds a $30M ICE contract). Her most quoted line from the debates: "No matter what you say now, you already demonstrated that you're not gonna show up when it matters." [STLPR, Jan. 2026]
Stratton has pledged not to accept corporate PAC money directly — a stance she uses to attack both Kelly and Krishnamoorthi. However, opponents have pushed back in debates by pointing out that her supporting super PAC, Illinois Future PAC, can accept unlimited corporate funds and had not disclosed its donors despite running advertising. Krishnamoorthi further revealed the PAC received money from CoreCivic, a private prison contractor. [Fox 32, Feb. 2026]
In the Jan. 27 debate, Stratton mocked Krishnamoorthi's congressional output, saying his passed bills only "rename post offices." The attack was designed to contrast her executive record as Lieutenant Governor with what she frames as ineffective congressional representation. [STLPR]
In the most recent forum (League of Women Voters / WTVP), Stratton pivoted to a more positive message, highlighting Illinois's accomplishments under the Pritzker administration: wage increases, job growth, balanced budgets, and improved credit ratings. She advocated a $25/hr federal minimum wage and reproductive freedom protections, and was the only candidate to state she disagreed with Trump "on all points." [WGLT/NPR Illinois, Feb. 26, 2026]
Stratton has consistently proposed raising the federal minimum wage to $25/hr, the boldest proposal among the three candidates. Kelly and Krishnamoorthi have both proposed $17/hr, citing achievability with small businesses and Congress. [Fox 32]