Schakowsky Retiring, Field to Replace Her Begins to Form
Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) speaks at a news conference in Washington in January. Schakowsky announced Monday she won’t seek re-election. (Photo: Getty)
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Jan Schakowsky, the Evanston Democrat who has spent 26 years in the House of Representatives, confirmed Monday she will retire and won’t seek re-election next year.
Schakowsky, who turns 81 later this month, was first elected to Congress in 1998, defeating future Governor JB Pritzker in the primary in the heavily Democratic 9th District.
From the Chicago Tribune:
“This is the official — that I’m not going to run again for Congress,” Schakowsky said to a crowd of about 1,000 people attending an Ultimate Women’s Power Luncheon event she hosted at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Hotel. “As much as I love and have loved being in the Congress of the United States, such an incredible, incredible privilege to work with the people of the district, to learn from them, to be an organizer, to be a fighter — well, that will never end. But I have made the decision that I am not going to seek reelection this time.”
Her retirement will undoubtedly set off a series of political maneuvers. Even before Schakowsky’s announcement, a social media content creator had declared candidacy for the seat: 26-year-old Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive critic of the far right who moved to Illinois last year and outraised Schakowsky in the first quarter.
Abughazaleh will almost certainly be joined by a field of Democratic hopefuls that could include Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, state Sen. Laura Fine, state Rep. Hoan Huynh and others.
Schakowsky declined to say Monday whether she’d support any particular candidate to succeed her.
Both Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview) and Rep. Daniel Didech (D-Buffalo Grove) announced Monday they wouldn’t seek the seat.
The 9th District stretches from Uptown and Rogers Park in the City of Chicago to Kane and McHenry Counties in the west. Democrats have a nearly 20-point advantage in the district.
