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美国参议院或即将创造历史性时刻：三名黑人女性同时任职
作者：[阿莱特·萨恩斯]
29分钟前发布
2026年3月21日，美国东部时间上午7:00
种族与民族 国会新闻 多样性与公平 政治行动委员会（PACs）
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伊利诺伊州副州长朱莉安娜·斯特拉顿、参议员安吉拉·阿尔索布鲁克斯和参议员莉萨·布伦特·罗切斯特
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在赢得参议院民主党提名后的几天里，伊利诺伊州副州长朱莉安娜·斯特拉顿与两位有望在明年共同创造历史的女性进行了交谈。
“我们俩都非常高兴。我可以告诉你这一点，”马里兰州民主党参议员安吉拉·阿尔索布鲁克斯在谈到周三与斯特拉顿的通话时说道。“我真的为她感到激动。也为我们所有人感到激动。”
在美国历史上，只有五名黑人女性曾在参议院任职。阿尔索布鲁克斯和特拉华州民主党参议员莉萨·布伦特·罗切斯特去年打破了壁垒，成为首批同时任职的两位黑人女性参议员。
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如果斯特拉顿（60岁）当选，她将成为第六位在参议院任职的黑人女性，并将同时任职的黑人女性数量扩大到三人，这将使黑人女性在上议院拥有更大的代表性和治理经验。
“三位女性意味着在制定政策和通过立法时，有更多机会确保我们社区的声音就在决策桌旁，”斯特拉顿周三对记者表示。“我们不希望政策只是为我们制定的。我们希望政策由我们制定，并与我们共同制定，这将有助于实现这一点。”
鉴于伊利诺伊州的民主党倾向，斯特拉顿是11月选举中最受青睐的候选人，她将对阵共和党人唐·特雷西。斯特拉顿还将与伊利诺伊州参议员塔米·达克沃斯（亚裔美国人）一同创造历史，她们将成为美国参议院中首位同时代表一个州的两位有色人种女性。
“这将为我们政党、我们州以及我们国家的前进带来急需的视角，”斯特拉顿表示。
在美国历史上，自1870年密西西比州共和党人前参议员海勒姆·里弗尔斯（Hiram Revels）开始，只有14名黑人曾在美国参议院任职。120多年后，伊利诺伊州选出了首位黑人女性参议员——前民主党参议员卡罗尔·莫斯利·布朗（Carol Moseley Braun）。
“伊利诺伊州理解多样性及其价值。一直以来都是如此，”莫斯利·布朗在接受CNN采访时表示。“当我竞选时，人们认为我疯了。幸运的是，现在没人对此感到惊讶了。这是件好事，也是我们取得的进步。”
作为斯特拉顿的早期支持者，莫斯利·布朗是本周民主党候选人获胜后联系的人之一。
一位知情人士表示，同一天，斯特拉顿还与前副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯进行了交谈，哈里斯是第二位在参议院任职的黑人女性。
另一位消息人士称，斯特拉顿还与前参议员拉丰扎·巴特勒交换了短信。巴特勒在被任命完成已故民主党参议员黛安·范斯坦的剩余任期时，成为第三位黑人女性参议员。
斯特拉顿的政治之路
斯特拉顿出生并成长于芝加哥南区，曾是一名律师，2016年赢得州众议院席位。同样来自伊利诺伊州的前总统巴拉克·奥巴马在民主党初选中支持了斯特拉顿的州立法竞选活动。
2018年，伊利诺伊州州长JB·普里茨克任命斯特拉顿为其竞选搭档，当他们获胜后，她成为该州首位黑人副州长。
普里茨克正计划参加2028年总统竞选，他在斯特拉顿的初选中发挥了重要作用，动用其政治和财务力量支持他的执政伙伴。州长的参与引起了国会黑人核心小组负责人的不满，该小组曾支持另一位黑人女性候选人众议员罗宾·凯利。
[相关文章 伊利诺伊州民主党参议院候选人副州长朱莉安娜·斯特拉顿（左）与州长JB·普里茨克在伊利诺伊州芝加哥参加圣帕特里克节游行后合影。斯科特·奥尔森/盖蒂图片社 普里茨克在伊利诺伊州参议院初选中的权力运作及其对2028年竞选的意义 9分钟阅读]
斯特拉顿还击败了印度裔美国人众议员拉贾·克里希纳穆尔蒂。克里希纳穆尔蒂在竞选中拥有比对手显著的筹款优势。
斯特拉顿获胜后，批评普里茨克反对凯利的国会黑人核心小组主席伊维特·克拉克众议员在声明中向她表示祝贺：“这对伊利诺伊州和整个国家来说都是一个重要时刻，需要团结，我期待她11月获胜并欢迎她加入国会黑人核心小组。”
“这些竞选是竞争，”阿尔索布鲁克斯表示，她是唯一一位来自伊利诺伊州外的黑人国会议员并支持斯特拉顿。“我们都有相同的利益，我认为我们将朝着同样的目标努力，推动我们的国家前进，确保我们降低人们的生活成本。”
一个小而重要的群体
在竞选活动的最后一个周末，斯特拉顿拜访了前参议员罗兰·伯里斯的家。伯里斯是在当时参议员奥巴马辞职成为总统后被任命到参议院的。
在美国历史上的14名黑人参议员中，有三人来自伊利诺伊州，并与即将卸任的参议员迪克·杜宾（Dick Durbin）一同任职，斯特拉顿正寻求接替他的职位。
在这14名参议员中，大多数是民主党人，包括新泽西州的科里·布克和佐治亚州的拉斐尔·沃诺克。现任参议院中只有一名黑人共和党参议员，即南卡罗来纳州的蒂姆·斯科特。
黑人选民在最近的选举中一直是重要的投票群体，而黑人女性几十年来一直被视为民主党的核心力量。
“对我来说，参与并一直参与我们民主进程的最忠诚群体是黑人女性，”布伦特·罗切斯特表示。“我认为在这个时刻，特别是当我们看到数十万黑人女性退出劳动力市场，言语攻击我们时——这是一个振奋人心的时刻。”
布伦特·罗切斯特在2024年芝加哥为斯特拉顿的参议院竞选活动举办的活动上认识了她。这位特拉华州参议员表示，她一直关注斯特拉顿的竞选活动，并在初选前几个月她父亲去世时给她打了电话。
