Stratton Sails to Historic Victory in U.S. Senate Race
Lt. Governor and U.S. Senator-elect Juliana Stratton speaks to supporters Tuesday night. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
Juliana Stratton made history Tuesday night, becoming the third African American elected, and fourth to serve the state, in the United States Senate.
The Associated Press called the Senate race for Stratton at exactly 7:00 p.m. Tuesday night over former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy.
“Let me tell you something about this campaign. It was never supposed to be easy. And it wasn’t,” she told a group of Democrats Tuesday night. “There were low lows, and days when we needed to dig deep. None of us could have walked this path alone. But we linked arms, we leaned on one another, and together, we have not only won this seat, but we have won it decisively.”
Stratton survived a bruising Democratic primary in March and stayed mostly under the radar for much of the summer until emerging with television ads and appearances over the final three weeks of the campaign.
“For 2 years, we’ve been hard at work, organizing and showing up non-stop. But this campaign was never about Election Day. It’s about every day that comes after,” Stratton said. “Because now, we get to work.”
As of around 2 a.m., Stratton led Tracy with around 2.4 million votes to around 1.5 million votes for Tracy, a difference of around 61%-38%.
“I don’t think we lost because of our effort, “Tracy told supporters in Springfield Tuesday night. “We lost because of some things outside our control. I have no regrets about this campaign. I don’t know if there’s anything I would have done different.”
