Patrick Hanley (Illinois)
Patrick Hanley (Democratic Party) is running for election to the Illinois State Senate to represent District 9. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026. He advanced from the Democratic primary on March 17, 2026.
Hanley completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections
2026
See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2026
General election
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for Illinois State Senate District 9
Patrick Hanley and Tom Lally are running in the general election for Illinois State Senate District 9 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Patrick Hanley (D)  | |
| Tom Lally (R) | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 9
Patrick Hanley defeated Rachel Ruttenberg in the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 9 on March 17, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Patrick Hanley | 51.6 | 20,699 |
 | Rachel Ruttenberg | 48.4 | 19,446 | |
| Total votes: 40,145 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 9
Tom Lally advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois State Senate District 9 on March 17, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Tom Lally | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Hanley received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
- U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D)
- Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois
- Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2
- Evanston Firefighters Local 742
- Illinois AFL-CIO
- Illinois Federation of Teachers
- Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Illinois State Council
- 40th Ward Democrats
- A City That Works
- Abundant Housing Illinois
- Better Streets Chicago Action Fund
- Blue Wave Democrats (Sway viewpoint group by Caroline Pompizzi)
- Chicago’s Progressive Northside Dems Organization (Sway viewpoint group by 40th Ward Democratic Organization)
- Citizens Action Illinois
- Danielle Moss' Voter Guide (Sway viewpoint group by Danielle Moss)
- Dozens (Sway viewpoint group by Kate Docter)
- Girl, I Guess: A Progressive Voter Guide to the 2026 Primary Election (Sway viewpoint group by Girl, I Guess)
- Gun Violence Prevention PAC (G-PAC)
- Illinois Moms for Change (Sway viewpoint group by Illinois Moms For Change)
- Journal & Topics Media Group
- KO Illinois (Sway viewpoint group by Ken Obel)
- Laura Tanner's Voting Guide (Sway viewpoint group by Laura Tanner)
- Liz Minnella’s Voter Guide (Sway viewpoint group by Liz Minnella)
- March 17 matters in Illinois! Early Voting is open! (Sway viewpoint group by The Lake Forest Women's Collective)
- North Shore Liberal Moms (Sway viewpoint group by Liz Minnella)
- Personal PAC
- Planned Parenthood Illinois Action
- Please Vote! (Sway viewpoint group by Ishaan Srivastava)
- Run for Something
- Sierra Club Illinois
- The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board
- United Hellenic Voters of America
- buildtomorrow.chi (Sway viewpoint group by buildtomorrow.chi)
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Patrick Hanley completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hanley's responses.
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I was born in Evanston and raised in Northbrook & Glenview by a single mom of four kids after my dad died when I was nine. Public schools, parks, library, and safety, paired with social safety net programs afforded my family stability and opportunity now out of reach for too many families in our state.
I spent a decade in D.C., serving in government and supporting U.S. businesses in Asia. I returned home to earn M.P.P. & M.B.A. degrees from the University of Chicago. During COVID-19, I advised governors and state agencies, helping leaders with intergovernmental cooperation, public health, and communications.
I joined my wife, Jessica, to grow Piglet in Bed, her startup selling linen bedding, pajamas, and homewares. We built the company from a warehouse in Northbrook to three brick and mortar stores and more than 100 employees.
I’ve championed sustainability, native plants, and green energy as environmental chair in my hometown.
Last year, I founded Operation Swing State, mobilizing 10,000+ IL volunteers to knock a quarter million doors in MI & WI.
In 2020, I joined students to lead the largest march for racial justice and solidarity on the North Shore since 1965. I’m now organizing a rapid response team to support neighbors.- Leadership in crisis. Our country is in crisis and Illinois is in the cross-hairs. We need a new generation of public leaders who can write and pass successful policy - but also organize, communicate, advocate, and stand up for our communities. State lawmakers must plan around an irresponsible, reckless, and untrustworthy federal government. We must figure out a way forward - alongside like-minded states - and piece together the essential services - like basic research, science, or weather forecasting - that taxpayers paid for and rely on that Washington no longer provides.
- Democrats in Illinois must make life easier for working families. Prices are too high across housing, groceries, childcare, elder healthcare, and utilities. As a young dad of two babies, I get the pain and will fight every day to bring costs down. We do that by building more housing, transmission wires, and battery storage. We do it through vigilant oversight and incentivizing healthy competition in healthcare. We do it through spurring job creation and economic development in advanced industries where top Illinois talent and labor will outperform.
- Democrats must prove that we can deliver on programs we talk about. From healthcare to inclusive economic growth to reproductive freedoms to affordable housing to an ambitious green agenda, Illinois Democrats are working on issues that matter deeply to residents and voters. We need legislators and policymakers who are focused on driving results and ensure those programs are making life materially better and more secure. Illinois should be the envy of the Midwest, and a model state for families to raise and educate kids, for students to learn, for workers to earn, and for seniors to retire.
Elected leaders organize residents and advocates and stakeholders around policymaking, as well as around equitable and accountable implementation.
In recent years, elected leaders also play a vital role in communicating policy and programs across communities and age groups both within the district and beyond.
Perhaps most importantly, elected leaders serve their constituents, acting as a friend, a guide, and a way in to an often overly-complicated and byzantine system of interlocking governmental jurisdictions.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate Illinois State Senate District 9 |
Personal |
Footnotes
