State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview) has represented Evanston and its surrounding municipalities for more than 13 years across both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly.
Now, she’s calling on voters to remember her years spent fighting “the biggest bullies in Springfield” as her campaign for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District navigates controversy less than a month before the March 17 primary.
“My experience, I believe, will allow me to tackle the really tough issues that we’re seeing in Washington right now,” Fine told The Daily. “I don’t think it’s time for a beginner. I don’t think it’s time for somebody who doesn’t understand the process. I think it’s time for somebody who’s really ready day one to dig in and get things done.”
Since Fine launched her campaign to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) in May, the race has ballooned to 15 Democratic candidates, including her legislative predecessor, Mayor Daniel Biss, and colleague State Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicago).
The election has also drawn national attention for reported meddling from outside lobbying groups and several campaign advertisements featuring the race’s three frontrunners — Biss, Fine and progressive content creator Kat Abughazaleh.
Despite the scrutiny, the state senator and her supporters find strength in her sense of political purpose since her early days serving at the state capital.
Fine’s journey to Springfield began after her husband nearly died in a 2010 car accident, leaving her family swimming in medical expenses after their insurance company tried to cancel his coverage. After almost facing bankruptcy, Fine studied and received an insurance license to better understand the industry behind her family’s struggles. Then, she took the fight to Springfield as a state representative.
“I made it my life’s mission to make sure what happened to my family wouldn’t happen to anybody else’s,” Fine said.
State Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield), who works with Fine as chair of the Illinois Senate Insurance Committee, said she noted Fine’s subject matter expertise from the moment they began serving together. Morrison, who has endorsed Fine, said she took on an “unusual” role for a legislator since the committee often relied on industry perspectives.
Instead, Morrison said Fine brought a “valuable” consumer perspective to the table.
“She’s consistently been able to help committee members understand what the bill is and the impact it will have on individuals,” Morrison said. “And I have not met a legislator that has worked harder than her.”
In her congressional run, Fine has most expounded upon her achievements in the healthcare and insurance sectors, which she claimed have made Illinois one of the most “consumer-friendly” states.
She noted that one of the most “impossible” pieces of legislation she achieved, a 2023 law allowing the Department of Insurance to review and reject unsubstantiated premium rate increases, took about a decade to pass.
“Sometimes when things are hard, you know that those are the best things that you have to get done, and you can’t give up on that,” Fine said.
If elected to Congress, Fine said her next ambition is to lay the groundwork for a Medicare for All single-payer national health insurance system.
She noted that the change cannot be achieved “tomorrow,” but that Congress can start by reinstating Affordable Care Act subsidies and reversing cuts to Medicaid enacted by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act during President Donald Trump’s second term.
“We’ve got to get that in place so we can try to move towards a Medicare for All system,” Fine said. “Don’t pull the rug out from under us until we have something to change it with.”
Fine also gained recognition for her role in establishing and chairing the Illinois Senate Behavioral and Mental Health Committee during the COVID-19 pandemic.
State Sen. Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines), who also endorsed Fine, said it took a “really unique personality” to anticipate the demand for mental health services before the situation became “epidemic.”
Since then, the committee has helped establish mental health parity in the state, which requires insurance to cover both mental and physical health care.
Ald. Tom Suffredin (6th) has described Fine as an “incredible person” and has endorsed her as the “best candidate” for the district at this moment. He said her family’s experience with the insurance industry and mental health enhances her support for constituents.
“She certainly puts herself in the place of the little person fighting the big entity very naturally,” Suffredin said.
According to Murphy, Fine approaches every legislative problem with empathy. Murphy said her ability to listen to and engage with stakeholders is Fine’s “best quality” as a legislator.
Fine’s campaign has received criticisms for taking donations from those she calls “bipartisan donors.” While Fine said there is a “line in the sand” for values she is unwilling to compromise on, including her support for Medicare for All and abortion rights, she emphasized her experience working across the aisle to enact mental health legislation at the committee level.
The same practice applies to differences in opinion within her party. In its endorsement of her congressional campaign, the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board wrote about Fine leaving the progressive caucus in Springfield “after she was made to feel uncomfortable for her belief in Israel’s right to defend itself or even to exist.”
Despite that exit, Fine emphasized the importance of ongoing conversation to achieve the votes necessary to pass crucial legislation.
“I don’t turn my back on anybody,” Fine said. “I think it’s more important to hear from people who disagree with you than agree with you, just so you can learn where they’re coming from.”
One of the largest divides between Democratic congressional candidates has proven to be the Israel-Hamas war and its destructive impacts on civilians in Gaza. In forums, Fine has repeatedly stated that she supports continued arms funding to the country and that she cannot support “tying Israel’s hands right now.”
She spoke of her own experience visiting the country’s borders and bomb shelters, noting that Israelis are “constantly under attack.”
“It’s very difficult for me to say that you can’t protect yourself,” Fine said.
However, like several of the race’s leading candidates, Fine promotes a two-state solution. She envisions bringing Palestinians to the table and prioritizing their necessities through U.S. diplomacy.
She emphasized her family’s longtime participation in Hands of Peace, an interfaith nonprofit connecting Israeli, Palestinian and American youth for extensive dialogue programs over the summer, as crucial to her belief in a peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians.
She remembered her first time hosting one of the organization’s participants, a Palestinian teenager who held Israeli citizenship — someone Fine said she keeps in touch with to this day.
“That was an ‘aha’ moment for me because there was a Palestinian mom thousands of miles away who trusted American Jews to care for her child,” Fine said. “So to me, I’m like, ‘We can do this.’ This is really possible.”
Elect Chicago Women, a newly-formed super PAC with reported ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has spent over $2.8 million on pro-Fine advertisements and over $1.3 million on advertisements attacking Biss.
The outside spending has drawn frequent attacks from Fine’s opponents, including Biss, who called ECW’s contributors “right-wing, Trump-aligned, dark money.” Last week, the two campaigns exchanged complaints against each other with the Federal Election Commission, each accusing the other of financial misconduct.
The Fine campaign has since denied any involvement with outside groups. Publicly, Fine has called for greater transparency and requested ECW disclose its donors ahead of the FEC-mandated March 20 deadline, which comes three days after the primary election.
In previous statements to and interviews with The Daily, Fine’s campaign has compared ECW’s activities to the outside spending of groups like 3.14 Action Fund, a hybrid PAC that has endorsed and paid for advertisements promoting the Biss campaign.
When asked to elaborate on that comparison, her campaign stated it cannot speculate on differences between the two outside groups.
In response to the turbulent campaign, Murphy maintains Fine’s independence, adding that accepting donations from someone “does not mean that you’re beholden to that person ever.”
Murphy reminded voters of Fine’s longstanding connection to the local community, something Morrison said would not fade should she win the race and enter the “Washington bubble.”
“She is the same person you elected. She is that same person that will solve problems, that is empathetic,” Murphy said. “It’s hard to get past all that campaign noise, but it is nothing more than noise meant to distract you from what’s really important.”
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Related Stories:
— ‘I didn’t want to wait’: Kat Abughazaleh looks to upset congressional status quo
— Mayor Daniel Biss isn’t afraid to make waves. Now, he’s aiming for Washington.
— ‘Come in with clean hands’: Phil Andrew aims to bring crisis management experience to Congress
