SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton has one priority if she is elected to the U.S. Senate in 2026: fighting back against President Donald Trump’s policies.
“What I’m just seeing is that the old playbook in Washington, D.C., isn’t working,” Stratton said Wednesday in an interview with Capitol News Illinois. “People aren’t – as I talk to working families across Illinois – they’re not looking for people to just talk. They want to see real action, and that’s exactly what we’ve done in our administration.”
Stratton, a Chicago Democrat, entered politics in 2016, inspired by being her mother’s primary caregiver as she battled Alzheimer’s disease. She defeated an incumbent Democratic state representative that year and was elected lieutenant governor two years later after Gov. JB Pritzker chose her as his running mate.
She quickly set her sights on Washington, D.C., when U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Springfield Democrat, announced April 24, that he won’t seek reelection in 2026.
“My struggle is the struggle of so many Illinoisans who may not be able to pay attention to every policy paper or every piece of legislation that is being pushed forward, but they just need to know that somebody is out there fighting,” Stratton said.
Read more: Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton announces U.S. Senate campaign
Over the last six years, Pritzker has sung his governing partner’s praises, crediting Stratton with being a leading voice on the administration’s top priorities. Pritzker typically gets the headlines, but Stratton said playing second in command still gives her a hefty record to present to voters when they ask what she has done to stand up to Trump.
“I will be able to turn and say Gov. Pritzker and I, working as a team, were able to lower the cost of groceries, we protected health care, we expanded your rights, and we made sure that we stood up for working families of Illinois,” Stratton said.
Raising Illinois’ minimum wage to $15 an hour was one of the first legislative accomplishments of Pritzker’s administration in 2019. But the federal minimum wage hasn’t increased beyond $7.25 since 2009.
“We raised the minimum wage,” Stratton said. “That has not happened on the federal level yet, and yet, people know that raising the minimum wage helps lift people up out of poverty.”
“Kitchen table issues” are voters’ top concern, Stratton said, citing economic uncertainty surrounding tariffs and potential cuts to social services.
While she’s made her name in state policymaking, a congressional run necessitates that Stratton weigh in on broader issues, such as foreign policy.
Stratton declined to discuss her position on Israel’s war with Hamas, and whether Israel should agree to a ceasefire with hostages still being held in Gaza.
“What people want, and need, is a stable leader in D.C.,” Stratton said. “Right now, with Donald Trump, we don’t have that. We don’t have someone who is focused on global issues overall and the impact.”
Blocking Trump’s agenda must be the first priority, Stratton said, to allow congressional Democrats to move forward on proposals that address voters’ concerns. She said she didn’t know yet what her first bill would be should she win the seat.
“I don’t think anything’s more important than making sure that government works for the people and that we are creating opportunity,” she said. “But how are we going to do any of those things if we don’t stand up against somebody who’s trying to strip away rights, fundamental freedoms, overlook the rule of law.”
Stratton remains the only high-profile candidate in either party as of Thursday that’s announced a run for Durbin’s seat. She has already secured endorsements from Pritzker and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth before any other Democrats announce their candidacy.
Read more: Duckworth endorses Lt. Gov. Stratton for U.S. Senate seat to replace Durbin | Stratton secures Pritzker’s backing in Senate bid, positions herself as ‘fighter’ of Trump
Durbin acknowledged in a prior news conference that Stratton reached out to him before he announced his retirement to say she was interested in running for his seat.
Read more: Durbin reflects on decision to retire
“The conversations that we had, while I won’t go into specifics, was just making sure that he understood what my plans were and how much I respect his leadership,” Stratton said.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
