{"id":106509,"date":"2026-03-16T10:37:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=106509"},"modified":"2026-03-23T14:13:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T19:13:20","slug":"illinois-9th-district-primary-race-tight-as-large-voter-share-is-undecided-national-issues-emerge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/illinois-9th-district-primary-race-tight-as-large-voter-share-is-undecided-national-issues-emerge\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois 9th district primary race tight as large voter share is undecided, national issues emerge"},"content":{"rendered":"

By George Alexandrakis<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

EVANSTON \u2014 Standing along a frigid Evanston street on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, lifelong Evanston resident Clif Brown held up a Palestinian flag and wore a two-sided sign opposing two of the leading contenders in Illinois\u2019 9th Congressional District Democratic primary.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s very cold, and I was kind of curious to see if I could stand in this very cold weather,\u201d said Brown, as temperatures hovered around 8 degrees. \u201cI’ve been doing this for about 15 months now, it’s almost daily.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Brown, 75, said he was protesting the involvement of pro-Israel political organizations in the race and to draw attention to the fact \u201coutside money is shaping (the election), and voters deserve to know that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That outside money has since become the defining controversy in the race.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 9th District race to replace retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) has also drawn increased attention to Illinois because of national issues impacting the state, notably immigration, because one of the candidates, Kat Abughazaleh, was indicted for alleged interference in ICE operations in Broadview.<\/span><\/p>\n

It has also seemed higher profile for its mix of establishment-backed and progressive candidates, which is raising questions about what kind of Illinois Democrat voters want to represent them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Protester
Clif Brown, 75, holds a Palestinian flag and a two-sided sign opposing candidates in the 9th District Democratic primary in Evanston. (George Alexandrakis\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cEverything I\u2019ve seen from Kat has been encouraging. \u2026 It’s all without PAC money, and she’s equaling (Evanston Mayor Daniel) Biss in fundraising \u2026 so that’s a good thing,\u201d Brown said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s protest coincided with a growing debate over the role of political action committees in the crowded Democratic primary fraught with local issues such as housing affordability and loss of federal funding to the Chicago area\u2019s transportation system.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the most closely watched developments in the race has been Schakowsky\u2019s endorsement of Biss, a former state legislator, as well as the involvement and relationship of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee with each of the candidates \u2014 a relationship that has only intensified, with AIPAC-linked super PACs <\/span>spending more than $5 million<\/span><\/a> in the district alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Democratic Party of Evanston, which held a vote to determine if it would endorse any of the candidates in the primary election, ended up not endorsing any Democrat across any statewide election after their two-thirds majority requirement was not reached.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite not receiving two-thirds of the vote nor the DPOE\u2019s endorsement, Biss received 53% of the vote among the members. State Sen. Laura Fine, D-Glenview, received 17% of the vote, and progressive candidate Abughazaleh, a journalist, was in third with 10%. The remaining 20% was split among the other 14 candidates in the field.<\/span><\/p>\n

