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Illinois · U.S. Senate · 2026

Stratton Leads Tracy in Illinois Senate Race

October 20, 2026
Juliana Stratton
58.5%
Juliana Stratton (D)
Don Tracy
41.5%
Don Tracy (R)
D+17.0%
400 likely midterm voters · MoE ±4.9%

ActiVote’s October 20, 2026 Illinois U.S. Senate poll finds that Democrat Juliana Stratton leads Republican Don Tracy by 17.0%. The poll was in the field between September 26 and October 20 (median field date of October 8). The poll was among 400 likely midterm voters and has an average expected error of 4.9%.

The headline result
58.5%
41.5%
Juliana Stratton Don Tracy

Stratton leads among suburban and urban voters, voters under 30 and aged 50 and older, women, White, Black and Latino voters, voters on middle and high incomes, and at every level of education. Tracy leads among rural voters, voters aged 30 to 49, men and voters on low incomes. These group figures rest on subsamples for which the expected error is considerably larger than the 4.9% for the poll as a whole. Illinois does not register voters by party, so we do not report a breakdown by party affiliation.

Political Spectrum

The following graph shows the support for Stratton and Tracy among left, moderate left, center, moderate right, and right voters. These groups are defined by splitting the Illinois electorate in 5 equal sized groups of 20% each.

The crosstabs
Left
99%
Moderate Left
93%
Center
67%
33%
Moderate Right
21%
79%
Right
12%
88%
Juliana StrattonDon Tracy

Stratton holds her own side more firmly. She takes 99% of the left and 93% of the moderate left, while Tracy takes 88% of the right and 79% of the moderate right. The race is decided in the center, where Stratton leads by 67% to 33%.

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The full crosstab table
ActiVote · Illinois U.S. Senate · October 20, 2026
ActiVote 400 LV Unweighted Weighted Juliana Stratton Don Tracy
National ±4.9% MoE 100% 100% 58.5% 41.5%
Political Spectrum Left 42% 20% 99% 1%
Moderate Left 29% 20% 93% 7%
Center 12% 20% 67% 33%
Moderate Right 8% 20% 21% 79%
Right 10% 20% 12% 88%
Region rural 31% 25% 36% 64%
suburban 29% 30% 57% 43%
urban 40% 45% 72% 28%
Age 18-29 36% 13% 78% 22%
30-49 36% 25% 48% 52%
50-64 17% 22% 61% 39%
65+ 11% 40% 57% 43%
Gender F 44% 53% 75% 25%
M 56% 47% 40% 60%
Ethnicity White 63% 79% 51% 49%
Black 11% 10% 88% 12%
Latino 18% 6% 83% 17%
Income Low 26% 23% 47% 53%
Middle 31% 30% 70% 30%
High 43% 47% 57% 43%
Education HS 21% 23% 65% 35%
College 66% 60% 55% 45%
Grad 13% 17% 61% 39%

Every poll in this race

Published StrattonTracy Gap Sample MoE
October 20, 2026 58.5% 41.5% D+17.0% 400 ±4.9%
Methodology. 400 likely midterm voters in Illinois. Responses weighted by Demographics and Spectrum. Average expected error ±4.9%. See Why trust our polls? for the methodology, disclosures and accuracy record.