CHICAGO (TIP): Democrat Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has lost the Illinois primary race to Lt Gov Juliana Stratton, who bagged the party nomination for the US Senate elections for the seat vacated by incumbent Dick Durbin. Stratton, who had the support of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, had been lagging Krishnamoorthi in polling until recent weeks. However, a fresh infusion of funds from the Governor and a hardening sentiment on immigration issues pushed aside four-term Congressman Krishnamoorthi’s campaign.
With 92 per cent of votes counted, Stratton had polled over 40 percent, while Krishnamoorthi bagged 33.2 per cent. Robin Kelly, the third in the fray for the Senate nomination, managed to get 18 per cent votes.
“I called Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton and congratulated her on winning this primary. I trust that she will continue the lasting legacy that Senator Durbin leaves behind,” Krishnamoorthi said in a post on X late Tuesday night.
Born in 1973 in New Delhi, Krishnamoorthi came to the US as a three-month-old infant when his father moved to Buffalo, New York to pursue higher education.
“Only in America can an immigrant with twenty-nine letters in his name go from public housing and food stamps to the halls of Congress. I will continue to fight for our country, the greatest on Earth, to make the United States of America the kind of country we all still believe in,” he said.
Illinois will see its fourth Black senator in the Senate if Stratton wins the seat in the elections in November. She will face Don Tracy, the former Illinois Republican Party chairman, who has won the Republican primary.
If elected, Stratton would be the sixth Black woman to serve in the Senate, joining Angela Alsobrooks, of Maryland, and Lisa Blunt Rochester, of Delaware.
After promising during the campaign to fiercely oppose President Donald Trump and abolish the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, Stratton took an early lead over Krishnamoorthi in the counting of votes that held up throughout the night.
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