Sam Polan

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Sam Polan
Image of Sam Polan

Candidate, U.S. House Illinois District 9

Elections and appointments
Next election

March 17, 2026

Education

High school

New Trier High School

Bachelor's

Washington College, 2012

Graduate

American University, 2018

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army

Years of service

2012 - 2022

Personal
Birthplace
Illinois
Profession
Policy advisor
Contact

Sam Polan (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 9th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on March 17, 2026.

Polan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Elections

2026

See also: Illinois' 9th Congressional District election, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on March 17, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9

The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9 on March 17, 2026.


Candidate Connection = 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9

Rocio Cleveland and Mark Su are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9 on March 17, 2026.


Candidate Connection = 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.

Endorsements

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Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Sam Polan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Polan's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Sam is a Wilmette native and Special Operations Veteran who deployed to the Middle East three times and rose to the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army. He served first with Army Air Defense, before passing one of the military’s most demanding selection processes to become an Airborne-qualified Special Operations Civil Affairs Officer. In Sam’s new role, he learned Arabic and completed multiple deployments with SEAL teams as part of a Joint Special Warfare task force.

“I’m running for Congress because I am deeply concerned about the direction this country is headed under the Trump Administration and the failures of our current national Democratic leadership,” said Polan. “More than deeply concerned… I’m angry. I learned early on you don’t leave problems for other people. I don’t know how to bury my head in the sand, or how to sit idly by when Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans threaten our very democracy and all the institutions we hold dear, that I was driven to defend in uniform.”

“We are at an inflection point where our Democratic leaders have also failed us… failed to stop the Trump attacks, failed to put up candidates with fresh ideas that excite voters, and failed to provide a clear vision. Democrats need to WIN again. We can’t keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. We need a new generation of leadership that brings not only fresh ideas, but the life experience and ability to get things done.”
  • Defend the Constitution and the rule of law
  • Restore and defend civil liberties
  • Building an equitable path to the American Dream
Expanding healthcare access, protecting the rule of law, restoring civil liberties, codifying abortion and marriage equality rights in the constitution, rebuilding the Democratic party from the ground up, and stopping Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans.
The most impactful historical event that I remember was September 11, 2001. The following day I committed to joining the military.
I consider the greatest honor to be the challenge coin bestowed upon me by my Soldiers in acknowledgment of my leadership.

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


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Sam Polan campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2026* U.S. House Illinois District 9Candidacy Declared primary$0 N/A**
Grand total$0 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

See also


External links

Footnotes


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
Mike Bost (R)
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
Democratic Party (16)
Republican Party (3)