Winnetka resident Patrick Hanley will represent the North Shore in Springfield after winning the open Illinois Senate District 9 seat on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Hanley, a Democrat, held a commanding lead over Republican Tom Lally in unofficial returns. With 121 of 141 suburban Cook County precincts reporting, Hanley had 51,254 votes to Lally's 12,274, according to the Cook County Clerk's election night portal. Turnout stood at 40.84%, with 64,589 of 158,143 registered voters casting ballots.

The district covers all or portions of Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Kenilworth, Northfield, Glenview, Northbrook, Evanston, Skokie, Golf, Morton Grove, Niles and part of Chicago, according to Patch. All results remain unofficial. Chicago precinct results are posted separately at chicagoelections.com.

Who is Hanley?

Hanley, president of the New Trier Democrats, is a small business owner who was born in Evanston and raised in Northbrook and Glenview, the Evanston RoundTable reported. He holds master's degrees in public policy and business administration from the University of Chicago, according to a Chicago Sun-Times candidate questionnaire.

Before running, Hanley spent a decade in Washington, D.C., working for U.S. senators and the U.S. Department of Justice, the RoundTable reported. In 2024, he co-founded Operation Swing State, which mobilized 10,000 Illinois volunteers to knock on doors in Michigan and Wisconsin.

He won the March 17 Democratic primary over Rachel Ruttenberg with 51.6% of the vote. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky endorsed his campaign.

On his campaign website, Hanley listed priorities including public education, healthcare, clean energy and what he described as an affordability crisis affecting taxes, utility bills, childcare, housing and healthcare prices, Patch reported.

Lally's campaign

Lally, a retired insurance and sales worker from Glenview, grew up in North Evanston and Wilmette and attended elementary and high school in Wilmette, according to Patch. He ran unopposed for the Republican nomination on March 17, receiving 3,766 votes, according to Ballotpedia.

Lally said he was approached by the Illinois District 9 Republican Organization to represent the party. He said he decided to run after hearing Hanley call President Donald Trump a fascist.

"His comment was so off-handed and flippant, I felt I had to take a stand," Lally said, according to Patch.

As of late October, Lally did not have a campaign committee or website, the Evanston RoundTable reported. The Journal & Topics reported the two candidates offered contrasting views on taxes and policy. Lally called for freezing taxes, reducing state spending and helping the private sector bring business to Illinois.

The open seat

The seat opened after state Sen. Laura Fine, a Glenview Democrat who represented the district since 2019, chose not to seek reelection. Fine instead ran unsuccessfully for the 9th Congressional District seat in the March primary, the RoundTable reported.

In that neighboring congressional race, CBS News projected former Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss as the winner, replacing retiring U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Biss held 80.4% of the vote to Republican John Elleson's 19.6% with 10.5% of the expected vote counted, according to NBC Chicago. ABC7 reported Biss, 49, was the heavy favorite to continue Democratic control of the seat, which has been held by Democrats since World War II.