Illinois lieutenant governor Juliana Stratton won the Democratic primary race to succeed Illinois\u2019 US senator Dick Durbin, beating out US representative Raja Krishnamoorthi.<\/p>\n
With nearly 90% of the vote tallied, Stratton was leading Krishnamoorthi by more than six percentage points on Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did it,\u201d Stratton said of her upset victory. \u201cTonight we showed what\u2019s possible when you listen to the people and give the people what they want.<\/p>\n
\u201cCourage inspired me to run. Courage powered this campaign and courage will bring this fight straight to Donald Trump\u2019s front door,\u201d she said, as the crowd in Chicago wildly applauded.<\/p>\n
Stratton, a progressive with the support of governor JB Pritzker, had been behind Krishnamoorthi in polling until recent weeks, when an infusion of cash from the governor and a hardening sentiment on immigration pushed aside the relatively moderate congressman. Stratton also faced competition on her left from congresswoman Robin Kelly, which threatened to split the progressive vote. Kelly drew less than 20% of the vote, according to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Durbin, 81, is retiring after service five terms in the Senate. Republicans have not won a statewide election in Illinois in more than a decade; the winner of the Democratic primary is expected to win the general election in November. Stratton, who will face former Republican state party chair Don Tracy in November, would be the 15th Black US senator in American history.<\/p>\n
Turnout was unusually high for a Senate contest in a non-presidential year. With more than 1.14 million votes already tallied in the Democratic primary, total participation was expected to surpass the 2004 primary, when Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination to the Senate.<\/p>\n
With Chicago still recovering from the upscaled ICE raids and accompanying street protests of Operation Midway Blitz, immigration policy separated the two frontrunners. Stratton called directly for the abolishment of ICE, while Krishnamoorthi has been more nuanced, calling for the abolishment of \u201cTrump\u2019s ICE\u201d in a fusillade of late-game ads across the state.<\/p>\n
Krishnamoorthi raised more than $30m for this Senate run, second only to US senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia this cycle. The five-term congressman has been criticized for raising money from Trump supporters, people aligned with India\u2019s nationalist movement and the tech company Palantir.<\/p>\n