By Townhall Chicago News Staff
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Don Tracy said Monday that Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton did not deny being called a “Democrat socialist” three times during a recent debate on WTTW, eight days before the Nov. 4 election.
Tracy, a Springfield attorney and Illinois Senate candidate, is challenging Stratton, the Democratic nominee, for the seat. He used an in-studio radio interview to lay out policy contrasts ahead of Election Day.
“She’s running to impeach the president. I called her a Democrat socialist three times during the debate. She did not deny it one time,” Tracy said.
Tracy criticized Stratton’s support for a $25 federal minimum wage, Medicare for All, voting rights for incarcerated felons, expanding the U.S. Supreme Court and eliminating the Electoral College.
“A $25 national minimum wage will increase the cost of living and it will be a death sentence for businesses, especially small business,” Tracy said. “This proposal makes no distinction between New York City and the smallest town in downstate Illinois.”
Tracy said former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, now serving a federal prison sentence, recruited Stratton to run in a Democratic primary and helped direct about $2 million to her campaign. Tracy did not provide documentation for the claim.
“She was recruited by Mike Madigan, who is now sitting in a federal prison, to run against another Democrat whose only sin was that he was voting a little bit too bipartisan,” Tracy said.
Tracy said he has campaigned at car shows, Oktoberfest festivals and ethnic community events across Illinois, including in Democratic-leaning parts of Chicago, and plans to spend the campaign’s final days focused on Cook County.
“I’m running to defend the American Dream — by reducing the cost of living for all Illinoisans, especially working families, and to represent all of Illinois, not just Chicago,” Tracy said.
Tracy also criticized an automatic annual increase to the Illinois motor fuel tax, which does not require a legislative vote. The state tax rose from 19 cents to 38 cents per gallon in July 2019 and has increased annually since under the indexing formula.
“They put it on automatic pilot. It goes up every year automatically without a vote,” Tracy said.
Stratton’s campaign did not immediately respond to the claims. The general election is Nov. 4.
