Two frontrunners remain within the margin of error in the race to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, the second of two Public Policy Polling surveys commissioned by the Evanston RoundTable indicated Tuesday.
Mayor Daniel Biss led with an estimated 24% of the voter share. Progressive content creator Kat Abughazaleh trailed him by four points, within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.6%.
Compared to the previous poll conducted in late February, Abughazaleh jumped up three points while Biss’ support remained stagnant. At 14%, third-place State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview) fell out of the margin of error.
Abughazaleh’s support rapidly approaches Biss’, polls indicate
The estimates are within the previous poll’s margin of error. But the Abughazaleh campaign celebrated her gains as a result of its “Abughamentum” in a news release Wednesday.
“The momentum is ours. This is now a two-way race,” Abughazaleh wrote.
Following heavy campaigning among young voters, including at Northwestern, Abughazaleh appears poised to win the youth vote. 34% of voters aged 18 to 45 indicated they would vote for the 26-year-old candidate.
It’s unclear where the estimated 17% of undecided voters, including two in ten respondents older than 45 and almost a quarter of outer-suburbs respondents, will fall.
The latter demographic, which Fine’s campaign has called a target electorate, is one of the largest unknowns of the 9th District race thus far. Abughazaleh and Biss lead the pack among respondents who live outside the Chicago-tied Senate Districts 7, 8 and 9, which includes some more conservative suburbs in distant Lake and McHenry Counties.
While the Abughazaleh campaign claimed to “have the juice,” a Biss campaign release Wednesday indicated the mayor doesn’t appear deterred by the results.
“Daniel continues to be the clear frontrunner in this race, with by far the highest favorability of the leading candidates along with the resources and organization to win on March 17,” wrote campaign manager George Lundgren. “Right-wing special interests will not buy this Democratic district.”
Email: [email protected]
Bluesky: @ryaninevanston.bsky.social
Related Stories:
— Fifth of Democratic primary voters remain undecided in 9th Congressional District poll
— Poll shows Abughazaleh, Biss tied in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District Democratic primary
— The Open Seat: ETHS sophomore aims to predict congressional race using betting market data