AIPAC, <\/span>the third-highest spending PAC in the 2024 election cycle<\/span><\/a> and through affiliated super PACs including \u201cElect Chicago Women,\u201d has poured millions of dollars into the race supporting Fine while labeling Biss and Abughazaleh as \u201cdangerous detractors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked about AIPAC\u2019s role in the primary, Biss said voters should be wary of national organizations attempting to shape the outcome of state elections.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the voters want somebody who knows our community and is supported by our community, and is not supported by outside special interests, who’s funded by people in this community, and is responsive to people in this community,\u201d Biss said. \u201cI think everybody should be transparent about where their support comes from and why, and I wish every candidate were doing that like I am.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Abughazaleh is running a grassroots campaign and has focused her effort on her progressive stances and fundraising without PAC support. Supporters, like Brown, argue her approach is demonstrating the strength of local support in the race and that it contrasts with her opponents\u2019 connections to outside organizations and support.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abughazaleh was indicted by a federal grand jury for her alleged participation in a protest Sept. 26. <\/span>The indictment<\/span><\/a> alleges Abughazaleh, along with five other people, were \u201cbanging aggressively on the government vehicle \u2026 and pushed against the vehicle to hinder and impede its movement.\u201d But March 12 \u2014 just days before the primary \u2014 federal prosecutors dropped the charges against two of the defendants, Catherine Sharp and Joselyn Walsh. The trial for the remaining four defendants, including Abughazaleh, is still moving forward and scheduled for May 26.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Kat
A campaign sign for Kat Abughazaleh, a candidate in Illinois\u2019 9th District Democratic primary, on a corner in an Evanston neighborhood. (George Alexandrakis\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The candidates\u2019 campaigns are also increasingly visible through TV advertising, with the candidates attempting to cast a wide net to reach as many different types of voters as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAren\u2019t you sick of out-of-touch career politicians not understanding the moment we\u2019re in?\u201d Abughazaleh\u2019s recently released ad begins.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve taken on corporate polluters, banned assault weapons and guaranteed abortion rights,\u201d Fine said in her recently debuted ad, touting her actions as state senator.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome politicians just talk, but I took the streets with you, while working for you as mayor,\u201d Biss said at the beginning of his main ad, partially speaking over a clip from a viral video of him confronting immigration agents during an operation in Evanston.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>most recent polling<\/span><\/a> shows a tight race, with one survey conducted March 9-10 by Public Policy Polling finding Biss leading at 24%, Abughazaleh close behind him at 20% and Fine falling to 14%. State Sen. Mike Simmons, also in the race, reached 10% in the poll \u2014 the first candidate outside the top three to hit double digits. One notable entry: 17% in that poll said they didn\u2019t know whom they were voting for yet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Research conducted by political scientists shows while endorsements and outside funding can shape a race\u2019s rhetoric, they may not always fully reflect the issues that matter most to primary voters. Laurel Harbridge-Yong, a political science professor at Northwestern University, conducted a survey during the 2024 presidential election primaries to see which issue mattered most for both Democratic and Republican voters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the conflict in the Middle East being something that was high on the radar of political elites, it was not something that was a high priority among primary voters,\u201d Harbridge-Yong said. \u201cFor Republicans, it was immigration. \u2026 For Democrats, it was economic and social issues. \u2026 Voters cared a lot more about what’s happening in this country than they do about foreign policy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For Biss, that meant emphasizing local governance and community issues such as transportation and housing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a district that’s reliant on mass transit, and Donald Trump is slashing funding to the CTA,\u201d Biss said. \u201cWe fought as much as we are able to at the municipal level and under my time as mayor, but the federal government needs to step up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fine and Abughazaleh have also highlighted domestic priorities in their campaigns, with a significant portion of their websites and television ad airtime focusing on fighting federal immigration enforcement operations in Chicago and Evanston.<\/span><\/p>\n

The campaigns of both Abughazaleh and Fine were contacted for comment, but no response was received before publication.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Democratic primary for Illinois\u2019 9th Congressional District will be held Tuesday. The full list of candidates on the ballot in alphabetical order is: Kat Abughazaleh, Bushra Amiwala, Phil Andrew, Daniel Biss, Patricia Brown, Jeff Cohen, Laura Fine, Justin Ford, Mark Fredrickson, Hoan Huynh, Bethany Johnson, Sam Polan, Nick Pyati, Howard Rosenblum and Mike Simmons.<\/span><\/p>\n

George Alexandrakis is a politics, policy and foreign affairs specialization graduate student at Medill.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By George Alexandrakis Medill Reports EVANSTON \u2014 Standing along a frigid Evanston street on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, lifelong Evanston resident Clif Brown held up a Palestinian flag and wore a two-sided sign opposing two of the leading contenders in Illinois\u2019 9th Congressional District Democratic primary. \u201cIt’s very cold, and I was kind of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":765,"featured_media":106510,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[452,5543,2952,30,5544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beyond-chicago","category-msj26","category-politics","category-public-affairs","category-winter-2026"],"yoast_head":"\nIllinois 9th district primary race tight as large voter share is undecided, national issues emerge - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/illinois-9th-district-primary-race-tight-as-large-voter-share-is-undecided-national-issues-emerge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Illinois 9th district primary race tight as large voter share is undecided, national issues emerge - 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