(The Center Square) – The Illinois Republican candidate for U.S. Senate says his Democratic opponent may be scared to debate over the issues.
The November midterm election is still months away, and seat being vacated by longtime Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, has Democrat Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton going up against Republican Don Tracy.
Tracy said he’s looking to debate Stratton, but hasn’t seen the Stratton campaign commit.
“I guess she is, you know, maybe afraid of exposing some of her far left stances on the issues,” Tracy told The Center Square. “I like to say her platform is open borders, open jails and open checkbooks, yours, and that her economic spending plan is $30 trillion with a T because she wants government health care to replace our, you know, pretty good system of health care.”
Juliana for Illinois campaign spokesperson Allison Janowski said Stratton “has previously stated that she welcomes the opportunity to debate Tracy.”
Stratton was not available for an interview with The Center Square for this story, but Janowski said they would look for “future opportunities.”
In an interview with The Center Square, Tracy said Stratton’s policies are too extreme for Illinois. He pointed to weekend violence across Chicago as an example.
“You know, it’s just, it’s a culture of favoring the criminals, career criminals over victims,” Tracy said. “And until it changes, I don’t see how it’s going to change in Chicago.”
Tracy also criticized Stratton and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker for increasing taxes and fees every year for the past seven years, while also increasing the annual state budget by more than 50%.
Stratton’s campaign didn’t directly address Tracy’s criticism of increased taxes under the Pritzker administration. Instead, they tied Tracy to President Donald Trump.
“Don Tracy continues to march in lockstep with Donald Trump even as Illinois families are being crushed by his dangerous, extreme, and increasingly unpopular agenda,” Janowski told The Center Square in an email. “Tracy has been silent as Americans bear the price of Trump’s reckless tariffs, trade wars, and unending conflict in the Middle East, and he refuses to stand up for Illinoisans when it counts. Illinois deserves a fighter in the Senate, not another mouthpiece for the failing president.”
The election is Nov. 3. Tracy and Stratton are on the ballot alongside American Center Party candidate Whitfield Harrington Jr.