“我们谈到了在悲痛的同时竞选美国参议院这一艰巨任务，知道家人的精神会伴随你走过这段旅程，”布伦特·罗切斯特说，她自己在参议院竞选期间父亲去世时也经历了类似的悲痛。
阿尔索布鲁克斯与斯特拉顿也有个人联系。在整个竞选过程中，两人通过电话和短信保持联系。
其中一些对话集中在她们共同的信仰上，以及她们如何依靠灵修音乐来支撑每一天。
“我们基本上承诺，每天开始时和所有时刻都听充满鼓励、希望和灵性的音乐，”阿尔索布鲁克斯说，并补充说两人经常听Maverick City Music的基督教歌曲《坚固根基》（Firm Foundation）。
初选前的最后几天，斯特拉顿给阿尔索布鲁克斯打电话，她回忆说，伊利诺伊州民主党人对她说：“在这个时刻，你实际上是世界上唯一完全理解我感受的人。”
在她们各自的竞选中，阿尔索布鲁克斯和斯特拉顿都面临着对手的巨额资金投入。克里希纳穆尔蒂为其竞选筹集了超过3000万美元，一个支持加密货币的超级政治行动委员会（PAC）花费数百万美元攻击斯特拉顿。（这位副州长还获得了由普里茨克部分资助的超级政治行动委员会的大量资金支持）。
阿尔索布鲁克斯在对阵前众议员大卫·特隆的民主党初选中获胜，特隆投入了6000万美元个人资金用于竞选。
“她也面临着所有这些压力，她说，‘在这个时刻我应该做什么？你知道，我需要知道什么？’”阿尔索布鲁克斯回忆道。“我们进行了一次非常愉快的交谈。”
阿尔索布鲁克斯和布伦特·罗切斯特都对斯特拉顿在11月获胜并于2027年加入参议院充满乐观，这将是黑人女性又一个打破壁垒的时刻。
“我希望，”布伦特·罗切斯特说，“这能鼓励所有那些在投票站、组织活动和制定策略的女性和女孩们，她们的努力没有白费，她们的付出没有白费，并且知道未来还有更多可能。”
“进步正在发生，即使有时感觉不到，”阿尔索布鲁克斯表示。“我认为黑人女性过去一年感觉受到了攻击，但我认为看到朱莉安娜的胜利，会鼓励我们继续前进。我们不会——我们不应该——被排除在外。我们将继续努力，成为国家解决方案的一部分。”
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[Arlette Saenz]
29 min ago
PUBLISHED Mar 21, 2026, 7:00 AM ET
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Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks and Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester
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In the days after winning the Democratic nomination for Senate, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton spoke to the two women with whom she could make history next year.
“We both were just gleeful. I can tell you that much,” Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland said of her call with Stratton on Wednesday. “I’m just really thrilled for her. Thrilled for all of us.”
Only five Black women have served in the Senate in American history. Alsobrooks and Democratic Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware broke barriers last year as the first two Black female senators to serve simultaneously.
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If elected, Stratton, 60, would become the sixth Black woman to serve in the Senate and expand the number doing so at the same time to three, giving Black women greater representation and governing experience in the upper chamber.
“The idea of three means there’s that much more of an opportunity to make sure that when policy is being made, when legislation is being passed, that the voices of our community is right there at the table,” Stratton told reporters on Wednesday. “We don’t want policy to just be made for us. We want it to be made by us and with us, and that’s going to help that to happen.”
