Robin Kelly

PEORIA — Former Lieutenant Gov. Juliana Stratton has won the Democratic primary to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, receiving a significant boost from voters in Cook County.

Stratton defeated U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and U.S. Rep Robin Kelly in a Democratic primary that featured 10 total candidates but was realistically only a three-way race.

The Associated Press called the race for Stratton at 9:38 p.m. with 82% of votes tallied. Stratton had 418,056 votes to 353,128 for Krishnamoorthi and 195,045 for Kelly.

If elected in November, Stratton would become just the sixth Black woman to serve in the Senate.

In a statement following his loss, Krishnamoorthi said:

“I called Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton and congratulated her on winning this primary. I trust that she will continue the lasting legacy that Senator Durbin leaves behind," the statement said. “Only in America can an immigrant with twenty-nine letters in his name go from public housing and food stamps to the halls of Congress. I will continue to fight for our country, the greatest on Earth, to make the United States of America the kind of country we all still believe in.”

Krishnamoorthi, who graduated from Richwoods High School in Peoria, lost the primary despite outraising and outspending his opponents. Stratton, however, had the backing of Gov. JB Pritzker.

On the Republican side of the ballot, former GOP chairman Don Tracy won the primary, beating Jeannie Evans and four other candidates by grabbing 40% of the votes.

In a statement issued Tuesday night, Durbin said:

“The people of Illinois have honored me to serve as their Senator for three decades. I am forever grateful. But now, I look forward to passing the torch to Juliana Stratton at the end of my term," Durbin said. “I also want to congratulate Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly on a hard-fought primary campaign. I chose not to endorse from the outset because I knew we had a strong field of Democratic candidates, and they proved me right. I know this won’t be the last we see of them in Illinois politics — nor should it be. Now our attention must turn to ensuring Juliana wins the general election on November 3. With Donald Trump in the White House for another two years, the challenges facing our country and state will continue to be historic and unprecedented. We need Juliana Stratton fighting alongside Senator Duckworth everyday come January 3, 2027.”