Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton met Evanston voters alongside U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston), Illinois House Majority Leader and State Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) and Alds. Krissie Harris (2nd), Juan Geracaris (9th) and Shawn Iles (3rd), among other elected officials, during a “Meet and Greet” at Evanston’s Free Flow Kitchen on Saturday.
About 60 people attended the event ahead of the March 17 Democratic primary election for retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) seat. Top candidates in the race include Stratton and U.S. Reps. Robin Kelly (D-Matteson) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Schaumburg). Recent polling shows Stratton and Krishnamoorthi neck and neck with less than two weeks to campaign.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, campaign finance and combating the Trump administration have taken center stage in the race.
Evanston resident Wanda Walker said she’s supporting Stratton because of her opposition to the 2010 Citizens United ruling, which found that independent expenditures by corporations are protected by the First Amendment. Walker also supports Stratton because she was the first candidate in the race to publicly support abolishing ICE.
“I personally really believe that the current administration needs to go, and so the person that I feel will have the strongest anti-Trump stance, that’s who I want,” Walker said.
Stratton has pledged to reject corporate political action committee money during her campaign and has been endorsed by End Citizens United, a PAC dedicated to overturning the landmark decision.
The event also featured Cook County Commissioner Josina Morita, Evanston City Clerk Stephanie Mendoza, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Lionel Jean-Baptiste, Evanston/Skokie District 65 Board of Education member Nichole Pinkard, and Evanston Township High School District 202 Board of Education Vice President Monique Parsons and President Pat Savage-Williams.
Stratton opened the event by talking with Evanston voters before Gabel spotlighted her tenure in the Illinois House of Representatives.
The lieutenant governor began her speech by acknowledging Women’s History Month and thanking Schakowsky for “fighting the good fight” and opening doors for women to run for office.
“When I go around the state and ask people what they’re looking for right now, they don’t always give me a policy position. You know what they tell me? ‘I want someone who’s going to go to the mat fighting for me like Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky,’” Stratton said. “I tell them I am that fighter who’s going to continue that legacy.”
Schakowsky endorsed the lieutenant governor in a Monday statement Stratton posted to social media.
The endorsement adds to support from Gov. JB Pritzker, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and U.S. Reps. Danny Davis (D-Chicago), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Chicago) and Eric Sorensen (D-Moline).
As the event ended, Schakowsky urged Stratton’s supporters to “get out there and vote” and talk to voters at the polls.
“There are so many ways to make this woman be the winner,” Schakowsky said. “All of you, think of what they are, talk to your friends and your neighbors, and this is the moment.”
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