Given Illinois’ Democratic lean, Stratton is the heavy favorite to win November’s election when she’ll face off against Republican Don Tracy. Stratton would also make history on another front serving alongside Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who is Asian American. They would be the first two women of color to ever represent a state together in the Senate.
“It’s going to bring a much-needed perspective to what we need to do to move our party forward, to move our state forward and to move our country forward,” said Stratton.
In the history of the country, only 14 Black individuals have served in the US Senate, starting in 1870 with former Sen. Hiram Revels, a Republican from Mississippi. More than 120 years later, Illinois sent the first Black woman to the US Senate – former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, a Democrat.
“Illinois understands diversity and the value of it. It always has,” Moseley Braun told CNN in an interview. “When I ran, people thought I had lost my mind. Happily, no one’s surprised about it now. That’s a good thing and that’s the progress we’ve been able to make.”
An early endorser of Stratton, Moseley Braun was among the people the Democratic nominee called after her victory this week.
That same day, Stratton spoke with former Vice President Kamala Harris, who was the second Black woman to serve in the Senate, a source familiar with the call said.
Stratton also has exchanged text messages with former Sen. Laphonza Butler, who became the third Black female senator when she was appointed to finish the term of the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, another source said.
Stratton’s path
Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, Stratton worked as a lawyer before winning a state House seat in 2016. Former President Barack Obama, also a senator from Illinois, endorsed Stratton’s state legislative campaign during the Democratic primary.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker tapped Stratton as his running mate in 2018, and when they won, she became the first Black lieutenant governor of the state.
Pritzker, who is eyeing a 2028 presidential run, played a significant role in Stratton’s primary victory, flexing his political and financial muscle to boost his governing partner. The governor’s involvement caused frustration with the head of the Congressional Black Caucus, which had endorsed another Black woman in the race, Rep. Robin Kelly.
