Don Tracy (Illinois politician)

Tracy was born in Urbana in eastern Illinois and raised in Mt. Sterling in western Illinois, the oldest of 12 children. He attended Western Illinois University and holds a bachelor’s degree in general business administration from Arizona State University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Memphis.⁠[1]

Tracy’s parents founded DOT Foods, a food industry redistributor based in Mount Sterling. He started working in the family business’s warehouse at age 10, drove trucks during college summers, worked as an outside traveling salesman through law school, and has served as the company’s general outside counsel for more than 40 years; he and his siblings are part owners of the company.⁠[2][1][3]

He owned and operated a law firm in Springfield with a satellite office in Mt. Sterling; by 2015 he was a partner at the Springfield law firm Brown, Hay & Stephens, where he later became senior counsel.⁠[1][3][2]

He has served as secretary of the Illinois Bar Foundation, president of the Sangamon County Bar Association, chairman of the Illinois Corporate Acts Advisory Committee, president of the Abraham LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States (1861–1865). Born to a frontier farming family in Kentucky, he had less than a year of formal schooling, taught himself law, and served in the Illinois legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives before winning the presidency as the Republican candidate in 1860. During the Civil War he preserved the Union, issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and pushed the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery through Congress. He was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington on April 14, 1865, and died the next day.Open the full entry Association, president of the Oak Ridge Cemetery Board and president of the Dana Thomas House Foundation, and on local bodies including the Springfield YMCA, the Springfield 1908 Race Riot Commission and Clark-Griffith Little League.⁠[1]

Tracy began his political career in 2002 as a Democrat, running unsuccessfully for a Springfield-area seat in the Illinois Senate. In 2010 he ran for lieutenant governor of Illinois and finished third.⁠[4][2]

In January 2015 Governor Bruce Rauner selected Tracy to succeed Aaron Jaffe as chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board; Tracy had supported Rauner’s election, including funding an ad campaign. He held the post until 2019.⁠[3][4]

Tracy chaired the Illinois Republican Party from 2021 to 2024; when he stepped down in 2024 he complained about intraparty fighting.⁠[5][2]

On August 13, 2025, Tracy announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democrat Dick Durbin. He said, “Illinois working families need someone who will fight for them in Washington,” and, “I will represent all of Illinois, not just Chicago.”⁠[2]

That month, ahead of the Republican primary, he lent his campaign $2 million.⁠[6]

On March 17, 2026, Tracy won the Republican U.S. Senate primary. As of 10 p.m. he had about 40% of the vote, Jeannie Evans about 22%, Casey Chlebek about 11% and three other candidates about 25% combined. He said, “With your help, we’ll deliver that underdog victory in November that will shock the nation.”⁠[7]

He said that if elected, “my top priority will be to lower the cost-of-living.”⁠[5]

Tracy made lowering the cost of living the center of his campaign and criticized Governor JB PritzkerJB PritzkerJB Pritzker, full name Jay Robert Pritzker, is a Democratic politician, investor and philanthropist who serves as the 43rd governor of Illinois. He was elected in 2018, took office in 2019 and was re-elected in 2022 and 2026. Born into the family that founded Hyatt Hotels, he co-founded and managed Pritzker Group with his brother and has helped promote startup incubation in Chicago and education philanthropy. His policies as governor have covered labor standards, taxation, and the regulation of digital assets and artificial intelligence.Open the full entry’s administration for tax increases he said raised costs for working families. He called himself “the underdog in the race” and pointed to Mark Kirk’s 2010 win of an open Senate seat. He said he differed with President Trump on some issues and would judge each separately: “I’m running my own race. I’m not a proxy for anybody.”⁠[8]

He supports voter ID and proof of citizenship for voter registration and favors tighter mail-in voting rules. He had $1.5 million in cash on hand at the end of June 2026.⁠[6]

At 8:00 p.m. EST on November 3, 2026, the Associated Press declared Democratic Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton the winner of Illinois’s U.S. Senate race. At 10 p.m., with 73% of votes counted, Tracy had 37% and Stratton 61%.⁠[9][4]

Around 10 p.m. Tracy spoke to supporters at a Springfield restaurant, saying he had called Stratton to congratulate her and had asked her “not to forget the people that voted on the other side.” He offered to help her, adding, “We need more bipartisanship in this state, in this country, not less.”⁠[4]