More than 30 years ago, then-Illinois state Rep. Carol Moseley Braun became the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate in a pivotal year for female candidates.
This year, another Illinois woman – Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton – made history again. Her victory makes her the fifth Black woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate and makes Illinois the first state to have two women of color in the Senate at the same time. Her victory also ensures that, for the first time in history, three black women will serve simultaneously in the Upper House. Decision Desk HQ predicted that Angie Nixon, the Democratic candidate for Florida Senate, would lose to incumbent Ashley Moody.
Stratton’s victory is part of a wave of projected Democratic victories that led to the party taking control of the Senate, a resounding rebuke of President Donald Trump’s second term thus far, solidifying the party’s control of both chambers of Congress.
Stratton recently told 19th’s Errin Haines that running for Senate as a Black woman can be intimidating — but that she was counting on the support of Senators Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, the two Black women serving in the upper chamber.
“What I knew was that in something this difficult, I could make it and there would be two other women who would totally understand what it was,” Stratton said. “I knew that when it was difficult, there was someone I could go to and say, ‘Where are we? How can we manage this? What should we do? How can you help me?” Because a lot of times, it’s black women doing this for other black women.
The election of Stratton, who will replace outgoing Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, is a testament to a legislative body that is slowly but surely becoming more diverse. Whether or not Democrats relinquish control of the House, This year’s elections will reshape the face of an institution historically dominated by older white men and often compared to a country club.
Women hold only 27 of the Senate’s 100 seats, and only 64 women have served since the chamber first met in 1789, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Of these senators, only five were black; Laphonza Butler was nominated to fill former Vice President Kamala Harris’ seat in 2021, but did not run for a full term. Only three women of Asian and Pacific Islander descent (Harris, Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, and Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii) and one Latina, Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada, have served in the Senate; all are Democrats.
Stratton is just one of the Democratic Senate candidates who will make history in 2026.
In New Hampshire, Decision Desk headquarters predicts that Rep. Chris Pappas will be the first gay man to serve in the Senate.
Democrats Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota and Mary Peltola of Alaska would make history as the first Native women to serve in the Senate if one or both are elected. In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed could be the first Muslim senator.
Stratton and Pappas were part of a wave of early projections — including the re-election of Georgia’s Jon Ossoff — that led Democrats to take control of the Senate. In North Carolina, former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, won his Senate bid, filling a seat that was previously held by a Republican, according to Decision Desk headquarters.
And in a stunning upset in ruby-red South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews unseated Republican Darline Graham, who had assumed the seat previously held by her brother, the late Sen. Lindsay Graham. In Texas, which has not elected a Democrat to statewide office in more than 30 years, Decision Desk headquarters predicted that Democrat James Talarico would replace longtime Sen. John Cornyn, defeating Republican Ken Paxton in a race that hinged on issues of masculinity and anti-transgender attacks.
In Kansas, Decision Desk headquarters predicted that megapastor Adam Hamilton would be the first Democrat elected to the state Senate since 1932, a resounding victory after a campaign that focused on the stories of women who had been imprisoned after being sued for medical debts owed to his opponent, Republican Sen. Roger Marshall. In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown defeated incumbent Sen. John Husted, and in Iowa, Democrat Josh Turek, a wheelchair user and former Paralympian, won against Republican Ashley Hinson, according to Decision Desk headquarters. Turek will join the ranks of disabled senators.
And in Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson is seeking to defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who holds the record for longest-serving Republican senator.
The number of women senators serving in the next Congress won’t be fully decided in November: Two senators, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, were not up for re-election this year but are running for governor of their states. If both win, as is expected, they will appoint successors to fill the remainder of their terms.
Gn usa
