WASHINGTON — With Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., having not announced yet whether he will run again — and Gov. JB Pritzker still not confirming whether he will seek another term — Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton on Monday is launching her Level Up federal political action committee to build up her political operation and bolster a potential Senate run.
After President Donald Trump won re-election on Nov. 6., “I woke up like so many other Americans, wondering how to keep going. And one thing that I do know is we do have to keep going. We have to continue to work. This is uncharted territory, but we can’t give up,” Stratton told me.
Launching Level Up “is really, to me, it’s a declaration that I’m not going to stop fighting for the people of Illinois. I also think that people around the nation need to see the good work that we’ve done here in Illinois, what policies that I’ve been able to do alongside Gov. Pritzker’s side, what our administration has done, like raising the minimum wage, enshrining reproductive freedom into state law, common-sense gun safety laws, investing in the largest infrastructure law in state history.
“I mean, we have done so much to level up middle-class Americans, I want that to happen all across the country. What we’ve done here in Illinois, we see this as a blueprint or model for what can happen elsewhere. So that’s what this PAC is really all about.”
Stratton, 59, who was raised in Hyde Park, on Monday will be releasing a biographical video shot in her Bronzeville home.
Durbin, 80, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate and the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, will announce his plans in his own way on his own timetable. He was first elected in 1997 and is in his fifth term.
The Illinois Democrats who would consider running for the Senate if Durbin retires — and Stratton is one of them — understand that Durbin’s long tenure gives him the right to state his intentions when he’s ready.
Indeed, Stratton told me that if Durbin runs again, she would be “the first to endorse him.” The guess among Durbin watchers is that he won’t be a candidate in 2026.
Pritzker, 60, is seen as running again in 2026 even as he eyes a 2028 presidential bid. Still, he’s coy about plans. When CNN’s Dana Bash asked him Sunday about a White House run, Pritzker said, “I got to tell you, we have a lot to accomplish in the state of Illinois. So I’m looking forward to that and just deciding whether or not I’m going to run for re-election here.”
So that brings us up to Stratton’s new Level Up PAC, being done with Pritzker’s blessings.
Stratton, a former state representative, landed on the statewide political map when Pritzker picked her to be his running mate. She’s building up her own political infrastructure because it’s prudent to have a strong independent operation bolstering allied candidates and causes no matter her future course.
Stratton told me the Level Up PAC “is going to help me to do something that I think is especially needed right now, and that is to make sure that we demonstrate the leadership of our administration, how Illinois has become a beacon of progress, quite frankly, for working people. I want to elevate and build on that success through the Level Up PAC, and I want to support candidates, campaigns and causes that are delivering results for working people.”
The Level Up board consists of three women who Stratton trusts and is close to: Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering; Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Precious Brad-Davis; and Sol Flores, a former deputy governor.
Level Up is what the Federal Election Commission calls a hybrid PAC. That means it will have two functions — one account that can make direct contributions to a candidate and another account to operate as a super PAC that can take unlimited donations for independent expenditures to bolster candidates and causes — which could be very helpful in a Senate race.
If Stratton were to run for Senate, she would have to cut ties with Level Up — run by her allies — and create a separate campaign committee.
With the field frozen until Durbin and Pritzker announce what they are going to do, Stratton told me there’s no putting that cart before the horse as she kicks off Level Up.
“I am keeping my options open as to how I can be most impactful.”