Daniel Biss facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Daniel Biss
Biss in 2018
22nd Mayor of Evanston, Illinois
Incumbent
Assumed office May 10, 2021
Preceded by	Steve Hagerty
Member of the Illinois Senate from the 9th district
In office January 8, 2013 – January 6, 2019
Preceded by	Jeffrey Schoenberg
Succeeded by	Laura Fine
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 17th district
In office January 12, 2011 – January 8, 2013
Preceded by	Elizabeth Coulson
Succeeded by	Laura Fine
Personal details
Born	Daniel Kálmán Biss (1977-08-27) August 27, 1977 (age 47) Akron, Ohio, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Karin Steinbrueck
Children	2
Education	Harvard University (BA) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA, PhD)
Profession	Mathematician
Signature
Website
Scientific career
Fields	Algebraic topology
Institutions	University of Chicago
Thesis	The Homotopy Type of the Matroid Grassmannian (2002)
Doctoral advisor	Michael Hopkins

Daniel Kálmán Biss (born August 27, 1977) is an American politician and former mathematician. He is currently the mayor of Evanston, Illinois. Before becoming mayor, he served in the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Before starting his political career, Biss was a mathematics professor. He taught at the University of Chicago from 2002 to 2008. He first ran for the Illinois House of Representatives in 2008 but did not win. In 2010, he tried again and was elected. He served in the House from 2011 to 2013. In 2012, he was elected to the Illinois Senate, where he served from 2013 to 2019. He also ran for Governor of Illinois in 2018 but was not successful. In 2021, he won the election to become mayor of Evanston.

Early Life and Education

Daniel Biss was born on August 27, 1977. He grew up in a Jewish family of musicians. His brother, Jonathan Biss, is a famous pianist. His parents, Paul Biss and Miriam Fried, are violinists. His grandmother, Raya Garbousova, was a cellist.

Biss went to Bloomington North High School in Bloomington, Indiana. In 1995, he was a finalist in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. This is a competition for young scientists. He earned his first degree from Harvard University in 1998, graduating with highest honors. He then earned two more degrees, a Master's and a Ph.D., in mathematics from MIT in 2002.

In 1999, he won the Morgan Prize for his excellent research as a college student. He was also a Clay Research Fellow from 2002 to 2007. This fellowship supports promising young mathematicians. His main teacher for his Ph.D. was Michael J. Hopkins. In 2003, he was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Academic Career

Before focusing on politics, Biss was an Assistant Professor of Mathematics. He taught at the University of Chicago from 2002 to 2008.

During his time as a mathematician, some of Biss's published papers were found to have issues. In 2007, another mathematician pointed out a problem in two of Biss's works. Biss later acknowledged these issues and published updates to correct them. In another case, a paper he co-authored was found to have a "fatal error." A different paper he published in 2002 was officially removed by the journal in 2017. The journal stated that the paper's ideas were unclear and many of its findings were incorrect. Biss responded that he was no longer working in mathematics and did not dispute these findings.

When these issues were reported in the news in 2017, his campaign said that Daniel had many papers published. They explained that sometimes, new research shows that original ideas need to be updated. They said he had revised his findings when needed.

Illinois House of Representatives

Biss first ran for a seat in the Illinois State House of Representatives in 2008. He lost to Elizabeth Coulson, a Republican, in the 17th district. After this, he worked as an advisor for Pat Quinn, who was the Democratic governor of Illinois. In 2010, he ran for the same Illinois State House seat again and won.

Committee Work

While in the House, Daniel Biss worked on several important committees. These committees help decide on new laws. He was part of groups that focused on:

• Education for elementary and high schools
• Pensions for state workers
• Protecting consumers
• Helping small businesses and workers
• International trade
• New technologies like biotechnology
• Education for colleges and universities

Illinois Senate

Biss at the Bud Billiken Parade during his time in the Illinois Senate

On November 10, 2011, Biss announced he would run for the Illinois Senate. The seat was open because Senator Jeffrey Schoenberg was retiring. Biss won the election on November 6, 2012, with over 66% of the votes. He officially started his term on January 8, 2013. His district covered several northern suburbs of Chicago. These included Evanston, Glencoe, Glenview, Morton Grove, Northbrook, Northfield, Skokie, Wilmette, and Winnetka.

Political Views

Biss speaking at a protest in 2018

Daniel Biss supports several key ideas. He believes that high school graduates in Illinois should pay in-state tuition at public universities, no matter their immigration status. He also supports state funding to help raise teacher salaries. He has shown support for labor unions, which are groups that protect workers' rights.

In 2013, Biss helped create a bill called SB 1. This bill aimed to limit how much state employee pensions could grow each year. The goal was to reduce the state's debt. However, in 2015, the Illinois Supreme Court said this law was against the state's constitution. The court explained that the law would reduce pension benefits, which is not allowed. Biss later said that working on SB 1 was a mistake. He felt he had chosen the "least bad" option at the time. He later supported finding other ways to pay for pensions, like a graduated income tax (where people with higher incomes pay a higher percentage in taxes) and a tax on financial transactions.

