(Editor’s Note: This story was reported by Alex Harrison for the Evanston RoundTable, a neighboring independent newsroom. It was shared with The Record as part of an ongoing collaborative effort.)

The 2026 midterms may be 18 months away, but U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s (D-9th District) announcement Monday that she won’t seek another term has energized the election, launching Evanston and other district suburbs into a fresh campaign season just a month after local races wrapped up on April 1.

The primary election will be held in less than a year, on March 17, 2026, to decide which candidates advance to the general election on Nov. 3 for the Democratic and Republican parties.

While the general election includes higher-ticket races for the governor’s office and an open U.S. Senate seat, local attention is sure to focus on the now-open race for the 9th Congressional District, which covers Wilmette, Evanston, a portion of Northfield and many other suburbs, was held by Schakowsky since 1999 and is considered one of the most reliably Democratic in the region.

Here is a rundown of where the race stands for the candidates who have announced their campaigns — as well as a potential candidate from Evanston who has not.

Fine moves first

It took less than 24 hours after Schakowsky’s announcement for the first local elected official to jump in the mix, as state Sen. Laura Fine (D-9th District) announced her candidacy for the open seat Tuesday morning.

In a news release, accompanied by a full rollout of a campaign website and social media, Fine focused on fighting back against President Donald Trump, who she writes is “selling out working families to line the pockets of his wealthy cronies.”

“I’ve spent my career fighting that fight, passing historic legislation that puts people over special interests,” Fine wrote in the release. “I want to build on Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky’s legacy, serving as a steadfast progressive representative for Illinois’ 9th.”

Fine, who lives in Glenview, was first elected to the state senate in 2018 after serving six years as state representative for the 17th House District, now represented by Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz. The Ninth Senate District includes all of Evanston, part or all of several other suburbs along the North Shore and to the west, and a small portion of Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood.

Her campaign launched with a slate of endorsements from other local Democrats, including fellow state Sens. Adriane Johnson (30th) and Mary Edly-Allen (31st), state Reps. Margaret Croke (12th) and Tracy Katz Muhl (57th), and former state Sen. and Evanston Democratic committeeperson Jeffery Schoenberg.

“I’ve known Laura for 15 years, and during that time she has been as dedicated and thoughtful a leader as any I’ve served with,” wrote Katz Muhl for the campaign’s release. “She is a true champion for working families and doesn’t back down from a fight. Laura is exactly who we need in Washington right now.”

At least for now, Schakowsky is staying out of the race for her successor. She told reporters Monday afternoon that she’ll “be there to support” those who run for her seat but has “no preferences right now” on who it should be.

Abughazaleh moves in

While no incumbent officials jumped in before Schakowsky’s announcement, several newcomers have already started campaigning and fundraising.

The first was Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive influencer and journalist who announced her run on March 24 and held a kickoff event on March 29 at Five & Dime in Evanston.

While Abughazaleh herself plans to move to Chicago’s Far North Side within the district in the near future, her campaign has established its own physical presence, opening a headquarters office Tuesday at 7016 Clark St. in Rogers Park. The space remains barebones, holding just a few tables and chairs alongside several stacks of yard signs, but Abughazaleh invited supporters to come in and paint the walls as a “community mural.”

Sitting with the RoundTable on a gymnastics mat while others continued painting, Abughazaleh didn’t flinch at the shift brought on by Schakowsky’s exit, saying part of why she’s running is “because I believe in competitive primaries.”

“Part of the reason that we’re in this mess is like, we didn’t have a [presidential] primary in 2024. It feels, a lot of times, like the party anoints our candidates for us, and I think that we could do things differently,” Abughazaleh said. “So that’s why I ran, and that means I’m very excited that we’re going to have a competitive primary.”

That being said, the campaign is not a “practice run” for her.

“I am in this to win this,” she said. “I’m throwing my hat in the ring, and not only doing that, I’m going to try to help as many people as possible while I do it.”

To that end, she’s set a capped fundraising goal of $600,000 for the second quarter of 2025, and any funds received above that between April and June will be donated to charities within the district.

As for how she’s campaigning this early in the cycle, Abughazaleh said her supporters are doing a food drive on Saturday to benefit Evanston Community Fridges and has other events in the works for Pride Month in June as they try to “create a model of what I think a campaign should be.”

Beyond Abughazaleh, several other newcomers have jumped into the race already: Chicagoans Justin Ford and David Abrevaya both filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission in April to run as Democrats. Ford, an environmental health and safety professional, has launched a campaign website, while Abrevaya has not yet made a public announcement.

On the other side of the aisle, Rocio Cleveland of Island Lake has filed to run as a Republican and has launched her own website as well.

In campaign statements, Abughazaleh has offered to talk to other people interested in running and provide “the support you need to set up a run against me. (No, I’m not kidding!)” She told the RoundTable that one interested resident is already taking her up on the offer and plans to visit the office later this week to talk through filing paperwork with the FEC.

Biss stays mum

There’s at least one other existing incumbent on watch to enter the race, however.

Among other news outlets, Politico reported Tuesday that Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss is “also expected to join the race” sometime soon. The mayor won a second term leading the city on April 1 — defeating challenger Jeff Boarini, with 63% of the vote in a race with record-high turnout — and previously served as a Democratic state senator and representative from Evanston.

Biss left the statehouse in 2019 after losing the Democratic primary for governor in 2018 against current Gov. JB Pritzker. Since he announced his first run for mayor in late 2020, his earlier run for governor fueled speculation that he’ll join another race for higher office in the future. Schakowsky’s seat in particular has been a focal point, with references made by critical public commenters at City Council meetings, and even by Boarini at his campaign kickoff in January.

For his part, the mayor is publicly mum on his plans (or lack thereof). Biss did not respond to an email Tuesday asking for his comments on the speculation he’ll run, in line with other requests sent in recent weeks on the same topic. He attended Schakowsky’s event Monday and spoke to reporters after the main program but did not directly answer a question on whether the veteran congresswoman informed him of her decision prior to the event, instead talking about her accomplishments, since “this is Jan’s day.”

The two local pols are closely aligned, though: Schakowsky spoke at Biss’ own campaign kickoff in January, and her campaign committee gave a small but notable donation of $250 to his committee in early March. Other donations from fellow Democrats in the first three months of 2025 include $250 from Chicago Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward); $1,000 from John Cullerton, formerly the president of the state Senate and currently a central committee member for the Democratic Party of Illinois; and $2,001 from U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who on Wednesday announced he is running for the U.S. Senate seat that longtime incumbent Dick Durbin is vacating for retirement.

Should Biss run and win, he would have to resign from his Evanston mayoral post before taking office as a representative in Congress. In that case, the City Council would elect one of its members to serve as acting mayor until the vacancy is filled permanently by a public election.

Depending on when the hypothetical resignation were to happen, a special election for the remaining two years of Biss’ term could be added to the local election slate in April 2027, which would normally only feature races for three board seats each for Evanston Township High School and District 65.

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