This is a seat left open after the failed congressional candidacy of Democrat Laura Fine, who’s represented this north suburban district since 2019. The Democratic candidate to succeed her is Winnetka small business owner Patrick Hanley, 36, who edged out Evanston lawyer Rachel Ruttenberg in a hotly contested primary.
Hanley, whom we endorsed over Ruttenberg in the primary, faces Glenview resident Thomas Lally, 74, now retired after a career in the insurance and defense industries. Lally is from a very old North Shore family; the family business is West End Florist in the far western part of Evanston, a business established by Lally’s grandfather in 1908.
Hanley’s views are similar to those of Fine and her predecessor Daniel Biss, the Evanston mayor now running to succeed Jan Schakowsky in the U.S. House of Representatives. Hanley told us he opposes the so-called millionaire’s tax, a surcharge on incomes over $1 million that House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch endorses. But he believes Illinois should adopt a progressive income tax in the future, something Illinois voters rejected in 2020.
At the same time, we are heartened to see that he would consider Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke’s suggestions for state legislation reforming the county’s broken electronic monitoring system. He also has some solid ideas on getting more housing built in Illinois, which we have identified as an urgent need.
Lally hasn’t waged any kind of serious campaign that we can discern; for example, the League of Women Voters said his campaign didn’t respond to a request to debate Hanley, who’d agreed to attend. A lengthy statement on Lally’s campaign website as to why he’s running includes a hearty defense of President Donald Trump and a description of Democratic voters as “lemmings.”
In a district where Democrats far outnumber Republicans, that struck us as an odd form of outreach to potential swing voters.
Patrick Hanley has our endorsement.
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Read all of the Tribune Editorial Board’s endorsements for the 2026 Illinois general election here.
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