Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss wins 9th Dist. Democratic primary race, AP projects
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss wins 9th Dist. Democratic primary race
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss is the winner of the Democratic primary race in Illinois’ 9th congressional district, the AP projects.
CHICAGO - Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss is the winner of the Democratic primary race in Illinois’ 9th congressional district, the AP projects.
Biss beat out a large field of Democratic candidates as they sought to replace longtime U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who has represented the district since 1999 and will retire at the end of this term. State Sen. Laura Fine and Kat Abughazaleh, a journalist and researcher, were the other top candidates, along with State Sen. Mike Simmons, ex-FBI agent Phil Andrew, suburban school board member Bushra Amiwala and State Rep. Hoan Huynh.
Rocio Cleveland, John Elleson, Paul Friedman, and Mark Su were vying for the Republican nomination.
The winner of the Democratic nomination is widely expected to win in November’s general election for a district that’s voted blue for decades.
The 9th congressional district includes parts of Chicago’s North Side and extends into parts of the north and northwest suburbs.
U.S. House members are elected to two-year terms.
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss wins 9th Dist. Democratic primary race: AP
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss is the winner of the Democratic primary race in Illinois’ 9th congressional district, the AP projects. Biss beat out a large field of Democratic candidates as they sought to replace longtime U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who has represented the district since 1999 and will retire at the end of this term.
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About the 9th Congressional District Democratic primary race
The backstory:
When Schakowsky, 81, announced she would not seek another term in office, that allowed for a wide-open Democratic primary race.
Biss has consistently led in public polling, with Fine and Abughazaleh also routinely polling in the double digits. He’s served as the mayor of north suburban Evanston since 2021 after serving in the Illinois General Assembly between 2011 and 2019. He unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2018.
Throughout his congressional campaign, Biss has endorsed several progressive policy positions, like a wealth tax on billionaires, breaking up large tech companies, making it easier for workers to unionize, repealing the Second Amendment, and expanding Medicare.
(Left to right) Daniel Biss, Laura Fine and Kat Abughazaleh participate in a Fox Chicago debate ahead of the March 17 Illinois primary election.
During Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s major immigration enforcement effort in the Chicago area last year, Biss garnered headlines for participating in protests at the ICE facility in suburban Broadview and confronting Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino when agents came to Evanston.
Abughazaleh has also earned national attention for her involvement in protests at Broadview and was even federally charged in connection with those protests by the Trump administration, which she and others argued was politically motivated. The 26-year-old sold herself as part of a new generation using nontraditional means of campaigning on a progressive platform. She also used her campaign office as a "mutual aid hub" to distribute food, toiletries, and other goods.
Fine has served in the General Assembly since 2013 after her career in journalism and teaching. She’s focused on combating what she called a "broken" health insurance system after her husband was involved in a car crash and his insurance denied coverage of his subsequent medical expenses.
There was perhaps no issue more divisive in the Democratic primary race than the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's support for Fine, which both Biss and Abughazaleh slammed her for. Fine insisted she was an independent voice and that her campaign had not coordinated with AIPAC.
Biss also refuted claims that he sought AIPAC's support before criticizing the group for trying to influence the primary race.
Fine supported a two-state solution and ending the "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza, where more than 67,000 people were killed during the two-year war.
Abughazaleh, who is of Palestinian descent, has been the most fervent critic of Israel's two-year war and policies toward Palestinians in Gaza, which a U.N. commission said constituted a genocide. She argued for the conditioning of U.S. aid to Israel and the recognition of a Palestinian state.
Biss also argued for the recognition of a Palestinian state and sending humanitarian aid to Gaza. Still, he's been criticized for not using the word "genocide" to describe Israel's action in Gaza. He told Evanston Now that he doesn't criticize those who do use the word, but wants to "use the language that best enables us to get to the outcome that we're all looking for."
What's next:
The general election is slated for Nov. 3.