Biss Wins 9th State Senate District Race

Updated 10:40 p.m.

With only three precincts left to report votes, Glenn Farkas has confirmed he conceded the race to Daniel Biss.

“I can’t say that it’s unexpected,” Farkas said in a phone interview. “We came in late, we knew it had been won by Schoenberg in the past.” 

During a telephone interview, Biss said he was humble and proud that his campaign has been successful. 

The Democratic candidate says as the new state senator he will be working hard on fiscal stabilization. 

“We need to find ways to leverage our economic strength and help accelerate our economy as fast as possible.”

Updated 9:35 p.m.

With only nine precincts yet to report votes, Biss has a comfortable lead with 66 percent or 61,100 of the votes. 

Updated 8:23 p.m.

With more than half of the precincts reporting, Biss is currently in the lead with 67 percent of the votes.

Original Article

State Rep. Daniel Biss (D-Evanstion) is running against Republican candidate Glenn Farkas in the 9th State Senate District.  Incumbent State Sen. Jeff Schoenberg is retiring at the end of the term after 22 years in the Illinois General Assembly. 

Patch will be updating election results on this page throughout the evening. 

Candidate

Percentage

Total Vote

Precincts Reporting

Daniel Biss (D)

67%

48,762

126 of 168

Glenn Farkas (R)

33%

23,974

126 of 168

GO BACK TO THE ILLINOIS ELECTION CENTRAL

Biss currently represents the 17th House District in the Illinois General Assembly. The Evanston resident is a former math professor at the University of Chicago and has served on seven House Committees such as Higher Education Appropriations, Bio-Technology, Consumer Protection and International Trade and Commerce, according to his campaign website. 

Farkas is the owner of Avista Wealth Management, an investment company based in Northbrook. This is the Glenview resident’s first time seeking public office. Farkas says the most important issue in the 9th District is economic progress. 

If elected, Farkas says his priority is to save the state of Illinois from financial collapse by restructuring the public pension system, reforming Medicaid and by embracing the private sector. 

“We are going to need to start all new employees on 401k plans that are defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans like the private sector has. I’m going to need to ask retirees to look at the cost of living adjustments and I’d recommend freezing them until we get a handle on this,” Farkas said during a previous debate. 

Biss says the most urgent challenges facing the state are high unemployment and a broken budget. Biss says he has already enacted measures to encourage growth in Illinois by increasing investment in growing small businesses and beginning the process of budget stabilization. As for the pension crisis, Biss proposes the state adopt a hybrid pension plan that shares features of a 401(k) but still pools investments and provides a guaranteed minimum benefit for participants. Biss says costs for such plans is more manageable. 

“The risk is shared by the employees rather than being held entirely by the state,” Biss wrote on his campaign website. 

Candidates

Click on a candidate's name for biographical information and answers to our candidate questionnaires, and check back for updates. 

• Daniel Biss
• Glenn Farkas  

Related Articles: 

• Senate District 9 Candidates on the Pension System
• Senate District 9 Candidates on the Education System