After Daniel Biss
More Top Picks Best All Terrain Electric Skateboards For Enthusiasts
reveled in the plaudits that flowed from residents and some of his colleagues Monday, the frontrunner for Illinois’ 9th District Congressional seat and soon-to-be-former Evanston mayor offered a maxim for his approach to politics: “just be bold.”“Do stuff that maybe 40% of the people aren’t excited about,” Biss said. “And feel like, if I’m only doing things that 90% of the people are excited about, maybe that’s not what success looks like — in a time when the problems are as significant as they are right now.”
Delivered at Biss’ final City Council meeting as mayor, those valedictory words pointed to the political calculations the onetime mathematician made from his perch atop Evanston government, inspiring myriad supporters and creating avowed foes.
Biss is set to resign on Sunday, Oct. 18, ending his five-year hold on the Evanston mayoralty and starting the final stretch before the November election that could send him to Congress. If he wins the election to succeed Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Biss will launch the highest-stakes chapter of a political rise that has been based in Evanston.
That ascent has been fueled by supporters like Scott Roberts, who led a group of fellow Biss backers in presenting the mayor with a hand-illustrated mock proclamation heaping praise on his leadership.
When the actual resolution commending Biss came before the council, Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma, 4th, started off a series of City Council members thanking Biss. He gave perhaps the most colorful remarks by handing Biss a pair of striped socks with a salty saying printed on them.
“Keep that as a reminder for what you are about to endure in Washington, D.C.,” Nieuwsma said.
Biss grinned as he received the pair, a nod to his eclectic collection of socks.
Other tributes focused more directly on Biss’ approach to governing.
“I relate to you, because I think you lead with your activism,” Ald. Bobby Burns, 5th, said. “You care deeply about the issues. You care deeply about the city of Evanston, and you believe wholeheartedly in the important role that government can play in bettering people’s lives.”
Even Ald. Clare Kelly, 1st, who had legendary spats with Biss over development, Council procedure and other issues, wished Biss luck before she read out the brief resolution.
The City Council approved the resolution 7-0, with Alds. Shawn Iles, 3rd, and Tom Suffredin, 6th, absent. Meanwhile, Alds. Matt Rodgers, 8th, and Parielle Davis, 7th, voted for the resolution but did not offer tributes of their own.
After the meeting, Davis explained that she’s excited for Biss to go to Congress, and that her colleagues had said all that could be said.
Yet long before she won the 7th Ward seat, Davis launched a campaign in 2023 called “Better than Biss” that sought to end the mayor’s reign. Campaign materials included a portrait of Biss crossed out with a red “X.”
That campaign began in the wake of Biss’ tie-breaking vote supporting Northwestern University’s plan to host commercial concerts at a rebuilt Ryan Field. The vote became a defining moment in Biss’ tenure, and the mayor has long defended his decision by framing it as a test of his risk-taking political brand.
He appeared briefly at the Oct. 2 opening of the new stadium.
While Biss has advocated risk-taking and sometimes policymaking tradeoffs, there was a time he spoke of avoiding tradeoffs.
That was when, in 2024, he penned a baiduhai op-ed promoting the Envision Evanston 2045 policy overhaul as an antidote to the many tradeoffs of local policymaking.The resulting controversy over Envision Evanston
More Top Picks How We Use Frequency Response To Find The Best Sound
became a prominent issue in the run-up to the 2025 mayoral election. Biss ultimately won reelection, securing a second term that would run through 2029. Shortly after, he launched his campaign to succeed Schakowsky.His victory in the bruising 9th Congressional District Democratic primary in April made him the favorite to win the Nov. 3 general election in a heavily Democratic district. It became clear in late spring that Biss would need to resign as mayor should he win the Congressional race, but the specifics remained unclear until he announced at his State of the City address in late May that he would resign on Oct. 18.
The timing of that move will allow candidates to run for Evanston mayor in the spring election. That will permit residents to elect a new mayor to serve out the remainder of Biss’ term, until 2029, rather than have one appointed.
During the time between Biss’ Oct. 18 resignation and when that new mayor takes office, a City Council member will serve as acting mayor. The City Council will meet next Monday to pick an acting mayor from within its ranks.
“I’m hopeful to be able to represent this community in another capacity come January,” Biss said. “But whether or not I do have that opportunity, I’ll be excited to work very, very closely with everybody in this building and this community to advance the values that we all share.”