WBEZ Talks With U.S. Senator-elect Juliana Stratton And Other Local Winners

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

What's the 411 and 312? Stay clued in to what's going on in Chicago with the rundown. We breeze through the day's headlines and spend a little more time on One Big Story, all in 10 minutes tops. Available every weekday afternoon, wherever you get your podcasts.

Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Al-Sayed (0:16)

My name is Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Al-Sayed. And I am so proud and honored to stand here as your Senator-elect from the great state of Michigan.

SPEAKER_3 (0:32)

And I certainly won't be sitting back and listening quietly when I get to Washington, DC.

SPEAKER_4 (0:43)

We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas.

SPEAKER_3 (0:50)

Okay, Nebraska, we did it.

SPEAKER_5 (0:55)

We made history tonight.

SPEAKER_6 (0:59)

Georgia, this win is for all of us.

Thank you, Georgia. I am honored to be your 84th Governor.

Sasha-Ann Simons (1:19)

Hey, Chicago, I'm Sasha-Ann Simons, and this is In the Loop. Today, our two WBEZ morning shows, In the Loop and Say More, we actually joined forces to bring listeners live special election coverage of the US midterms. And with me now is Say More co-host Patrick Smith. Hey, Pat.

Patrick Smith (1:36)

Hey, Sasha.

Sasha-Ann Simons (1:36)

Over two hours, we spoke to political strategists and experts from the US and the US. Plus, we heard from some of last night's winners, like Senator-elect Juliana Stratton, Congressman-elect Daniel Biss, and Jessica Biggs, incoming president of Chicago's first fully-elected school board.

Patrick Smith (1:51)

We also opened our phone lines to hear from listeners about their thoughts, reactions, and reflections.

SPEAKER_9 (1:56)

Basically, the results tell us that we want accountability. I know that Jim Durkin said we shouldn't be focusing on retribution accountability, but no. I'm a Democratic voter, and I want retribution. I would make the argument that the whole reason we're in this mess is we didn't have proper accountability after January 6th, and I don't want that same mistake made again.

SPEAKER_5 (2:18)

I'm afraid that the next two years, if all we're doing is looking for blood, the voters, the independent voters, are going to see that, and we're going to turn away, and 29 will be lost.

SPEAKER_10 (2:31)

I think what we need in the country now is some trust with each other. So I think everybody's going to be eager to see immediate change, and I would love to see it too. But how about taking baby steps?

Patty Garcia (2:42)

As someone with an environmental science degree, it's been very positive, you know, seeing that young people like me are getting out to vote and that, you know, there is some hope for the future here that and like some optimism I can kind of look forward to in this political climate.

Sasha-Ann Simons (2:59)

We'll turn now to some of the winners we spoke to throughout the show. As it did in the last Congress, Illinois will send 14 Democrats and three Republicans to Washington.

One new face in that delegation is Democrat Daniel Biss, the former mayor of Evanston. He'll replace outgoing Congresswoman Jan Shachowsky, who's retiring after nearly three decades.

Patrick Smith (3:18)

Democrats now hold meaningful majorities in the House and Senate. I asked Congressman-elect Biss what he's going to do with the mandate voters have handed him. Here he is.

Daniel Biss (3:26)

Well, it is an incredible mandate. It's honestly, I think, a wave of proportions that people are still trying to get their heads around. And it's just a wholesale repudiation of this nightmarish Trump administration, whether it's the armed and masked ICE agents abducting people off the streets, whether it's the corruption, putting money in their pockets, or whether it's just the rising costs for ordinary people who are having a harder and harder time making ends meet. And my view is that we absolutely must do two things. We have to hold these folks accountable. We have to have a real oversight of the corruption and crimes that have gone on. And we have to deliver for ordinary people. We have to bring down costs. We have to address the fact that on January 1st, millions of Americans are going to lose their health care because of Donald Trump and the Republicans. We have to deliver to actually make people able to afford their day-to-day lives.

Sasha-Ann Simons (4:16)

So how do you do that? How do you balance that national rejection of Trumpism with the need, as you pointed out, to focus on priorities of your constituents?

Daniel Biss (4:27)

Well, we simply have to do both, right? I mean, there will be some people who say, you just don't worry about accountability. And what I would say to them is, not worrying about accountability is an invitation for this to happen again.