Juliana Stratton has won the Democratic primary for an open Senate seat, a stunning rise for a little-known state officer now on a glide path to Washington. If victorious in November, Stratton would become the second Black woman to represent Illinois in the Senate – and just the sixth Black woman senator in US history. Former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun in 1992 became the first Black woman ever elected to the Senate. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland in giving the Senate three Black women members for the first time. Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementStratton’s victory was engineered in part by JB Pritzker, Illinois’ billionaire governor and her former running mate.

Source: CNN March 19, 2026 08:06 UTC