From a Friend of McHenry County Blog:
Underwood’s Chances Diminish with Duckworth Endorsement of Stratton
With JB Pritzker and now Tammy Duckworth endorsing Juliana Stratton, Democrats are telling Lauren Underwood they don’t want her in the Senate — at least for now.
It’s ironic because Underwood is the candidate with the most grassroots support and energy while Stratton is arguably the weakest general election candidate of the big names (either she or Krishnamoorthi).
Underwood has also proven she can win tough elections and win in suburban and exurban areas.
Stratton has not done that.
But the top brass has chosen Stratton and it’s happening early to scare off challengers.
Robin Kelly hates JB Pritzker and she’s in retirement age, so she still might run out of pure spite.
However, I don’t believe Kelly would have a chance against a well funded Stratton campaign.
Duckworth’s early endorsement of Stratton further undercuts Kelly.
Underwood might be able to pull it off, but if she ran for Senate she would give up her House seat and it would be a big gamble for her.
Few people are talking about this, but maybe Duckworth won’t seek reelection in 2028.
She has two kids and she may wish to spend more time with them as they grow up.
If that happened, Underwood could start running for Senate in two years.
I am not aware of any bad blood between the Pritzker and Underwood camps or Duckworth and Underwood camps.
