And The Winner Is

Democrat Juliana Stratton won the Illinois U.S. Senate general election on November 3, keeping the seat in Democratic hands as the successor to retiring Sen. Dick Durbin. ​

With 92.5 percent of expected votes counted as of November 4, 2026 at 7:10 a.m., Stratton led Republican Don Tracy by 931,620 votes in the reported count, with Stratton drawing 2,418,659 votes to Tracy's 1,487,039, according to the Associated Press. The count was not final and the general election certification status remains "counting."

The Open Seat

The seat opened when Dick Durbin, who has held it since 1997, did not run for re-election in 2026. Dick Durbin's Senate service began in 1997, a span of 29 years. His service on committees include the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, the Commodities, Derivatives, Risk Management, and Trade and the Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, and Food Safety entries, and the Appropriations Committee.

Stratton won the Democratic primary on March 17, with 507,689 votes (40.4 percent), defeating Raja Krishnamoorthi, who received 411,150 votes (32.7 percent). Her margin over Krishnamoorthi was 96,539 votes. Krishnamoorthi spent $31,528,045 in the primary, more than five times Stratton's $5,688,992 in disbursements.

The Democratic primary drew 2.33 times as many total votes as the Republican primary, 1,256,822 to 539,344. Don Tracy won the Republican primary with 215,523 votes, or 39.96 percent of the Republican total.

Money and Outside Spending

Republican Don Tracy's campaign carried $4,250,000 in debt against $4,914,363 in total receipts as of October 14, 2026, and reported $483,017 in cash on hand. Stratton's campaign raised $7,230,576 while spending $5,688,992, leaving $1,541,585 in cash on hand as of the same date. Stratton entered election day with more than three times Tracy's cash on hand and no debt, while Tracy's debt exceeded his total receipts.

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Outside spending in the race totaled $24.63 million, all of it from Democratic-aligned committees, according to the race record as of November 4.

  • Illinois Future PAC reported $12.20 million in outside spending in the race, including $8.86 million in support and $3.34 million in opposition.
  • FairShake spent $10.00 million, all of it in opposition and none in support.
  • The Impact Fund spent $1.16 million, of which $988,878 was in support and $171,122 in opposition.
  • Outside spending on Stratton totaled $19.57 million, with $9.08 million in support and $10.49 million in opposition; spending on Krishnamoorthi totaled $3.78 million, with $441,568 in support and $3.34 million in opposition.

Campaign Attacks

The primary and general election produced several recurring lines of attack, each attributed to its source.

In the Democratic primary, Stratton accused Krishnamoorthi of voting to "thank ICE" and taking money from an ICE contractor, citing contributions from a Palantir executive; Krishnamoorthi's campaign said it donated those contributions to immigrant rights groups, according to Capitol News Illinois. Krishnamoorthi, in turn, criticized Stratton for opposing corporate PAC donations while a super PAC supporting her ran ads without disclosing its donors, according to the same Capitol News Illinois report.

In the general election, Tracy's campaign ad "Extreme Team" linked Stratton to Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and streamer Hasan Piker, and called her a "Democrat socialist," according to WMBD; Stratton's spokesperson said she had never met Piker.

Pre-Election Indicators

Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, Inside Elections, and the 270toWin consensus all rated the race Solid Democratic as of November 3, according to the race record.

The 270toWin polling average of three general election polls, with a latest poll date of November 2, showed Stratton at 53.7 percent and Tracy at 41.0 percent, a 12.7-point margin.

The general election result remains in the counting stage; no certification date has been announced. Full race data is available at app.legis1.com.

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