Sam Polan
Sam Polan (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 9th Congressional District. He is on the ballot in the Democratic primary on March 17, 2026.
Polan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
2026 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the March 17 Democratic primary for Illinois' 9th Congressional District as a battleground election. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.
Kat Abughazaleh (D), Daniel K. Biss (D), Laura Fine (D), and 13 others are running in the Democratic primary for Illinois' 9th Congressional District on March 17, 2026. As of December 2025, Abughazaleh, Biss, and Fine led in fundraising and polling.
Incumbent Jan Schakowsky (D) is not running for re-election. As of December 2025, major election forecasters rated the general election Solid Democratic. This is the first election in the 9th District without an incumbent on the ballot since Schakowsky was first elected in 1998. Axios' Justin Kaufmann said the primary "could pave the way for younger Democrats to take over the district that traditionally skews left."[1]
Abughazaleh is a former researcher and video producer with Media Matters for America, a group describing itself as "a web-based, not-for-profit, 501 (c)(3) progressive research and information center."[2][3] Abghazaleh says she is running "because the same old sh** isn't working — and it won't work to defeat Trump's agenda."[4] Abughazaleh said that "I've fought fascists before as a citizen, union rep, and independent journalist. Now, I'm going to do the same in Congress."[5]
Biss is the mayor of Evanston and a former state legislator. Biss ran for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2018. Biss says he is running "because we need Democrats who won't flinch, won't fold, won't forget what we're fighting for."[6] Biss' campaign website says he "has built coalitions and brought people together to solve problems that have gone unaddressed for too long...Daniel continues to stand up to Donald Trump on immigration, preserving access to abortion, expanding mental health services, and more."[7] Schakowsky endorsed Biss on January 7, 2026.[8]
Fine was elected to the Illinois Senate in 2018. Fine served six years in the Illinois House and worked in journalism. Fine says she is running "to continue her fight to make sure Illinois continues to have a champion in Washington that stands up for families, not special interests."[9] Fine's campaign website says: "For Laura, every bill, every battle, and every victory is personal – because she knows what it’s like to be the person counting on a system that too often says no."[10]
Also running in the primary are Bushra Amiwala (D), Phil Andrew (D), Natalie Angelo (D), Patricia Brown (D), Jeff Cohen (D), Justin Ford (D), Mark Fredrickson (D), Hoan Huynh (D), Bethany Johnson (D), Sam Polan (D), Nick Pyati (D), Howard Rosenblum (D), and Mike Simmons (D).
In the 2024 election, Schakowsky defeated Seth Alan Cohen (D) 68%–32%.
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. Additional general election candidates will be added here following the primary.
General election for U.S. House Illinois District 9
Delila Barrera is running in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 9 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Delila Barrera (Independent) | ||
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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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.
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| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Miracle Jenkins (D)
- Jill Manrique (D)
- David Abrevaya (D)
- Tamika La'Shon Hill (D)
- Jan Schakowsky (D)
- Lauren Million (D)
- Bruce Leon (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9
Rocio Cleveland, John Elleson, Paul Friedman, and Mark Su are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9 on March 17, 2026.
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| = 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. | ||||
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals.[11] The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times."[12] For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.
Below we provide results for polls from a wide variety of sources, including media outlets, social media, campaigns, and aggregation websites, when available. We only report polls for which we can find a margin of error or credibility interval. Know of something we're missing? Click here to let us know.
| Poll | Dates | Abughazaleh | Amiwala | Andrew | Biss | Fine | Huynh | Leon | Simmons | Someone else | Other | Undecided | Sample size | Margin of error | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
– | 17 | 3 | 3 | 31 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | -- | 21 | 500 LV | ± 4.4% | Daniel Biss | |
– | 18 | 6 | -- | 18 | 10 | 5 | -- | 6 | -- | 6 | 31 | 569 LV | ± 4.0% | ||
| Note: LV is likely voters, RV is registered voters, and EV is eligible voters. | |||||||||||||||
Election campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kat Abughazaleh | Democratic Party | $1,524,729 | $512,454 | $1,012,275 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Bushra Amiwala | Democratic Party | $642,187 | $159,962 | $482,225 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Phil Andrew | Democratic Party | $726,035 | $78,297 | $647,738 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Natalie Angelo | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Daniel K. Biss | Democratic Party | $1,325,884 | $315,616 | $1,010,268 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Patricia Brown | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Jeff Cohen | Democratic Party | $430,772 | $34,295 | $396,477 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Laura Fine | Democratic Party | $660,741 | $181,543 | $479,198 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Justin Ford | Democratic Party | $24,803 | $24,079 | $724 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Mark Fredrickson | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Hoan Huynh | Democratic Party | $363,957 | $162,179 | $201,779 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Bethany Johnson | Democratic Party | $2,324 | $370 | $1,954 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Sam Polan | Democratic Party | $343,412 | $36,942 | $306,470 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Nick Pyati | Democratic Party | $252,931 | $96,282 | $156,649 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Howard Rosenblum | Democratic Party | $75,242 | $2,838 | $72,404 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Mike Simmons | Democratic Party | $211,694 | $77,042 | $134,651 | As of September 30, 2025 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[13][14][15]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
| By candidate | By election |
|---|---|
Note: As of December 9, 2025, Natalie Angelo (D), Patricia Brown (D), and Mark Fredrickson (D) had not filed as candidates with the Federal Election Commission.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's 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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“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
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.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Axios, "Schakowsky's potential exit opens door for young Dems," May 2, 2025
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Kat A.," accessed December 12, 2025
- ↑ Media Matters for America, "About Us," accessed December 12, 2025
- ↑ Kat Abughazaleh campaign website, "About," accessed December 12, 2025
- ↑ Kat Abughazaleh campaign website, "Home page," accessed December 17, 2025
- ↑ YouTube, "Let's do this – Biss campaign advertisement," May 14, 2025
- ↑ Daniel K. Biss campaign website, "About," accessed December 17, 2025
- ↑ ABC 7 Chicago, "U.S. Rep. Schakowsky endorses Evanston Mayor Biss to take her congressional seat," January 7, 2026
- ↑ Laura Fine campaign website, "Meet Laura," accessed December 12, 2025
- ↑ Laura Fine campaign website, "Meet Laura," accessed December 17, 2025
- ↑ For more information on the difference between margins of error and credibility intervals, see explanations from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and Ipsos.
- ↑ Pew Research Center, "5 key things to know about the margin of error in election polls," September 8, 2016
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
