If the next nine months of the Democratic primary for Illinois’ 9th State Senate District are anything like the first two, it’s likely to remain a fairly tame and friendly contest.
Rachel Ruttenberg and Patrick Hanley worked side-by-side as political organizers in their respective communities long before they were opponents, but next March will face off against each other to fill State Sen. Laura Fine’s seat in Springfield, as Fine looks to secure the Democratic nomination for a seat in the U.S. House.
Both candidates recently sat down with Evanston Now to talk about their campaigns, policy positions and visions for their party, and while neither had anything bad to say about the other, they both do see daylight between them as they craft their pitch to voters.
Ruttenberg, the former president of the Democratic Party of Evanston and current deputy committeeperson of the DPOE, was born in Connecticut but raised in the northwest suburbs. She moved to Evanston for graduate school at Northwestern University before starting her career, first in communications at Chicago Public Schools but soon thereafter diving into the world of politics and public policy.
She earned her law degree at Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2011 before a brief stint as a staffer in the Illinois House, eventually working for nonprofits tackling poverty and domestic violence issues. Most recently, she was deputy chief of staff for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.
“I’ve always really enjoyed my work,” Ruttenberg said. “I have been a behind-the-scenes person and yet I know I can be most effective if I’m out front, saying the actual words that I’m writing, putting forth the policy ideas that I’m writing.”
A key point of Ruttenberg’s campaign is increasing transparency in Springfield, noting she thinks there’s often a lack of knowledge about what the state senate is, does and can do.
“I think that people are kind of unaware of the goings on,” Ruttenberg said. “I think what I can bring … is I can see how all the systems interact, I understand what their impact is on people’s daily lives and I understand the incremental steps we need to take to be able to get there.”
Hanley, a longtime community organizer from Winnetka, is president of the New Trier Democrats and co-owns an e-commerce sleepwear and homeware business founded by his wife called ‘Piglet in Bed.’
But he’s also an active community organizer in New Trier Township, with an MBA and MPP from the University of Chicago, he’s been a volunteer, board member or organizer for more than a dozen social service and political organizing groups, including co-founder of Operation Swing State, a get-out-the-vote organization based in Illinois and recently a board member for Reform for Illinois, a public policy nonprofit.
On policy issues, Ruttenberg and Hanely seem to see eye-to-eye. They’re both progressive Democrats citing affordability, sustainability, healthcare and building a shield against the Trump administration priorities in their campaigns.
Hanley listed a litany of key issues and ran off a long list of ideas, from increasing reliance of renewable energy through partnerships with other states and increasing housing statewide, to making it easier for small businesses to get off the ground by streamlining fees and approval processes.
Ruttenberg talked at length about filling the gaps left behind by the Trump administration through “financial resiliency” in the wake of threats and cuts by the federal government, as well as building government partnerships statewide between counties and municipalities.
“If we can’t rely on the federal government anymore, and I think that they’ve proven to us that we can’t, we’re gonna need to fend for ourselves,” Ruttenberg said.
Hanley said the same in his own words, expecting “nothing good to come out of Washington for the next 10 years, if we’re lucky.”
“I think action has moved decisively to the states,” Hanley said. “What are people looking for? They’re looking for safety, stability, predictability, away from the chaos that is coming out of Washington and the uncertainty about what the future holds.”
So what does separate the two North Shore political leaders vying for a seat in Illinois’ Senate?
Hanely said his business and organizing background is key to what separates him from Ruttenberg, noting the need for “political leaders who aren’t just policy makers.”
Hanley also cited a need for a new type of campaigning from Democrats, like the recent, uniquely focused and social media-driven campaign of Zohran Mamdani in New York City, who recently won the Democratic nomination for mayor.
He called that election a “model that I think other Democrats need to take into consideration for elections leading into 2026.”
“[Politicians] need to be able to carry out a message that is grounded in conviction into TikTok, living rooms, town halls, YouTube, television, whatever it is across every medium,” Hanley said.
Ruttenberg praised Hanley’s work on Operation Swing State, a group that launched from DPOE to send door-knockers and canvassers to Wisconsin and Michigan ahead of November’s election, but called her public policy background a “big difference” between herself and Hanley.
“He’s a really nice guy,” Ruttenberg said. “He’s a wonderful leader … I’ve been asked where the daylight between [us] is and my answer is, ‘I have 20 years of public policy experience and I’m ready to go’ … I’ve had a whole career in this exact work that the state senate engages in on a daily basis.”
Both candidates are easing into what’s likely to be a contested and busy campaign season across several local races, including the race to replace U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who’s endorsed Hanley, kicking off their respective campaigns and hosting local events and meetups.
Regardless of being opponents, though, Hanley said he views the competition as healthy for state politics and welcomes the contest.
“We’re all Democrats, we’re all friends,” Hanley said. “We’re all trying to meet a moment, and I think that’s great.”
