We have enjoyed our several encounters with the ambitious Daniel Biss, currently the 49-year-old mayor of Evanston and a formidable intellectual with growing political maturity. Biss, who was gunning for votes from the party’s left flank in the Democratic primary, was not our choice in the heavily contested contest (we endorsed state Rep. Laura Fine), so we were glad he came to make his case to us again.
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We were more impressed this time around as Biss, who has served in Springfield and also run unsuccessfully for governor, has pivoted back toward the center — hardly unusual in a general election. “I believe to my core that American government is stuck,” he told us, describing the current Congress as “the least productive in American history” and outlining what could reasonably be termed a centrist growth agenda with a progressive flavor, which is political real estate he’s occupied while in office. “I’m going to be focused on getting things unstuck,” he said, “so we can focus on the deep issues facing the American people.” Biss told us he did not identify as a Democratic socialist and that there were many things in the DSA platform with which he disagreed.
He also said “he had taken on big projects, sometimes to my political detriment,” an apparent reference to the new Northwestern University football stadium, a local decision of his that we supported. He also spoke eloquently on his big-tent vision for the Democratic Party, arguing that a massive country that has settled on a two-party system needs to embrace healthy disagreement within the ranks of those parties. He also told us he respects the need for federal agents enforcing immigration laws, even though he has called for ICE, as currently configured, to go. “We need to start again from scratch,” he said.
Biss does not have strong Republican opposition. His opponent, John Elleson, the 64-year-old pastor of Lakewood Chapel in Arlington Heights, won our endorsement in the Republican primary, by virtue of his apparent sincerity and decency. He displayed that in our endorsement meeting, striking a moderate tone and saying he would bring “the forgotten people to the forefront” if he were elected to Congress. He also saw the historic pictures of Chicago workers on the walls of our boardroom and noted that the city was built by hard-toiling, blue-collar Chicagoans and should “stay that way.”
“I’m not a big government person,” he said, “and I’m not interested in this socialism thing. I think the more people can keep in their pocket, the more you can incentivize them.”
Fair enough; we agree with Elleson that government spending is out of control. But even for those with Republican leanings, the political neophyte would not be the right choice against Biss, whose drive and skills will better serve this district and, we hope, get things unstuck in the next Congress.
Daniel Biss is endorsed.
Read all of the Tribune Editorial Board’s endorsements for the 2026 Illinois general election here.
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