In recent weeks, U.S. Senate hopeful and Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton has both stunned voters in the Democratic primary and improved her standing in the three-candidate race through a commercial featuring supporters saying "F*ck Trump!"
"I didn't say it, but they did," Stratton says in the spot, in which she vows to hold the president accountable for what she calls "crimes" and to "abolish ICE." It ends with Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois saying "F*ck Trump!" and Gov. JB Pritzker urging a vote for his lieutenant governor.
Strong medicine, but in a Democratic primary with an anticipated low turnout, in which left-of-center voters are more likely to show up or vote early, Stratton's tactic appears to be working.
Whereas an Emerson poll in January showed Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi leading Stratton 36% to 33%, a recent FM3 poll conducted for the American Future super PAC showed Stratton pulling ahead of Krishnamoorthi 38% to 33% among likely Democrat voters.
Running in third place consistently in all polls is Rep. Robin Kelly.
Among a field of five Republicans, the likely winner is state GOP Chairman Don Tracy. A conservative who is well known in the party's grassroots, Tracy usually appears as the favorite in polls.
According to the Emerson College survey in January, 84% of Prairie State Republicans have not chosen a candidate in the Senate primary for the seat of retiring Democrat Sen. Richard Durbin.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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