Stratton’s top priority in Senate campaign: Fighting back against Trump
[May 01, 2025]
By Ben Szalinski
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.
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.”
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Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton talks to Capitol News Illinois at a union
office building in Springfield on Wednesday about her campaign to
replace outgoing Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. (Capitol News
Illinois photo by Jerry Nowicki)
“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.
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
“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. |
