Laura Fine (born December 13, 1966) is an American politician who is serving as a member of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

from the 9th district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented the 17th district in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

from 2013 to 2019. In 2025, Fine announced her candidacy for

Illinois's 9th Congressional District The 9th congressional district of Illinois covers parts of Cook County, Illinois, Cook, Lake County, Illinois, Lake, and McHenry County, Illinois, McHenry counties as of the 2021 redistricting which followed the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, seeking to succeed Rep.

Jan Schakowsky Janice Schakowsky ( ; née Danoff; born May 26, 1944) is an American politician who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 1999, and she previously served as a member of the Illinois House of Re ...

in the 2026 midterm election.

Early life and education

She grew up in Glenview and graduated from Glenbrook South High School. She then graduated from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

with a B.A. in telecommunications in 1985. After graduation, she produced, wrote, reported and anchored news shows. Fine received a master's degree in political science from

Northeastern Illinois University Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is a public university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. NEIU serves approximately 5,000 students in the region and is both a federally designated Hispanic-serving institution and Asian American and Nat ...

, where she later taught courses in American Government and the Constitution.

Political Career

Fine previously represented the 17th district of the

from 2013 to 2019 and as Northfield Township

Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

from 2009 to 2013. On July 28, 2017, Fine announced her intention to run for the senate seat being vacated by Daniel Biss. After running unopposed in the primary, Fine won the 2018 general election. She took office on January 6, 2019, finishing out the remaining days of Biss' Senate term before starting her own on January 9. As of May 2025, Senator Fine is a member of the following Illinois Senate committees: *Behavioral and Mental Health- Chair *Insurance- Vice Chair *Environment and Conservation *Health and Human Services *Judiciary *Public Health *Worker's Compensation

2026 congressional campaign

On May 6, 2025, Fine announced that she would run for the U.S. House of Representatives in

Illinois's 9th congressional district The 9th congressional district of Illinois covers parts of Cook County, Illinois, Cook, Lake County, Illinois, Lake, and McHenry County, Illinois, McHenry counties as of the 2021 redistricting which followed the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

, seeking to succeed retiring incumbent

. The field also includes her State Senator predecessor

Daniel Biss Daniel Kálmán Biss (born August 27, 1977) is an American mathematician and politician serving as mayor of Evanston, Illinois. He is a former member of both the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate. Prior to pursuing a politica ...

, social media influencer

Kat Abughazaleh Katherine Marie Abughazaleh (, , born March 24, 1999), known professionally as Kat Abu, is an American journalist, social media influencer, and political commentator. Abughazaleh rose to prominence while working at Media Matters for America, whe ...

, and high school educator David Abrevaya. Fine, who is campaigning to win the 2026 Democratic

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

, said she aims to continue Schakowsky's "legacy... as a steadfast progressive representative" and to fight

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's economic policies. Fine received endorsements from several local Democratic officials. ''Jewish Insider'' described her political platform as being more strongly "pro-Israel" than those of several opponents, and also described her as taking a more rigidly "pro-Israel" position than Shakowsky had. The outlet also reported that that she had met with

AIPAC The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC ) is a pro-Israel lobbying group that advocates its policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States. It is one of several pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the ...

and "backed continued security assistance to Israel that has faced opposition from some House Democrats".

Personal life

Fine and her husband, Michael, have two sons. Fine is Jewish.

References

External links

Laura Fine for Congress websiteRepresentative Laura Fine (D) 17th District
at the Illinois General Assembly **By session
98th97thLaura Fine for State Representativearchived version
*

at Illinois House Democrats
2012 Editorial board questionnaire
at the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Fine, Laura 1967 births 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly Democratic Party Illinois state senators Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Indiana University alumni Living people Northeastern Illinois University alumni People from Glenview, Illinois Women state legislators in Illinois Jewish state legislators in Illinois