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March 11, 2026
Greetings!
Pardon the mid-week interruption. I did not want to wait until Sunday.
A new independent poll confirms that next week's Illinois 9th congressional district primary is between Daniel Biss and Kat Abughazaleh. A vote for Laura Fine is a vote for Kat Abughazaleh.
The poll commissioned by Evanston Roundtable released last night shows that with the election less than a week away, Laura Fine is unlikely to win. Her net favorability rating has plunged to -22, and she is barely in third place.
If you are concerned about Israel and you are (justifiably) concerned about Kat Abughazaleh's positions, then you should vote for Daniel Biss. Please don't throw away your vote on Laura Fine. Abughazaleh's only chance of winning is for Biss to lose support in the final days of the campaign.
Biss leads the crowded field, holding steady at 24% and a net favorability rating of +19. Abughazaleh is in second at 20% with a net favorability rating of +5. Fine is in third place, falling to 14% with a net favorability rating of -22. She is only four points ahead of Mike Simmons.
At 50%, Biss has the highest favorability rating of the three leading candidates, as well as the lowest unfavorability rating (31%).
Biss did best with female voters at 28%. Abughazaleh did best with male voters at 29%. Among voters who know Biss and Fine the best, those in the State Senate district currently represented by Fine and previously represented by Biss, Biss leads with 31%, followed by Fine with 17% and Abughazaleh with 13%.
I've known Daniel Biss for nearly 20 years. He is brilliant (he was a professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago before running for office), he has the courage of his convictions, and he compiled a proven record of success as a state representative, a state senator, and mayor.
Biss's support for Israel comes from his heart as well as his intellect. He does not define support for Israel as mindlessly following the Likud or AIPAC line. He knows that shared values undergird the U.S.-Israel relationship and that measures must be taken to ensure that those values are upheld in the U.S. and in Israel for the U.S.-Israel relationship to endure.
Biss is the grandson of Holocaust survivors who moved to Israel in 1948, settling in Herzliya to rebuild their lives after their parents and many other relatives perished. Much of his extended family lives in Israel today.
Biss grew up with two passports and spent every summer in Israel throughout his childhood in the 1980s and early 90s. He spent a semester in Israel as an undergraduate, studying linguistics at Tel Aviv University and mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem after spending a month studying Hebrew at the Ulpan Akiva in Netanya.
No candidate in this race has anywhere near that kind of background and understanding of Israel.
Daniel Biss deserves pro-Israel support.
IL-09 deserves Daniel Biss.
Yet AIPAC has spent over $5 million to defeat Biss and might wind up electing Kat Abughazaleh instead of their preferred candidate, Laura Fine. This will sound familiar to anyone from New Jersey.
Anything can happen in a crowded primary. Anyone can win. But we have to be smart. The stakes are too high to gamble on the outcome, and we have to use the best information available to us. That means voting for Daniel Biss.
Please urge your friends in IL-09 to vote for Daniel Biss. He is a great choice, and he is the only realistic alternative to Kat Abughazaleh, who trails him by four points. A vote for any other candidate, including Laura Fine, is a vote for Kat Abughazaleh.
I'll be back bright and early on Sunday with the newsletter you've grown to expect and love.
Unless stated otherwise, my views do not necessarily reflect the views of any candidates or organizations I support or am associated with.
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