CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS PHOTO BY JERRY NOWICKI
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton talks to Capitol Information Illinois at a union workplace constructing in Springfield April 30 about her marketing campaign to interchange outgoing Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton has one precedence if she is elected to the U.S. Senate in 2026: preventing again in opposition to President Donald Trump’s insurance policies.
“What I am simply seeing is that the previous playbook in Washington, D.C., is not working,” Stratton stated April 30 in an interview with Capitol Information Illinois. “Folks aren’t – as I discuss to working households throughout Illinois – they don’t seem to be in search of folks to only discuss. They need to see actual motion, and that is precisely what we have achieved in our administration.”
Stratton, a Chicago Democrat, entered politics in 2016, impressed by being her mom’s main caregiver as she battled Alzheimer’s illness. She defeated an incumbent Democratic state consultant that yr and was elected lieutenant governor two years later after Gov. JB Pritzker selected her as his operating mate.
She rapidly set her sights on Washington, D.C., when U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Springfield Democrat, introduced April 24 that he will not search reelection in 2026.
“My wrestle is the wrestle of so many Illinoisans who might not be capable to take note of each coverage paper or every bit of laws that’s being pushed ahead, however they only have to know that any individual is on the market preventing,” Stratton stated.
During the last six years, Pritzker has sung his governing accomplice’s praises, crediting Stratton with being a number one voice on the administration’s prime priorities. Pritzker usually will get the headlines, however Stratton stated taking part in second in command nonetheless provides her a hefty report to current to voters once they ask what she has achieved to face as much as Trump.
“I can flip and say Gov. Pritzker and I, working as a group, had been capable of decrease the price of groceries, we protected well being care, we expanded your rights, and we made certain that we stood up for working households of Illinois,” Stratton stated.
Elevating Illinois’ minimal wage to $15 an hour was one of many first legislative accomplishments of Pritzker’s administration in 2019. However the federal minimal wage hasn’t elevated past $7.25 since 2009.
“We raised the minimal wage,” Stratton stated. “That has not occurred on the federal degree but, and but, folks know that elevating the minimal wage helps elevate folks up out of poverty.”
“Kitchen desk points” are voters’ prime concern, Stratton stated, citing financial uncertainty surrounding tariffs and potential cuts to social providers.
Whereas she’s made her title in state policymaking, a congressional run necessitates that Stratton weigh in on broader points, corresponding to overseas coverage.
Stratton declined to debate her place on Israel’s conflict with Hamas, and whether or not Israel ought to conform to a ceasefire with hostages nonetheless being held in Gaza.
“What folks need, and want, is a steady chief in D.C.,” Stratton stated. “Proper now, with Donald Trump, we do not have that. We do not have somebody who is targeted on international points total and the affect.”
Blocking Trump’s agenda have to be the primary precedence, Stratton stated, to permit congressional Democrats to maneuver ahead on proposals that deal with voters’ considerations. She stated she did not know but what her first invoice can be ought to she win the seat.
“I do not assume something’s extra vital than ensuring that authorities works for the folks and that we’re creating alternative,” she stated. “However how are we going to do any of these issues if we do not rise up in opposition to any individual who’s making an attempt to strip away rights, basic freedoms, overlook the rule of regulation.”
Stratton stays the one high-profile candidate in both get together that is introduced a run for Durbin’s seat. She has already secured endorsements from Pritzker and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth earlier than another Democrats announce their candidacy.
Durbin acknowledged in a previous information convention that Stratton reached out to him earlier than he introduced his retirement to say she was fascinated by operating for his seat.
“The conversations that we had, whereas I will not go into specifics, was simply ensuring that he understood what my plans had been and the way a lot I respect his management,” Stratton stated.
– Ben Szalinski
