When Jan Schakowsky ran to represent the 9
th Congressional District in 1998, that was the first of her 14 runs for that office. The 1998 Democratic primary was one of only four primaries where she had opposition. In 1998, the two other Democratic candidates were Howard Carroll and JB Pritzker. The remaining three contested primaries were in 2008 (John Nocita), 2012 (Simon Ribeiro), and 2020 (write-in, Andrew Heldut).
Number of Candidates (fingers AND toes needed to count)
The next Illinois Primary Election date is March 17, 2026. Candidates began filing with the Federal Election Commission in Spring 2025, and by the June 30 quarterly report filing, there were 18 Democratic candidates and 2 Republican candidates. The next step was filing their petitions with the
Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE). At the close of the petition-filing period on November 3, there were 17 Democratic and 4 Republican candidates. Those numbers might have been reduced during the next part of the process, due to objections filed by Illinois voters, typically including opponents’ supporters, and subsequent decisions by ISBE to disqualify candidates. At the November 10 deadline for petition objections, only
one objection had been filed for this race. The review process takes a while, and it can include decision appeals by the candidates.
Over the campaign, candidates may also withdraw from the race for their own reasons, such as lack of sufficient funds and/or time to run an effective campaign. When this article is published, ISBE petition objection reviews will still be in process. At this time, we still have 17 Democratic candidates and 4 Republican candidates.
9th Congressional District Map (aka “The Salamander”)
Did you know that the 9
th Congressional District goes from the north side of Chicago to McHenry County? The current District map, created after the 2020 Census, has been described as a salamander.
Take a look at the interactive District map on the US Congress website, and also use the +/- (upper left) to get a better sense of the coverage. The District includes many local branches of the League of Women Voters: Arlington Heights-Mt. Prospect-Buffalo Grove; Chicago; Evanston; Glenview-Glencoe; Palatine, Barrington, and Schaumburg Areas; Wilmette; McHenry County; and multiple Leagues in Lake County. Interestingly, Evanston (LWVE) is the only League falling solely within the 9
th Congressional District.
9th Congressional Candidate Forum: To Be or Not to Be?
Leagues in shared districts (whether Federal or State) work together to produce candidate forums. The LWVE is leading the coordination of the 9
th Congressional “forum.” The quotation marks are being used as the large number of candidates will result in an alternate platform for presenting the candidates.
Candidate forums, in whatever format, take a few months to produce. The area Leagues first met in August (online) to begin the planning process. Typically, we aim to present candidate events soon after voters receive mail-in ballots. For the 2026 Primary Election, Cook County voters can expect to see delivery around February 5. In-person early voting begins March 2.
Our area Leagues have worked together for many years. One point (almost) all of us agree on is that no forum should be longer than 90 minutes. We have done the math to determine the maximum number of candidates we can include to produce an informative forum. That stands at seven or eight candidates. Earlier this year, due to the number of candidates, we were working simultaneously on two possible approaches: an in-person forum or pre-recorded individual candidate interviews. Individual interviews are now our focus, but we are not done working through this puzzle.
Our format decision will need to be made well ahead of the January ballot certification deadlines: ISBE, January 8; County Clerks, January 14. It will also need to be made before the write-in candidate filing deadline, January 15.
Wait! There’s More: The 9th Illinois State Senate Primary
Since State Senator Laura Fine is running for the 9
th Congressional Democratic nomination, her State Senate seat, representing Illinois State Senate District 9, is up for election. There are currently two candidates, and a Democratic primary is expected. Along with the LWVE, the partner Leagues in the 9
th State District are Chicago, Glenview-Glencoe, Wilmette, and Winnetka-Northfield-Kenilworth. One of our partners is taking the lead on coordinating this forum.
Volunteers are always welcome! If you are interested in participating, contact Judy Hoffman:
voterservices@lwve.org.