How loophole allowed longshot politician to win election with profanity directed at Trump

A US politician has won an upset election victory on the back of a simple but very effective message: "F— Trump".

Juliana Stratton has defied a year of polls showing her trailing a big-spending rival to claim a win in the Illinois Senate congressional primary.

Stratton, the Illinois lieutenant governor, was outspent 30 to one by Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi for the coveted prize.

Juliana Stratton is the Democratic nominee for Illinois' Senate seat.

But her ad, which only started airing in the past few months, made an immense splash in the race.

The 30-second ad features various people with varying intensities of a Chicago accent simply saying to the camera: "F— Trump. Vote Juliana."

While broadcast television strictly regulates against profanity, it is prohibited from censoring politicians' ads.

So viewers in Illinois heard all of that four-letter word.

In the ad, Stratton described President Donald Trump as a "wannabe dictator" and vowed to abolish ICE (Immigrant and Customs Enforcement).

"I'll hold Trump accountable for the crimes he's committed," she said.

In the weeks after the ad aired, Stratton went from trailing distantly in the polls to overtaking Krishnamoorthi.

Juliana Stratton's ad featured various Illinois voters delivering a blunt message to Donald Trump.

And yesterday she clinched an upset victory by a larger-than-expected margin.

Krishnamoorthi had led in the polls in large part because he had ads on TV promoting himself for much longer.

But he was dogged by criticism of his support of the cryptocurrency industry.

The cryptocurrency industry, in turn, was supporting him to the tune of millions of dollars in backing.

In the heavily Democratic state in what is likely to be a good year for the party, clinching the nomination is tantamount to claiming the job.

Stratton is on track to become the fifth Black woman elected to the US Senate.

Donald Trump said the war would be over "when I feel it in my bones".

While Trump has been unusually successful as a Republican in midwest states, he has consistently been deeply unpopular in Illinois.

The seat is open because of the retirement of Dick Durbin, a longtime Democratic powerbroker in the Senate.

Stratton will face general election voters in November's midterm elections.

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