(The Center Square) – With early voting in Illinois underway in most jurisdictions, Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton – the Democrat hopeful to replace Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., in Congress – sat down with The Center Square to discuss politics, policies and goals for the seat if she wins the race.
Stratton, a former state representative, has served as Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s second in command since taking office in 2019.
Her opponent is Don Tracy, former chair of the state Republican Party and the Illinois Gaming Board under former Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Stratton promised to counter President Donald Trump's policies if elected, saying voters from all political sides are worried about corruption in the nation’s top office.
“I'm hearing from not just Democrats, but independents and Republicans that they are very concerned with what's happening,” Stratton said. “I always say this is the most corrupt president that we've had in history. And people are worried about seeing a president who now has made about $2 billion dollars since he's been in office this second term.”
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton discusses her U.S. Senate campaign, the issues she says are most important to Illinois voters, and how she would approach the role if elected.
In the interview, Stratton addresses affordability, inflation, healthcare, housing, the national debt, government spending, fraud, immigration and border security. She also discusses her position on the Senate filibuster, voting rights, reproductive rights, gun policy and her vision for representing Illinois in Washington.
Stratton also responds to questions about Democratic Party politics and criticism from Republicans, including debates over the direction of the party and the issues facing Illinois voters.
Stratton said she’s also focused on serving all Illinoisans, not just on partisan terms.
As for the filibuster, a procedure that is often used in the Senate to block or delay votes on major legislation by allowing unlimited debate that requires a supermajority vote to conclude, Stratton said she wants to see Democrats eliminate it if they take power in the coming election.
“I think about all of the progress that has been stalled and halted because of the filibuster,” Stratton said. “What about reproductive freedom? And gun violence, you know, like really pushing for a federal assault weapons ban. There's so many issues that we've been able to tackle here in Illinois and get done that has been held up.”
She said while she’s supportive of cutting away at waste and fraud within federal spending, it needs to be done more carefully, again noting the current president and Congress have pushed through less careful measures.
“I've always said, of course, if there are any specific instances of fraud, we certainly should root it out,” Stratton said. “But that's not what's happening here. This is a president that just wants to enrich himself and a Congress that is supporting him and doing that. And that's not what the people of Illinois are looking for.”
Asked her stance on the Democratic Socialist wing of the party, and more radical figures influencing politics today like online socialist commentator Hasan Piker, Stratton said she doesn’t hear Illinoisans worried either way about the progressive wing.
“I certainly don't agree with everything that [Piker] has said and I found some of the things he said quite offensive, but I would disagree with the categorization that a lot of people are talking about it,” Stratton said. “What I hear people talking about is how are you going to make my life more affordable? How are you going to make sure we protect our democracy and our rights?”
In a recent New York Times-Siena poll conducted in battleground states for this November, respondents overwhelmingly said they didn’t know who Piker was, despite him campaigning for candidates in many of the states polled and appearing in attack ads in places like Michigan.
Stratton’s opponent has been critical of her not accepting any debate invitations from various organizations and media outlets, but Stratton has since agreed to appear for a televised debate on Chicago’s WTTW Channel 11 on Oct. 20.
Tracy told The Center Square his Democratic opponent is afraid of engaging with him because it’ll draw attention to her platform of “open borders, open jails and open checkbooks.”
Early voting began Thursday in most jurisdictions, excluding Chicago, which will open early in-person voting Oct. 1.
Greg Bishop contributed to this story
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