Our choice for Democrats in Congress District 9

With longtime U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky deciding against seeking re-election, voters will find 14 active congressional candidates on the Democratic Party primary ballot in Illinois' 9th U.S. House district.

The district is clearly gerrymandered to provide safe haven for Democrats in the general election, so sorting through the array of hopefuls in the March 17 primary is especially critical. The winner is likely to go on to be elected even though the size of the field means that candidate probably will be nominated without a majority of the vote.

A number of those candidates are worthy. We could make a case for many of them. We very much like many of them.

For instance, Army veteran Sam Polan of Wilmette presents a solid candidacy as a level-headed left-of-center moderate who practically had us applauding when he said Democrats must understand that it's “crucial that we become the common-sense party again.” Crisis management expert Phil Andrew, also of Wilmette, is another extraordinarily good moderate option; with a personal story that is frankly inspirational, he speaks forcefully but thoughtfully without resorting to slogans or simplistic solutions. Polan, Andrew and others would be appealing nominees.

But our choice is State Sen. Laura Fine, an experienced legislator from Glenview who has demonstrated a remarkable ability to work with others to get things done. She displays the refreshing analytical thinking the country needs in Washington to focus on creatively solving problems rather than engaging in the beltway game of reflexive polarization. In her time in Springfield, she has shown herself to be a workhorse, not a show horse, and she is widely respected by colleagues and constituents because of that.

She boasts endorsements from an impressive and exhaustively large array of community leaders and Legislator of the Year recognition from a number of organizations, and she has had a hand in passage of scores of bills in Springfield, with a particular interest in health care matters. She's not one of the flamboyance magnets who seem to be famous for being famous. She is more old school than that. She works behind the noise to accomplish things.

All that said, she also has grit and strength. We don't agree with all of her positions. While we share grave concerns about the way the current immigration enforcement has been handled, we view her bill to ban ICE agents from consideration for Illinois law enforcement jobs to be doctrinaire. But for the most part, Fine assesses problems and takes measured positions that see past the day's crises to the fundamentals that lie beneath them. While certainly left of center, she understands that most issues come with complexity that cannot be solved with dogmatism.

There are indeed more progressive candidates in the race, including but not limited to Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and social media influencer Kat Abughazaleh of Chicago. While their views are farther left than ours, we do not dismiss their candidacies. Biss first came to our attention during his days in the state legislature 15 years ago, and we have to say that in the years since, he has grown. His leadership in Evanston has been energetic and in many ways groundbreaking. Abughazaleh, 26, would become one of the youngest members of Congress if she were elected and, without question, would capture national attention with her provocative approach to politics. Both are formidable candidates and both clearly represent constituencies on the left wing of the party.

The district boundaries snake almost 50 miles from the north side of Chicago through slices of 32 suburbs as far northwest as Lake in the Hills in McHenry County.

Who will win? It is hard to say. It looks like it is going to be a close race. We encourage you to research the candidates. Our recommendation is Laura Fine.