Illinois voters made history in the 2026 midterms. By electing Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton to the U.S. Senate, they put the chamber on track to have at least six Black senators serving at the same time, a record. And when Stratton takes office in January 2027, she’ll join Angela Alsobrooks and Lisa Blunt Rochester to become part of the first group of three Black women to serve together in the Senate. (ap.org⁠, jointcenter.org⁠, axios.com⁠)

That milestone carries particular meaning in Illinois. In 1992, the state elected Carol Moseley Braun, the first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate. Thirty-four years later, Illinois has elected its second Black woman to the chamber, and she’ll arrive with two already serving. (senate.gov⁠, axios.com⁠)

Meet the six senators

• Juliana Stratton (D–Illinois) won her Senate race against Republican Don Tracy. She has served as Illinois lieutenant governor since 2019. (axios.com⁠, axios.com⁠)
• Angela Alsobrooks (D–Maryland) took office in 2025 after serving as Prince George’s County executive and, before that, as the county’s first woman elected state’s attorney. (senate.gov⁠, alsobrooks.senate.gov⁠)
• Lisa Blunt Rochester (D–Delaware) previously represented Delaware in the U.S. House. In 2025, she became the first woman and the first Black senator to represent the state. (senate.gov⁠, bluntrochester.senate.gov⁠)
• Cory Booker (D–New Jersey), the former mayor of Newark, won reelection in November. He has served in the Senate since 2013. (ap.org⁠, booker.senate.gov⁠, senate.gov⁠)
• Raphael Warnock (D–Georgia) became Georgia’s first Black U.S. senator in 2021. He is also the senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached. (warnock.senate.gov⁠, warnock.senate.gov⁠)
• Tim Scott (R–South Carolina) has represented his state in the Senate since 2013 and is the only Republican among the six. (senate.gov⁠, scott.senate.gov⁠, jointcenter.org⁠)

Mississippi could make it seven

As of November 6, Mississippi’s Senate race between Democrat Scott Colom and Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith remained unresolved. A Colom victory would bring the number to seven and make him Mississippi’s first Black U.S. senator elected since 1874. Mississippi is also where this history began. In 1870, Hiram Revels took office as the nation’s first Black U.S. senator. (reuters.com⁠, senate.gov⁠, communityvoiceks.com⁠)

Six seats out of 100 is a Senate record. It also shows how far representation still has to go. Black Americans make up about 14 percent of the U.S. population, according to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. For a generation that watched Carol Moseley Braun make history on her own, January will bring a scene the Senate has never seen before. Three Black women will take part in the same debates, cast votes on the same bills and represent three different states. (jointcenter.org⁠, senate.gov⁠, axios.com⁠)