Jamie Kelter Davis for NPR
Daniel Biss, the mayor of Evanston, Ill., has won the Democratic primary for the state’s 9th congressional district, according to a race call by The Associated Press, topping a crowded field in the race for a Chicago-area seat that has not been open for nearly three decades.
His victory in the safe blue district ends a highly contested primary of more than a dozen Democrats running to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky, 81, who first took office in 1999.
With endorsements from Schakowsky and other national leaders such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Biss was seen as the frontrunner heading into the race. On the campaign trail, he sought to differentiate himself by emphasizing both his background in elected office and his willingness to push for progressive causes and against President Trump’s agenda.
“I just don’t think we can afford to compromise on either of those two things,” he told NPR in an interview ahead of the primary.
Tuesday’s results serve as an early indication of what Democratic voters are looking for from the next generation of party leaders, and how much change they feel is needed in this moment when the party is shut out of power in Washington, D.C.
Political newcomer Kat Abughazaleh finished second to Biss by four percentage points with more than 90 percent of the votes counted, according to the AP. The 26-year-old progressive researcher and commentator ran on an anti-establishment message, arguing that Democrats have failed to deliver tangible results for voters back home and need to scrap longtime party norms.
“Bipartisanship is negotiating different approaches to a similar goal. I think that goal should be: everyone can afford housing, groceries and health care with money left over to save and spend. I think that is the true center,” she told NPR during a campaign event leading up to Tuesday’s primary.
“We can’t just look at compromise as getting your hand cut off and being grateful they left you your pinky.”
Though young and new candidates often face institutional barriers when running for Congress, Abughazaleh became one of the most closely-watched candidates in the race. If she had won, she would have been on track to become the first Gen Z woman elected to Congress.
While generational politics was one factor in the race – Biss, at 48, is a member of Gen X – the primary was also defined by a debate over the role of special interest groups in elections, particularly pro-Israel groups like AIPAC. Individuals and groups aligned with AIPAC spent millions attacking Biss and supporting another candidate, state Sen. Laura Fine.
Biss, who is Jewish, has denounced AIPAC, but disclosed meeting with the group towards the start of his campaign. He faced criticism during the race for not taking a clearer stance on whether he opposes U.S. aid for Israel. Abughazaleh, who is Palestinian American, has criticized Israel’s war efforts in Gaza as a genocide.
Biss also faced scrutiny during the closing days of the campaign after a former student of his accused him of “an inappropriate romantic relationship.”
The Biss campaign acknowledged the relationship in a statement shared with The Daily Northwestern, saying it occurred in 2004 when Biss was a 26-year-old postdoctoral instructor at the University of Chicago and the student was 20.
“Daniel realized then, as he does now, that it was ill-advised, and he ended it,” the campaign said.
