SAUGET, Ill.—Lt. Gov. and U.S. Senate hopeful Juliana Stratton wrapped up a Metro East swing on Monday, meeting with pastors in Sauget after meeting with other supporters Sunday in Edwardsville.

Stratton is vying for the Democratic nomination against a field that includes Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Rep. Robin Kelly in the race to succeed Dick Durbin in the Senate.

Early voting for the March 17 primary starts Thursday.

She spoke Monday of what she described as a “five-alarm fire” in Washington on issues like health care, taxes and affordability.

“Democracy is not an abstract idea. It’s the difference between wether your grandmother can see a doctor, wether your child can go to a good school, wether your neighbor can afford to stay in their home and wether your voice gets counted when you cast a ballot,” she said at an interfaith breakfast at Power of Change Christian Church.

Stratton’s bid has now received more than Gov. JB Pritzker’s endorsement of her campaign, but also financial support.

Our partners at Capitol News Illinois report Pritzker gave a PAC backing Stratton’s campaign $5 million in December. The donations were disclosed in campaign finance reports released over the weekend, which is the final one required ahead of the election.

Stratton’s campaign reported $1.1 million in hand at the end of December.

“We’re in the home stretch and I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing from day one on this campaign and that is working very hard to reach every single voter that I can, getting them to know my message about how I’m going to give the people what they want–they want higher wages, they want to make sure they have access to affordable health care and they want a tax break,” she said.

Krishnamoorthi has a commanding financial advantage, with $15.2 million in cash on hand at the end of 2025. Kelly reported about $1.6 on hand.