In the days after winning the Democratic nomination for Senate, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton spoke to the two women with whom she could make history next year.
“We both were just gleeful. I can tell you that much,” Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland said of her call with Stratton on Wednesday. “I’m just really thrilled for her. Thrilled for all of us.”
Only five Black women have served in the Senate in American history. Alsobrooks and Democratic Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware broke barriers last year as the first two Black female senators to serve simultaneously.
If elected, Stratton, 60, would become the sixth Black woman to serve in the Senate and expand the number doing so at the same time to three, giving Black women greater representation and governing experience in the upper chamber.
“The idea of three means there’s that much more of an opportunity to make sure that when policy is being made, when legislation is being passed, that the voices of our community is right there at the table,” Stratton told reporters on Wednesday. “We don’t want policy to just be made for us. We want it to be made by us and with us, and that’s going to help that to happen.”
Given Illinois’ Democratic lean, Stratton is the heavy favorite to win November’s election when she’ll face off against Republican Don Tracy. Stratton would also make history on another front serving alongside Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who is Asian American. They would be the first two women of color to ever represent a state together in the Senate.
“It’s going to bring a much-needed perspective to what we need to do to move our party forward, to move our state forward and to move our country forward,” said Stratton.
In the history of the country, only 14 Black individuals have served in the US Senate, starting in 1870 with former Sen. Hiram Revels, a Republican from Mississippi. More than 120 years later, Illinois sent the first Black woman to the US Senate – former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, a Democrat.
“Illinois understands diversity and the value of it. It always has,” Moseley Braun told CNN in an interview. “When I ran, people thought I had lost my mind. Happily, no one’s surprised about it now. That’s a good thing and that’s the progress we’ve been able to make.”
An early endorser of Stratton, Moseley Braun was among the people the Democratic nominee called after her victory this week.
That same day, Stratton spoke with former Vice President Kamala Harris, who was the second Black woman to serve in the Senate, a source familiar with the call said.
Stratton also has exchanged text messages with former Sen. Laphonza Butler, who became the third Black female senator when she was appointed to finish the term of the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, another source said.
Stratton’s path
Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, Stratton worked as a lawyer before winning a state House seat in 2016. Former President Barack Obama, also a senator from Illinois, endorsed Stratton’s state legislative campaign during the Democratic primary.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker tapped Stratton as his running mate in 2018, and when they won, she became the first Black lieutenant governor of the state.
Pritzker, who is eyeing a 2028 presidential run, played a significant role in Stratton’s primary victory, flexing his political and financial muscle to boost his governing partner. The governor’s involvement caused frustration with the head of the Congressional Black Caucus, which had endorsed another Black woman in the race, Rep. Robin Kelly.
Stratton also defeated Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Indian American who entered the race with a significant fundraising edge over his opponents.
After Stratton’s victory, Rep. Yvette Clarke, the chair of the CBC who criticized Pritzker for moving against Kelly, congratulated her in a statement: “This is a significant moment for Illinois and the nation that calls for unity, and I look forward to her victory in November and welcoming her to the Congressional Black Caucus.”
“These races are competition,” said Alsobrooks, who was the only Black member of Congress outside of Illinois to endorse Stratton. “We all have the same interest, and I think we’re going to be working toward the same goal, moving our country forward, making sure that we’re bringing down costs for people.”
A small club
On the final weekend of campaigning, Stratton stopped by the home of former Sen. Roland Burris, who was appointed to the Senate after then-Sen. Obama resigned to become president.
Three of the 14 Black senators in US history have represented Illinois and served alongside retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, who Stratton is running to replace.
Of the 14 senators, the majority have been Democrats, including Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Raphael Warnock of Georgia. Republicans have one Black senator in the current Senate, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Black voters have been a significant voting bloc in the recent elections, and Black women have been viewed as the backbone of the Democratic Party for decades.
“The most loyal sector of individuals that are participating and have participated in our democracy, to me, have been Black women,” said Blunt Rochester. “I think in this moment, particularly when we have seen hundreds of thousands of Black women taken out of the workforce, words used against us – this is a moment of uplift.”
Blunt Rochester met Stratton when the Illinois Democrat attended an event in Chicago for her 2024 Senate campaign. The Delaware senator said she kept tabs on Stratton’s own run and called the Illinois Democrat when her father passed away a few months before primary day.
“We talked about the challenge of doing something so mighty as running for the United States Senate at the same time you are grieving, knowing that that family member’s spirit is with you as you run on that journey,” said Blunt Rochester, who experienced similar loss when her father died during her own Senate campaign.
Alsobrooks also shared a personal connection with Stratton. The two women kept in touch by phone and text message throughout the campaign.
Some of those conversations focused on their shared faith and how they would turn to spiritual music to help power each day.
“We basically committed that we would start the day and everything with really just encouraging, hopeful, spiritual music,” Alsobrooks said, adding that both women would often listen to the Christian song “Firm Foundation” by Maverick City Music.
In the final days before the primary, Stratton phoned Alsobrooks, who recounted the Illinois Democratic said to her, “You’re literally the only person on the face of earth who understands, in this moment, exactly how I feel.”
In each of their races, Alsobrooks and Stratton faced an onslaught of spending from their opponents. Krishnamoorthi raised more than $30 million for his campaign, and a pro-crypto super PAC spent millions more attacking Stratton. (The lieutenant governor also had significant financial backing from a super PAC funded in part by Pritkzer).
Alsobrooks won the Democratic primary for her Senate seat against former Rep. David Trone, who poured $60 million of his personal fortune into the contest.
“She was facing all of that as well, and said, ‘What should I be doing in this moment? You know, what do I need to know?” Alsobrooks recounted. “We had a really great conversation.”
Alsobrooks and Blunt Rochester were both optimistic Stratton would win in November and join them in the Senate in 2027, marking another barrier-breaking moment for Black women.
“I hope,” Blunt Rochester said, “it encourages all of those women and girls who have been out here in polling places, organizing, strategizing, that this was not in vain, and that their efforts are not in vain, and that that there is more to come.”
“Progress is happening, even if it doesn’t feel like it sometimes,” Alsobrooks said. “I think Black women felt attacked this past year, but I think that looking at Juliana’s win, encourages us to keep moving forward. We are not – we should not – be counted out. We will not be counted out. We will continue to work to be a part of the solutions in our country.”
By CNN
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
