Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton on Thursday became the first of what is expected to be many candidates to launch bids for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Dick Durbin.
Stratton’s quick move — announcing her plans in a video posted on social media at 5 a.m. and less than 24 hours after Durbin declared his intent not to run for a sixth term — was designed to position herself as an early front-runner in what is expected to be a highly competitive race.
A former state lawmaker, Stratton’s decision isn’t a shocking one. The state’s two-term lieutenant governor under Gov. JB Pritzker since 2019, Stratton announced in late January her interest in Durbin’s seat if he decided not to run and formed a federal political action committee called Level Up. Stratton has also sought to increase her public visibility and boosted staffing in recent weeks as she awaited Durbin’s decision.
In her two-minute video, Stratton portrays herself as an atypical politician who will challenge President Donald Trump differently than others in Washington.
“My story isn’t the story of a typical senator. Then again, typical isn’t what we need right now,” Stratton said, appearing inside a home with a mess of papers and other debris on the floor. “Donald Trump and Elon Musk are trying to distract us, to create such a mess that we don’t even know where to start. But in Washington, they’re still doing the same old things they’ve always done. And that old playbook isn’t working.”
Describing herself as a mother of four and the daughter of a teacher and Navy veteran from Chicago’s South Side, Stratton said she was drawn to run for state representative while caring for her mother, who had Alzheimer’s, and then-Gov. Bruce Rauner was “trying to cut healthcare for seniors.”
Stratton makes several mentions of Pritzker in her promotional video, saying after she became his running mate, the two worked “to improve the lives of people across Illinois,” noting passage of a state law hiking the minimum wage, the state’s infrastructure program Rebuild Illinois, gun safety laws and abortion rights, among others.
“They like to talk, we’ve actually gotten things done,” she said. “Now I’m running for Senate because the only way out of this mess is to bring new energy, new voices and new leaders who understand the lives of working people.”
Other potential contenders for the seat are U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg, Robin Kelly of Matteson and Lauren Underwood of Naperville.
Later Thursday, Krishnamoorthi is scheduled to launch from Chicago a tour to central Illinois to warn of the impact of Trump’s tariffs on small businesses and families. And Kelly is set to hold an afternoon “town hall” on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, in the heavily GOP congressional district of far-right U.S. Rep. Mary Miller.
Three-term Democratic state Treasurer Michael Frerichs said this week he is weighing a bid for Durbin’s seat and other Democrats have floated the names of first-term Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, state Sen. Robert Peters of Chicago and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has been looking for a reentry into Democratic politics and policy.
Emanuel, a former congressman, White House chief of staff and ambassador to Japan, prefers an executive rather than legislative post and is unlikely to seek Durbin’s seat, those close to him say.
For statewide officeholders like Stratton, a run for the Senate creates a disadvantage since money in their state campaign funds cannot be converted for use in a federal campaign, which has stricter fundraising restrictions. Stratton’s Level Up campaign fund reported no contributions last week. The lieutenant governor has been spending down her state campaign fund by doling out more than $98,000 in digital advertising in recent weeks.
Among the potential U.S. House Democrats considering a Senate contest, Krishnamoorthi, who has served five terms, had a federal campaign war chest of $19.4 million as of April 1. Kelly, who has served in the House since 2013, had more than $2 million in her campaign bank account as of April 1. And the four-term Underwood has $1.1 million in cash on hand at the start of April, records show.
While the eventual Democratic nominee is expected to have the advantage in a state where party members have held all statewide elected offices since 2019, Republican U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood of Peoria acknowledged Wednesday he was considering a Senate bid.
LaHood, the son of former longtime GOP congressman and Obama transportation secretary Ray LaHood, had nearly $5.9 million in his federal campaign fund as of April 1. One of only three House Republicans in Illinois’ congressional delegation, LaHood has served since 2015 in Congress and has been a strong supporter of President Trump.