Juliana Stratton's primary win proves that grassroots progressive energy beats big money every time — she triumphed over a candidate who spent $29 million in ads with just $1.1 million of her own campaign cash. Backed by powerhouse endorsements from Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Stratton's bold platform of Medicare for All, a $25 minimum wage and abolishing ICE is exactly what Illinois Democrats demanded. She's the fighter Washington desperately needs right now.
Stratton's win isn't a grassroots triumph — it's a billionaire governor buying a Senate seat, with Pritzker pumping at least $5 million into a super PAC that spent $14 million boosting her while she raised just $4 million on her own. The Congressional Black Caucus chair called Pritzker's meddling "beyond frustrating," and rightfully so. Extreme positions like abolishing ICE will make Stratton a liability, and Don Tracy is already calling her the most far-left Senate candidate Illinois has ever seen.
ThereThe isresults from Illinois showed a 54.9%mixed chancebag thatof theresults, Republicanand, Partymost willconcerningly, holda theweb mostof seatsdark money and lobbying groups meddling in theU.S. USpolitics. SenateDespite afterStratton's victory, the 2026left midtermwas elections,largely accordingwiped out by complex lobbying interests that are challenging to theuntangle Metaculuswithin predictioneach communityrace. The true scale of lobbying and dark money in American politics is staggering.
There is a 54.9% chance that the Republican Party will hold the most seats in the U.S. Senate after the 2026 midterm elections, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.
All rights reserved.
Version 6.18.0