Illinois 9th Congressional District candidates outline competing visions for congress

Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss (D) and evangelical Pastor at Lakewood Chapel John Elleson (R) are competing for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District seat in the Nov. 3 general election. 

The race marks the district’s first open-seat contest in decades after longtime Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D), who’s represented the district since 1999, announced she wouldn’t seek reelection. The district represents parts of Chicago’s North Side, Evanston, Skokie and surrounding north and northwest suburbs. Schakowsky listed Biss as one of her endorsements.

Biss won the Democratic primary March 17 with 29.6% of the vote, defeating seven other candidates while Elleson won the Republican primary with 49% of the vote, beating three opponents, NPR reported.

Biss’s campaign is centered on strengthening worker protections, addressing income inequality, combating climate change and limiting executive power. Elleson — a longtime Chicagoland evangelical pastor who’s never held elected office — has emphasized fiscal responsibility, addiction treatment, community engagement, public safety and bipartisan cooperation in his campaign.

Federal power and the Trump administration

A large part of Biss’ campaign is limiting executive power. Drawing on his experience as Evanston mayor, he said Congress has given up too much of its constitutional authority to the executive branch. 

“The reality right now in the federal government is that Congress has stepped away from their job,” Biss said. “They have relinquished their authority and created a power vacuum. Into that power vacuum has rushed the president.”

Biss pointed to congressional oversight, appropriations and the power to declare war as areas he believes Congress should actively exercise its authority. 

His campaign also highlights his experience with legal disputes involving the Trump administration, which include issues surrounding immigration enforcement and Evanston’s reparations program. 

Biss said his experience defending Evanston’s reparations program — the first U.S. municipal reparations program — taught him the importance of building broad community support around policies. He said Evanston’s program remains important to him even as national attention toward racial justice has changed. 

Elleson emphasized cooperation across political divisions rather than confrontation. He said his experience as a pastor shaped his approach to politics, and that he tries to avoid personally attacking political opponents. 

“I don’t cut people down. I don’t attack people,” Elleson said. “If you have a heart for people, and you want to do right by families, that’s kind of your guiding post.”

Elleson commented on federal power too, focusing on the need for bipartisan cooperation and congressional oversight, which he believes issues like Social Security and the federal deficit require. 

The economy and cost of living 

Biss’ platform opposes corporate consolidation. He said it has weakened workers’ and consumers’ protections while contributing to rising costs of housing, health care, child care and other necessities. His economic agenda includes stronger labor protections, antitrust enforcement, consumer protections and increased taxation of wealthy individuals and corporations. 

Biss said corporations have become increasingly powerful while union membership has declined, shifting economic power away from workers.

“The core priority needs to be to reverse that,” Biss said, describing an economy in which government rules would constrain the power of large corporations while giving workers and consumers more influence.

Biss identified economic power, political reform and climate change as the major priorities he would prioritize in Congress.

Elleson also focused on the economic challenges facing working and middle-class families but approached them through manufacturing, regulation and fiscal policy. 

He said the federal government should streamline regulations that can make infrastructure and manufacturing projects take years to complete while maintaining safeguards for workers and consumers.

“We have to manufacture here,” Elleson said. “It can’t all be service oriented, we need factories again.”

Elleson also identified the national debt as a major concern, arguing the federal government needs to address long-term spending and fiscal sustainability.

Addiction, homelessness and public safety

Addiction and mental health are among the issues Elleson has highlighted during his campaign. Elleson said he’s previously served as a director of Teen Challenge, a drug rehabilitation program. He said his work there shaped his approach to addiction treatment, mental health care and support for families.

Elleson said incarceration alone is insufficient when substance use or mental health problems contribute to criminal behavior. He supports mental health resources, addiction treatment and assistance for families. 

“You can’t just throw someone in jail if they have underlying problems,” Elleson said. 

He also supports law enforcement while emphasizing de-escalation tactics and community trust. Elleson said police need adequate resources and training but should remain subject to citizens’ constitutional rights and other limits of government authority. 

Biss’ platform approaches public safety through a broader set of policies, including gun violence prevention and economic and social programs aimed at addressing underlying conditions. His campaign also calls for protecting civil rights and civil liberties.

A race over the role of government

For Elleson, representation begins with listening to constituents and finding areas where Democrats and Republicans can work together. He said volunteers for his campaign knocked on approximately 3,000 doors while gathering petition signatures and that those conversations reinforced his belief that people with opposing political views can still find common ground.

“You gotta have an open mind, you gotta be able to hear people,” Elleson said. 

Biss similarly emphasized accountability from constituents, though he framed congressional leadership around taking political risks. 

“Like me or dislike me, agree with me or disagree with me, I have never been scared to take risks, to do hard things, to try to figure out a way to solve a really hard problem,” Biss said.

How to vote

Early voting begins Oct. 1 at the Downtown Voting SuperSite at 137 S. State St. or the Chicago Board of Elections Offices at 69 W. Washington St. on the sixth floor. Additional early voting sites open in all 50 wards Oct. 19.

Polls will be open Nov. 3 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. at assigned polling places.