The race to become the next mayor of Evanston is off to a start as business attorney and political outsider Jade Carpenter filed paperwork July 1 to form a candidate committee in the city’s upcoming special mayoral election.
Carpenter, a 2nd Ward Evanston resident and founding partner attorney at Zeidman & Carpenter PLLC law firm in Skokie, is the first to announce definite plans to run in what is likely to be a contentious race to finish out the remainder of current Mayor Daniel Biss’ term ending in 2029.
“My family chose Evanston because of what this city stands for,” Carpenter told Pioneer Press.
“I’m running for mayor because I believe in this community.”
Carpenter filed paperwork with the Illinois State Board of Elections earlier this month, the first candidate to do so and weeks before contenders in the municipal election are permitted to begin circulating petitions for the mayoral seat, which starts on July 28.
Biss announced last month his intentions to resign from the mayoral position Oct. 18, in time to trigger a special election in April 2027.
This will allow voters to decide who their next city leader will be, rather than Biss’ “acting mayor” successor, appointed by City Council, assuming the role for the roughly three years that remain on his term.
“My purpose in picking that [Oct. 18 resignation] date is to minimize the amount of time that the people of Evanston have a mayor who they didn’t choose in an election, and I think that principle of democracy serves us well,” Biss said in his State of the City address on June 23.
If Biss goes on to win the Nov. 3 general election race for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District seat, he will head to Washington D.C. in January.
The modest financial compensation and immense responsibilities that come with the job beg the question of what might motivate someone to want to be Evanston’s next mayor.
In a city of about 76,000 people, the mayor makes an annual salary of a little more than $25,000, well below what is considered a livable wage for current median rent prices in the area.
“Evanston residents have spent years doing the hard work of imagining its future. Now it’s time to continue building on that vision,” Carpenter said in a statement response to why she’s putting her name in the running.
“I’m a lawyer, a mom and someone who knows firsthand what happens when institutions fail the people counting on them.”
Carpenter did not respond to questions regarding current campaign contributions or how many volunteers, if any, have signed up to collect signatures on her behalf.
In a statement response on behalf of these questions, Carpenter wrote she has “begun building a campaign for Mayor” and has started “meeting with [her] neighbors and understanding more about their needs.”
“We are building the necessary infrastructure for a campaign that reflects the character of the people in our hometown and provides a vision for our future,” Carpenter wrote.
She is the second candidate to openly express an interest in the role, following former 2025 mayoral contender Jeff Boarini, who told Pioneer Press in June his intent to run for the seat again.
Boarini has previously spoken out against Biss’ decision to run for Congress in the days following his reelection.
It’s a “bit of an insult to Evanston voters,” he said.
Although he hasn’t declared explicit interest in the role, Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma, 4th, told Pioneer Press in June he wasn’t “ruling [himself] out completely,” while his “preference would be to find somebody else” who he could “support and get behind.”
Seemingly new to politics, Carpenter specializes in small business law and the “advocacy and advancement of women and minority entrepreneurs,” according to her firm’s website.
She also is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the North Suburban Bar Association and volunteers as a Board member of the In Her Shoes Foundation, Women’s Club of Evanston, WESOS and the Infant Welfare Society of Evanston.
Carpenter earned her juris doctor from the John Marshall Law School and her master’s in business administration degree from Elmhurst College. She received a bachelor’s degree from Capital University in Bexley, Ohio.
Carpenter added she plans to make a formal announcement about her candidacy in the “weeks ahead,” but declined to share more.
The upcoming special election for mayor is set to be held Tuesday, April 6, 2027, according to the 2027 Illinois State Board of Elections calendar.
If three or more candidates qualify for the ballot, a primary election will be held Feb. 23.
The elected winner will serve out the remainder of Biss’ term ending in 2029.
