Alex Ortiz – aortiz@shawmedia.com

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Alex Ortiz – aortiz@shawmedia.com

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Alex Ortiz – aortiz@shawmedia.com

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The Will County Democratic Central Committee hosted its annual dinner Friday at the IBEW Local 176 Hall in Joliet with a special guest.

Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate Juliana Stratton was in the house to speak to the dozens of union members, elected officials and party members in attendance. Gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker was originally meant to speak, but he had a personal issue arise.

Stratton talked about how she got into electoral politics after challenging her state representative in 2016 and winning in the 5th district. Pritzker then chose her as his running mate for his 2018 gubernatorial campaign.

“My story is not unique,” she said. “There are people rising up to run for office all across our state and all across the country.”

She used her story to help rally local Democrats to stay energized for the upcoming midterm elections. Stratton talked about health care, preserving strong labor unions and, of course, her and Pritzker’s main opponent — Gov. Bruce Rauner. A line about unions got particularly large applause. Earlier this year, Rauner got a big win from the U.S. Supreme Court in a case called Janus v. AFSCME, in which the court ruled public employees can’t be forced to pay fees to labor unions that represent them in collective bargaining. Pritzker said at the time the decision “appalled” him. He called it “another example of Rauner partnering with anti-worker special interest groups … to pursue his own agenda over the best interests of working families.”

“We simply cannot afford another four years of Bruce Rauner and his failed leadership,” Stratton said. “The choice could not be clearer in this election.”

Stratton even cheered for specific candidates, including Mica Freeman, who is running against incumbent Mark Batinick, R-Plainfield, in the 97th district. Stratton also got the crowd excited when she said the local Democrats would take the majority on the Will County Board. Local congressmen Bill Foster and Dan Lipinski were also in attendance after being in Washington, D.C. Stratton and Michael Carrigan, the president of the Illinois AFL-CIO, also mentioned the coming “blue wave” in November.

Early voting has started in Will County. Election Day is Nov. 6.