Illinois Primary Sets Up Potential First All Woman of Color Senate Delegation

Primary elections were held on Tuesday in Illinois. Full results for women candidates in federal and statewide executive races are available on this post on our Election Analysis page; there is one undecided race from yesterday's primaries, so the full post will be updated when this contest is decided.
 

U.S. Senate

• Lieutenant Governor Julianna Stratton (D) won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in an open-seat contest currently rated as “Solid Democrat” by Cook Political Report.
• If she is successful in the general election, there would be a record three Black women serving in the U.S. Senate concurrently in the next Congress. She would also be the second Black woman to represent Illinois in the Senate.
• With a Stratton win in November, Illinois would become the first state to send an all woman of color delegation to the U.S. Senate, joining Senator Tammy Duckworth, as well as the ninth state to have an all-woman delegation to the Senate. Eight states have been represented by two women senators simultaneously (AZ, CA, KS, ME, MN, NH, NV, WA), and four states currently have two women senators (MN, NH, NV, WA).

U.S. House

• Illinois is poised to increase its number of women in the U.S. House in 2027; women currently hold 6 of 17 (35.3%) seats in the Illinois delegation to the House. While 2 (2D) incumbent women representatives will leave office at the end of 2026, 3 (3D) non-incumbent women nominees and the remaining 4 (3D, 1R) incumbent women representatives are favored to win in November. Thirteen (8D, 5R) women are nominees for the U.S. House this year.
• Among the non-incumbent women nominees currently favored to win in November is former U.S. Representative Melissa Bean (D), who represented Illinois in the U.S. House from 2005 to 2011. She is the nominee in Illinois’ 8th Congressional District.
• Women nominees also currently favored in the general election are Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller (D) in the 2nd Congressional District and Patty Garcia (D) in the 4th Congressional District. Miller would be the fourth Black woman and Garcia would be the second Latina to represent Illinois in the U.S. House.

Statewide Elective Executive Office

• Both incumbent women holding statewide elective executive offices decided not to run for re-election this year. Lieutenant Governor Julianna Stratton (D) is seeking Illinois’ open U.S. Senate seat, and Comptroller Susana Mendoza (D) is leaving office.
• Two (1D, 1R) non-incumbent women will be nominees for statewide elective executive offices in 2026. Diane Harris (R) won the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias (D), and the nominee is not yet selected in the all-woman primary contest for the Democratic nomination for comptroller; at present, state Representative Margaret Croke (D) is leading. 

For more information, see the full analysis of how women fared in yesterday's contests on our Election Analysis page. Complete context about women in the 2026 elections can be found on CAWP's Election Watch.