Juliana Stratton’s victory in Illinois and a potential upset by Scott Colom in Mississippi could bring the U.S. Senate to a record seven Black members — a remarkable shift for a chamber that, for much of its history, had none.
Stratton’s election raises the number expected to serve in January to six. Colom could make seven, but his race remained uncalled Thursday. Meanwhile, New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker won reelection, extending a Senate career that began in 2013.
Illinois’ first Black lieutenant governor, Stratton defeated Republican Don Tracy to succeed retiring Democrat Dick Durbin. Previously a state representative, she was twice elected lieutenant governor alongside Gov. JB Pritzker, whose backing helped her through a competitive Democratic primary.
She will join Maryland’s Angela Alsobrooks and Delaware’s Lisa Blunt Rochester, marking the first time three Black women serve together in the Senate. Illinois will also become the first state represented simultaneously by two women of color: Stratton and Tammy Duckworth, who is Asian American.
In Mississippi, Colom, a Democratic district attorney, led Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by 1,138 votes in unofficial results Wednesday evening, with approximately 96% of the expected vote counted.
His showing represents a stunning challenge in a Republican stronghold with a history of racial exclusion and division. Mississippi has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982 or sent a Black senator to Washington since Reconstruction.
A Colom victory would connect the Senate’s expanding Black membership to its earliest beginnings.
Mississippi sent the nation’s first two Black senators: Hiram Revels, who served from 1870 to 1871, and Blanche K. Bruce, who served from 1875 to 1881. Both were Republicans chosen by the state legislature.
After Bruce departed, nearly 86 years passed without a Black senator. Massachusetts Republican Edward Brooke broke that barrier in 1967, becoming the first Black senator elected by popular vote. He served until 1979.
Illinois Democrat Carol Moseley Braun became the first Black woman senator in 1993. Barack Obama followed in 2005. Stratton will become Illinois’ fourth Black senator, counting Roland Burris, who was appointed to replace Obama.
Kamala Harris represented California from 2017 to 2021 before becoming vice president.
Today’s five Black senators are Booker, Alsobrooks, Blunt Rochester, Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock and South Carolina Republican Tim Scott. With Stratton — and potentially Colom — their growing ranks would mark another milestone in a history long defined by absence.
