Overview
- The lone televised debate between Democratic nominee Juliana Stratton and Republican Don Tracy is airing Tuesday night and is the focal point of the closing stretch of the open-seat race to replace Sen. Dick Durbin.
- Stratton has centered her messaging on linking Tracy to President Trump while Tracy has mounted an aggressive counterattack that includes billboards labeling Stratton a “socialist.”
- Federal Election Commission records show Stratton had roughly $1.6 million cash on hand at the end of September and Tracy had about $1.1 million, with Tracy having lent $2 million to his campaign in August 2025.
- Stratton is Illinois’s lieutenant governor and carried endorsements and a roughly $10 million boost from Gov. J.B. Pritzker that helped her win the Democratic primary; Tracy is a Springfield attorney who led the state GOP before resigning in July 2024 and previously chaired the Illinois Gaming Board.
- Republicans have not won a statewide Illinois race in about 12 years, so the debate and late advertising—like Stratton’s roller‑skating ad that includes a profane anti‑Trump shirt shown by a supporter—will shape turnout and messaging in a contest that decides Durbin’s successor.