In 2017, Biss supported new ideas for elections. He sponsored a bill to match state funds for small political donations. This would give more power to everyday citizens. He also sponsored a bill to use ranked-choice voting for some statewide elections. This system lets voters rank candidates in order of preference. He also helped with a bill to automatically register voters when they apply for an Illinois driver's license.

Biss supports universal health care, meaning everyone should have access to healthcare. He specifically wants a state-level single-payer healthcare system. In 2017, he voted to strengthen the Affordable Care Act in Illinois. This would stop insurance companies from treating customers differently if they had pre-existing conditions.

State Comptroller Campaign

In 2015, Biss announced he would run for Illinois Comptroller. This is a state official who manages the state's money. However, he later decided not to run and supported another candidate, Susana Mendoza.

2018 Illinois Governor Campaign

Biss 2018 gubernatorial campaign logo.

On March 20, 2017, Daniel Biss announced he was running for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Illinois. He made the announcement on Facebook Live. He spoke about the current governor, Bruce Rauner, and the Illinois House Speaker, Mike Madigan. Biss joined other Democratic candidates, including businessman C. G. Kennedy.

Biss first chose Chicago alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa as his running mate. A running mate is the person who would become Lieutenant Governor if Biss won. However, Biss removed Ramirez-Rosa from the ticket after only six days. This was because Ramirez-Rosa had supported the BDS movement. This movement calls for boycotts against Israel over human rights issues. Biss later chose Litesa Wallace, a state representative from Rockford, as his new running mate. She was a single mother and a former social worker.

Many people and groups supported Biss's campaign. These included other lawmakers in Illinois, famous academics like Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler, and activists like Lawrence Lessig. He was also supported by National Nurses United, a large group of nurses, and Our Revolution, a group that grew from Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign. Biss also received strong support from MoveOn.org, a progressive advocacy group.

On March 20, 2018, Biss lost the Democratic primary election to J. B. Pritzker. Pritzker received 45.13% of the votes, while Biss received 26.70%. Biss won in two counties: McLean and Champaign.

After the Senate

Biss did not run for reelection in the Illinois Senate in 2018. He had chosen to run for governor instead. Laura Fine took his place in the Illinois Senate on January 6, 2019.

On September 18, 2018, Biss announced he had taken a new job. He became the executive director of Rust Belt Rising. This is a non-profit group that helps train and support Democratic candidates in the Great Lakes states.

On August 15, 2019, Biss supported Elizabeth Warren for president. In January 2020, Biss was chosen to be on Warren's list of potential delegates from Illinois for the 2020 Democratic National Convention. However, Warren ended her campaign on March 5, before the Illinois presidential primary election.

Mayor of Evanston

2021 Mayoral Campaign

Biss' mayoral campaign logo

On September 16, 2020, Daniel Biss announced he was running for mayor of Evanston, Illinois. On October 28, 2020, the current mayor, Steve Hagerty, said he would not seek reelection.

Biss's campaign for mayor received many important endorsements. In December 2020, his campaign announced over 100 endorsements. These included nine Evanston aldermen (city council members). He also had support from U.S. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, State Senator Laura Fine, and several state representatives. The Democratic Party of Evanston also endorsed him. The current mayor, Stephen Hagerty, and former mayors Elizabeth Tisdahl and Jay Lytle also supported Biss. On February 18, 2021, J. B. Pritzker, who was now the governor of Illinois, endorsed Biss for mayor.

Biss had a big financial advantage over his two opponents. In the first three months of his campaign, he received over $100,000 in donations. His opponents had raised much less money.

Biss won a very strong victory in the primary election on February 23, 2021. He received more than half of all the votes. This meant he did not need to have a second election (a runoff). Biss won in almost all of the city's voting areas.

Transition to Mayor

Before the April 6 Evanston general election, Biss spoke out about a group called Evanston Together LLC. This group sent out mailers that wrongly suggested some candidates supported changing Evanston's government. The city currently has a council-manager government. Biss said that changing the government style was not his top priority. However, he was open to exploring the idea if it would help solve city problems.

In March 2021, Evanston passed a plan to use city funds for reparations for black residents. This was the first plan of its kind in the nation. Mayor-elect Biss released a statement supporting this measure. He also gave advice to outgoing mayor Steve Hagerty on who should be on the city's Reparations Committee.

Tenure as Mayor

On May 10, 2021, Daniel Biss officially began his term as mayor of Evanston.

Electoral History

Illinois House of Representatives

2008

2010

Illinois Senate

2012

2014

Illinois Gubernatorial

2018 Illinois Democratic gubernatorial primary results by county

Map legend

     Pritzker—70–80%
     Pritzker—60–70%
     Pritzker—50–60%
     Pritzker—40–50%
     Pritzker—30–40%
     Biss—40–50%
     Kennedy—30–40%
     Kennedy—40–50%

Evanston Mayoral