“I Think I’m Very Intimidating to AIPAC ”
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Politics
/ March 13, 2026
“I Think I’m Very Intimidating to AIPAC ”
An interview with Illinois congressional candidate Daniel Biss.
Matthew Vickers
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Daniel Biss in Chicago on August 12, 2025.
(E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Outside spending, the widening war in the Middle East, generational politics, and the future of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing have all converged in the race for Illinois’s Ninth Congressional District.
The crowded primary to succeed the district’s outgoing representative has drawn national attention in part because of the millions of dollars flowing into the race from groups aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Though 15 candidates are on the ballot, the contest has largely narrowed to a three-way race between Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, journalist Kat Abughazaleh, and Illinois state Senator Laura Fine.
Biss first entered politics in the early 2000s while working as a mathematics professor at the University of Chicago, organizing against the Iraq War. He later served in the Illinois House and Senate, ran for governor in 2018, and has been mayor of Evanston since 2021.
On the eve of the primary, Biss talked with The Nation about the race, AIPAC-linked spending, the strikes against Iran, and the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. This interview has been edited for clarity.
—Matthew Vickers
Current Issue
April 2026 Issue
Matthew Vickers: How did you initially get involved in progressive politics?
Daniel Biss: I was a math professor at the University of Chicago. I started there in 2002 and certainly never envisioned getting into politics. But if you think about what [was] happening then, it’s the year after 9/11, six months before the war in Iraq, we’re watching as the country has been lied into a war by George W Bush. And frankly, too many Democrats were too scared to say what was obvious. I just couldn’t believe it. It seemed really dangerous. And so I wound up doing a bunch of political organizing. One thing led to another, and I ran for office in 2008.
MV: Considering you got started in politics with the lead-up and the eventual invasion of Iraq, what do you make of the war between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other?
DB: It’s horrible. Let’s start with the easy stuff. It’s illegal. You don’t have to erase the Constitution as president. The idea that anybody of any point of view or any political party voted against the War Powers resolutions in the House and Senate is disappointing. I don’t think we should end the conversation by discussing the …
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“I Think I’m Very Intimidating to AIPAC ”
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Current Issue
Politics
/ March 13, 2026
“I Think I’m Very Intimidating to AIPAC ”
An interview with Illinois congressional candidate Daniel Biss.
Matthew Vickers
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
Daniel Biss in Chicago on August 12, 2025.
(E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Outside spending, the widening war in the Middle East, generational politics, and the future of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing have all converged in the race for Illinois’s Ninth Congressional District.
The crowded primary to succeed the district’s outgoing representative has drawn national attention in part because of the millions of dollars flowing into the race from groups aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Though 15 candidates are on the ballot, the contest has largely narrowed to a three-way race between Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, journalist Kat Abughazaleh, and Illinois state Senator Laura Fine.
Biss first entered politics in the early 2000s while working as a mathematics professor at the University of Chicago, organizing against the Iraq War. He later served in the Illinois House and Senate, ran for governor in 2018, and has been mayor of Evanston since 2021.
On the eve of the primary, Biss talked with The Nation about the race, AIPAC-linked spending, the strikes against Iran, and the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. This interview has been edited for clarity.
—Matthew Vickers
Current Issue
April 2026 Issue
Matthew Vickers: How did you initially get involved in progressive politics?
Daniel Biss: I was a math professor at the University of Chicago. I started there in 2002 and certainly never envisioned getting into politics. But if you think about what [was] happening then, it’s the year after 9/11, six months before the war in Iraq, we’re watching as the country has been lied into a war by George W Bush. And frankly, too many Democrats were too scared to say what was obvious. I just couldn’t believe it. It seemed really dangerous. And so I wound up doing a bunch of political organizing. One thing led to another, and I ran for office in 2008.
MV: Considering you got started in politics with the lead-up and the eventual invasion of Iraq, what do you make of the war between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other?
DB: It’s horrible. Let’s start with the easy stuff. It’s illegal. You don’t have to erase the Constitution as president. The idea that anybody of any point of view or any political party voted against the War Powers resolutions in the House and Senate is disappointing. I don’t think we should end the conversation by discussing the …
“I Think I’m Very Intimidating to AIPAC ”
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“I Think I’m Very Intimidating to AIPAC ”
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Current Issue
Politics
/ March 13, 2026
“I Think I’m Very Intimidating to AIPAC ”
An interview with Illinois congressional candidate Daniel Biss.
Matthew Vickers
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
Daniel Biss in Chicago on August 12, 2025.
(E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Outside spending, the widening war in the Middle East, generational politics, and the future of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing have all converged in the race for Illinois’s Ninth Congressional District.
The crowded primary to succeed the district’s outgoing representative has drawn national attention in part because of the millions of dollars flowing into the race from groups aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Though 15 candidates are on the ballot, the contest has largely narrowed to a three-way race between Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, journalist Kat Abughazaleh, and Illinois state Senator Laura Fine.
Biss first entered politics in the early 2000s while working as a mathematics professor at the University of Chicago, organizing against the Iraq War. He later served in the Illinois House and Senate, ran for governor in 2018, and has been mayor of Evanston since 2021.
On the eve of the primary, Biss talked with The Nation about the race, AIPAC-linked spending, the strikes against Iran, and the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. This interview has been edited for clarity.
—Matthew Vickers
Current Issue
April 2026 Issue
Matthew Vickers: How did you initially get involved in progressive politics?
Daniel Biss: I was a math professor at the University of Chicago. I started there in 2002 and certainly never envisioned getting into politics. But if you think about what [was] happening then, it’s the year after 9/11, six months before the war in Iraq, we’re watching as the country has been lied into a war by George W Bush. And frankly, too many Democrats were too scared to say what was obvious. I just couldn’t believe it. It seemed really dangerous. And so I wound up doing a bunch of political organizing. One thing led to another, and I ran for office in 2008.
MV: Considering you got started in politics with the lead-up and the eventual invasion of Iraq, what do you make of the war between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other?
DB: It’s horrible. Let’s start with the easy stuff. It’s illegal. You don’t have to erase the Constitution as president. The idea that anybody of any point of view or any political party voted against the War Powers resolutions in the House and Senate is disappointing. I don’t think we should end the conversation by discussing the …
