Evanston resident Bethany Johnson announced Monday her plans to join the race for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District in 2026.
Johnson is a Progressive Democrat and longtime south Evanston resident, and she said on her website that she’ll advocate to stop using Illinois to “fund red states,” promote LGBTQ+ rights and redirect money from the military to schools and hospitals.
She enters a crowded Democratic primary field for the seat held by Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston), which includes Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, state Sen. Laura Fine (9th District), content creator Kat Abughazaleh, Skokie’s Bushra Amiwala and Chicago’s Miracle Johnson, among others.
Schakowsky announced in May that she would retire at the end of the term, leaving an open battleground for the seat she has held since 1999.
“It seems like we have backslid 50 years so quickly,” Johnson told the RoundTable. “And if we’re going to gain ground, that’s going to have to be a fight. That’s not going to be a bunch of people being nice to each other.”
Johnson said she is running because she is tired of settling for political compromises. She is frustrated by the “backslide” in progress, including the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and legislation targeting transgender individuals. She said in a press release that, as a transgender woman, she’s tired of Democrats on the national level who have “basically ignored” transgender rights “in the last few years.”
Johnson said, if elected, she’d work to withhold funding from red states in order to pass bills surrounding reproductive and LGBTQ+, among other causes she supports. She also advocates for “real consequences” for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who wear face coverings while on duty.
“I think this is a game of chicken that they will definitely blink on,” Johnson said.
She knows this won’t be a popular policy, she said, but she believes bold strokes are the only way to move forward.
“I’m not going to change my beliefs to get elected,” Johnson said. “I’m not doing this to get an office. I’m doing this to stand up for what is right.”
On a local level, Johnson said she wants to make constituent services more accessible by having a mobile office — not unlike a bookmobile, as she described it.
“I care about this district,” Johnson said. “I’m going live here for the rest of my life.”
The ninth district begins in Chicago’s Uptown before sweeping north through Evanston, and then northwest up into Cary and Algonquin. The primary will be held on March 17, 2026.
