Rachel Ruttenberg (Medill M.S. ’04) wears many hats: attorney, advocate, policy advisor, local party leader, community organizer and more. But when asked why she’s running for public office, she reached — without hesitation — for a personal answer.
“I am the parent of two young girls, and they are growing up in a country where they have fewer rights than I did at their age,” the Evanston resident said. “That is a key driver of why I am in this work. I want to be building and making people’s lives better and not going backward.”
After two decades working “behind the scenes,” Ruttenberg, a North Shore native, was one of the first candidates to jump into the race to succeed State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview), who launched her congressional campaign after longtime U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) announced she would not seek reelection in early May.
Praising Schakowsky as a progressive leader and role model, Ruttenberg said her retirement opens up opportunities for “new faces” of the Democratic Party. With her announcement, Schakowsky joins Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), another fixture in Illinois politics, and a score of outgoing congressional Democrats in what some lawmakers and pundits call a generational shift in the party.
Pitching herself as both a first-time political candidate and an expert in policymaking who has been “fighting against the Trump administration since day one,” Ruttenberg said she sees the state legislature as a key political arena — and one to which she has much to offer.
“That is the front lines of where we are making sure that Illinois residents’ rights are continued to be protected, that families continue to have enough resources to get by, that our schools are funded, that our health care institutions are still available to us,” she said.
Prior to launching her campaign, Ruttenberg was the deputy chief of staff for policy for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, where she worked on the county’s medical debt relief and guaranteed income programs. Before that, she held positions at the Chicago Public Schools and leadership roles at several advocacy nonprofits, including the Family Defense Center and Heartland Alliance, a human rights and anti-poverty organization.
Ruttenberg said these experiences helped her realize the importance of economic justice, which she called the central plank of her campaign. The phrase, Ruttenberg explained, encompasses the issues critical to supporting working-class families, from addressing income inequality and funding public services to ensuring access to healthcare and clean air and water — many of which are now under threat from the Trump administration, she said.
“It’s not just how you put the food on the table, but how you keep your family moving forward,” she said. “If we are really putting our money where our mouth is around certain issues, those are the investments we should be making in our communities.”
Although Ruttenberg said she hasn’t identified specific policies to spearhead if she were to be elected, one area she wants to work on is housing affordability to ensure people can live in the community where they work. The issue is especially pertinent for the 9th district, which spans several affluent locales like Evanston, she said.
Environmental justice is another issue that representatives of the district — with its direct access to Lake Michigan — can play a leading role in Springfield in collaboration with Cook County and other local communities, Ruttenberg said.
Ruttenberg has already received endorsements from local leaders, including Illinois House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) and State Reps. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Evanston) and Tracy Katz Muhl (D-Northbrook).
“I’ve worked with Rachel for many years, and I know that she has a deep understanding of policy, a passion for public service, and knows our community very well,” Gabel said in a statement provided by Ruttenberg’s campaign. “I am proud to endorse her, and I think she will make a great State Senator and partner in Springfield.”
Kathy Hayes, the president of the Democratic Party of Evanston, chairs Ruttenberg’s campaign. She said the pair first met at a gathering for the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership Training Academy, a program training Democratic women for leadership roles in government, and have been close since.
“She is an attorney, which is a plus, as well as well-versed in how policy affects people … in a 3D type of situation where policy will affect lives not just today, but tomorrow and years from now,” Hayes said.
Ruttenberg serves as the deputy committeeperson for DPOE, which has yet to give endorsements in the upcoming local races, Hayes said. She said the party will screen and hold conversations with local candidates through a subcommittee in the upcoming months before members vote on endorsement decisions.
Ruttenberg’s campaign launch joins the whirlwind of announcements in recent weeks to shape what could be a political shakeup in Evanston come 2026. Mayor Daniel Biss announced his congressional bid on Thursday, setting up a potential showdown with Fine, his successor in Springfield. For the state Senate seat, Ruttenberg will face Winnetka’s Patrick Hanley and any other Democratic candidates in the March 2026 primary.
Ten months from the primary, Ruttenberg said she’s excited to start door-knocking and having one-on-one conversations with residents to hear their concerns and ideas.
“I was always raised with the spirit of ‘tikkun olam,’ a Jewish phrase to mean ‘to repair the world,’” she said. “I’ve hoped that I’ve carried that spirit through my career and hope to now carry it also into public office.”
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @caseeey_he
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— Democrats announce bid for state Senate seat after Laura Fine launches Congressional campaign
