SPRINGFIELD — As Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton continues promoting her Illinois Blueprint for Washington, she is pointing to policies she claims are successes in Illinois and promises to take them even further at the federal level.

“...And now I’m taking that blueprint to Washington, D.C.,” Stratton said. When asked how she would deliver, she pointed to Illinois: “Well look what we’ve done here in Illinois…”

Stratton is claiming the Pritzker / Stratton administration has “created thousands of good-paying jobs.”

The data tells a very different story.

Illinois is experiencing workforce contraction and job losses, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting a decline of more than 100,000 workers in the labor force by the end of 2025. During that same period, Illinois lost a net 1,700 private-sector jobs, while the rest of the country added more than 584,000.

Key industries have been hit especially hard. Retail trade lost 17,600 jobs and manufacturing shed 9,300 positions in 2025 alone. Meanwhile, job openings have fallen by 100,000 since September 2025, leaving nearly 302,000 Illinoisans unemployed at the end of the year.

The state’s labor force participation rate dropped sharply to 63.6%. Illinois now has one of the worst job markets in the country, with 1.4 unemployed workers for every available job opening, among the highest ratios nationwide.

At the same time, businesses are leaving Illinois at an accelerating pace, with exits tripling since the pandemic. According to migration data, 95% of those leaving Illinois in 2024 moved to states with lower tax burdens.

“Juliana Stratton is asking voters to trust her ‘blueprint,’ but here in Illinois, that blueprint has led to fewer jobs and fewer opportunities for working families,” said Don Tracy. “This extreme agenda is not something we should be scaling nationally.

“I’ve run a business. I’ve had to make payroll. I understand what happens when policies drive up costs and make it harder to hire. Career politicians like Juliana Stratton measure success by the feel-good policies they push, regardless of whether they work. The rest of us measure success by whether people can find a job, afford their bills, and build a life for themselves. 

“Illinois lost 100,000 people in the workforce in a single year. Whatever that number represents, it’s not growth. At the same time, businesses are leaving and job creation is lagging behind the rest of the country. Clearly, Stratton’s approach isn’t working. 

“We need to grow jobs by growing the economy, supporting small businesses, and creating an environment where careers can be created. In the U.S. Senate, I’ll fight for common sense solutions that make life more affordable, raise wages, and enhance economic opportunity.”

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