Democrats of Color Vie in Senate Race in Lincoln’s Home Land (2)

June 3, 2025, 9:30 AM UTCUpdated: June 3, 2025, 5:09 PM UTC

The Land of Lincoln may set a milestone for diversity in a 2026 Senate election.

The top three candidates in Illinois’s key Democratic primary are people of color: Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Rep. Robin Kelly, who are Black, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Indian American born in New Delhi. Sen. Dick Durbin (D), who’s white, is retiring.

If Stratton or Kelly is elected senator, Illinois would become the first state in history to have women of color as both senators in a chamber that’s less racially and ethnically diverse than the House or the nation. Tammy Duckworth (D), an ...

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