Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s call for an immediate increase in the federal minimum wage drew criticism at a debate from her two main rivals for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, who each called her plan politically unrealistic.

In the hour-long debate hosted by Fox-32 Chicago on Monday night, U.S. Reps. Robin Kelly of Lynwood and Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg said they supported a phased-in minimum wage increase but chided Stratton for claiming her plan was “bold” when they thought it would never pass Congress.

Stratton, the two-term lieutenant governor to Gov. JB Pritzker, has voiced support for increasing the $7.25-per-hour federal minimum wage to $25 per hour while Krishnamoorthi and Kelly favor a plan backed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that would increase the base federal wage to $17-an-hour by 2030.

But Stratton maintained that wasn’t fast enough.

“I can tell you, people can’t wait til 2030. If there’s going to be a $17 an hour federal minimum wage, it should happen tomorrow,” Stratton said.

“But here we are talking about what might be realistic. Well, what’s not realistic is expecting people to not be able to put food on the table, not being able to save for their future, not being able to give their children what they need,” Stratton said. “And I think right now, what I’m hearing from Illinoisans is they’re not looking for, well, ‘Let’s just find what seems to be the easiest thing to do.’ They’re looking for leaders who are going to get to Washington with bold ideas and be courageous to fight for them.”

That prompted Kelly, in her 13th year in the House, to respond by saying, “You can have bold ideas, but if you don’t have the votes? I mean, I’m bold and courageous. I mean, that’s just the bottom line if you don’t have the votes.”

Krishnamoorthi, a five-term congressman, said even Sanders, a socialist Democrat who is “bold and crazy,” realized, “Look, we need to get votes to get this passed and if it doesn’t get passed, it’s meaningless.”

Both Kelly and Krishnamoorthi cautioned that a sizable immediate increase in the minimum wage could hurt small businesses and could even lead to job reductions as business owners try to adapt to a higher wage schedule and seek entry-level workers.

“Yeah, I mean $7.25 is poverty wages at this point,” Krishnamoorthi said. “I think that a $25 hour minimum wage could really harm small businesses and curtail hiring at those businesses. In addition, for our youth, my second job in life was working at McDonald’s. I’m not sure I would have gotten that job at $25 an hour.”

Kelly said that in speaking to small business owners, “one of their concerns is, if we do raise it too high, that they’ll have to shutter their doors or have less people working there. They’ll have to work more as the owner.”

In addition to backing a $17-an-hour minimum wage, Kelly said she also would “look at giving tax credits to small businesses that do participate.”

Stratton said that when Illinois approved a six-year phase-in of its $15-an-hour minimum wage, which went into full effect Jan. 1, 2025, “we included business leaders and business owners at the table to make sure that their voices are represented. And, of course, I would do that when I get to Washington.”

“But the bottom line is, why do we still have so many people who are working two and three jobs just to make ends meet?” she asked. “We need to do more to raise wages to a livable wage, and let’s stop talking about how to give people the bare minimum. Let’s talk about how we can give people the opportunity to really thrive.”

The debate came on the eve of Stratton receiving the endorsement Tuesday of the politically active Service Employees International Union Illinois State Council. SEIU Illinois represents more than 150,000 members across industries, including janitors, healthcare workers, childcare workers, and public employees.

Meanwhile, in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate nomination, former state GOP Chairman Don Tracy announced his candidacy had been endorsed by the state’s three Republican U.S. House members — Reps. Darin LaHood of Peoria, Mary Miller of Oakland and Mike Bost of Murphysboro.