Illinois Elections

After Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton won the Democratic primary to replace Sen. Dick Durbin, reporting confirmed Gov. J.B. Pritzker personally donated at least $5 million to a super PAC that supplied much of her advertising—an outcome widely framed as a test of his political clout. Senior Congressional Black Caucus members, including Chair Rep. Yvette Clarke and others such as Reps. Gregory Meeks, Joyce Beatty and Bennie Thompson, sharply condemned Pritzker’s intervention as “heavy‑handing” that “tipped the scales” and warned it could strain the CBC’s future relations and influence.