The US Senate is set to make history in January 2027, when three Black women will serve in the chamber at the same time for the first time in its 237-year history. Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton’s election victory will make this possible.
Stratton will become the sixth Black woman to serve in the US Senate . Her victory will add another milestone to the history of Black women’s representation in the upper chamber of Congress. Illinois will have a second Black woman senator in its history. She also became the first Black woman to represent Illinois in the chamber.
Carol Moseley Braun became the first Black woman ever elected to the US Senate in 1992.
Former US Vice President Kamala Harris was the second Black woman elected to the Senate. Former senator Laphonza Butler became the third Black woman to serve in the Senate. However, Butler was appointed to the position and did not win a Senate election. Illinois will also make history with two women of colour representing the state in the Senate at the same time. Stratton will serve alongside Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, making Illinois the first state to have two women of colour representing it simultaneously in the upper chamber.
She won her Senate election in 2016, becoming another important figure in the history of Black women’s representation in Congress. California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed her in 2023 to replace the late Senator Dianne Feinstein.
