That makes a dozen.
State Sen. Mike Simmons of Rogers Park announced Tuesday he’ll join the crowded field seeking to represent the 9th District in Congress.
Simmons is the first LGBTQ+ member of the Illinois Senate.
The other candidates are State Rep. Hoan Huynh, State Sen. Laura Fine, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, social media content creator Kat Abughazaleh, Skokie School Board member Bushra Amiwala, Howard Rosenblum, Miracle Jenkins, Justin Ford, Bruce Leon, Lauren Million and Bethany Johnson.
The race to replace Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston and be just the third representative for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District since 1965, quickly became crowded after Schakowsky announced in May that she’d retire at the end of the term.
Abughazaleh was the only candidate to announce before Schakowsky said she was retiring..
Simmons has been speculated as a potential candidate, fueled by his attendance at a candidate forum late last month.
“I don’t look like the typical member of Congress,” Simmons said in his launch video. “I symbolize everything Donald Trump is trying to erase.”
The 42-year-old senator attended Amherst College, graduating in 2006 with a degree in political science. He was an intern for then-Senator Barack Obama and later a legislative aide for Sen. Dick Durbin in Washington.
He worked as the deputy commissioner of the Chicago Department of Planning and Development before starting an anti-racist public policy organization and later working as the deputy director of an organization that’s part of the Obama Foundation.
He was appointed to the Illinois Senate to replace Heather Steans in 2021, before winning reelection in 2022 and 2024.
Simmons was born and raised in public housing in Lincoln Square, to a mother who ran a hair salon and a father who immigrated from Ethiopia, and he said his “multi-generational household was one of the first Black families to integrate the neighborhood.”
Simmons filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission Tuesday morning, officially entering the contest.
The Cook County Democratic Party is planning to meet next week, with expected endorsements ahead of the 2026 primary to follow.
Simmons isn’t up for reelection until 2028 and could retain his seat in Springfield should he not get the Democratic nomination when voters go to the polls on March 17.