[Related article Illinois Democratic Senate candidate Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton (L) poses for a picture alongside Gov. JB Pritzker after the two walked in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Chicago, Illinois on March 14, 2026. Scott Olson/Getty Images Inside JB Pritzker’s power play in Illinois’ Senate primary – and what it means for a 2028 run 9 min read]
Stratton also defeated Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Indian American who entered the race with a significant fundraising edge over his opponents.
After Stratton’s victory, Rep. Yvette Clarke, the chair of the CBC who criticized Pritzker for moving against Kelly, congratulated her in a statement: “This is a significant moment for Illinois and the nation that calls for unity, and I look forward to her victory in November and welcoming her to the Congressional Black Caucus.”
“These races are competition,” said Alsobrooks, who was the only Black member of Congress outside of Illinois to endorse Stratton. “We all have the same interest, and I think we’re going to be working toward the same goal, moving our country forward, making sure that we’re bringing down costs for people.”
A small club
On the final weekend of campaigning, Stratton stopped by the home of former Sen. Roland Burris, who was appointed to the Senate after then-Sen. Obama resigned to become president.
Three of the 14 Black senators in US history have represented Illinois and served alongside retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, who Stratton is running to replace.
Of the 14 senators, the majority have been Democrats, including Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Raphael Warnock of Georgia. Republicans have one Black senator in the current Senate, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Black voters have been a significant voting bloc in the recent elections, and Black women have been viewed as the backbone of the Democratic Party for decades.
“The most loyal sector of individuals that are participating and have participated in our democracy, to me, have been Black women,” said Blunt Rochester. “I think in this moment, particularly when we have seen hundreds of thousands of Black women taken out of the workforce, words used against us – this is a moment of uplift.”
Blunt Rochester met Stratton when the Illinois Democrat attended an event in Chicago for her 2024 Senate campaign. The Delaware senator said she kept tabs on Stratton’s own run and called the Illinois Democrat when her father passed away a few months before primary day.
“We talked about the challenge of doing something so mighty as running for the United States Senate at the same time you are grieving, knowing that that family member’s spirit is with you as you run on that journey,” said Blunt Rochester, who experienced similar loss when her father died during her own Senate campaign.
Alsobrooks also shared a personal connection with Stratton. The two women kept in touch by phone and text message throughout the campaign.
Some of those conversations focused on their shared faith and how they would turn to spiritual music to help power each day.
“We basically committed that we would start the day and everything with really just encouraging, hopeful, spiritual music,” Alsobrooks said, adding that both women would often listen to the Christian song “Firm Foundation” by Maverick City Music.
In the final days before the primary, Stratton phoned Alsobrooks, who recounted the Illinois Democratic said to her, “You’re literally the only person on the face of earth who understands, in this moment, exactly how I feel.”
In each of their races, Alsobrooks and Stratton faced an onslaught of spending from their opponents. Krishnamoorthi raised more than $30 million for his campaign, and a pro-crypto super PAC spent millions more attacking Stratton. (The lieutenant governor also had significant financial backing from a super PAC funded in part by Pritkzer).
Alsobrooks won the Democratic primary for her Senate seat against former Rep. David Trone, who poured $60 million of his personal fortune into the contest.
“She was facing all of that as well, and said, ‘What should I be doing in this moment? You know, what do I need to know?” Alsobrooks recounted. “We had a really great conversation.”
Alsobrooks and Blunt Rochester were both optimistic Stratton would win in November and join them in the Senate in 2027, marking another barrier-breaking moment for Black women.
“I hope,” Blunt Rochester said, “it encourages all of those women and girls who have been out here in polling places, organizing, strategizing, that this was not in vain, and that their efforts are not in vain, and that that there is more to come.”
“Progress is happening, even if it doesn’t feel like it sometimes,” Alsobrooks said. “I think Black women felt attacked this past year, but I think that looking at Juliana’s win, encourages us to keep moving forward. We are not – we should not – be counted out. We will not be counted out. We will continue to work to be a part of the solutions in our country.”
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