* Evanston Now…

A new poll released Thursday by Data for Progress, a progressive policy think tank and pollster, shows Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and Kat Abughazaleh tied atop the crowded field in the Illinois 9th Congressional District Democratic primary.

The poll was commissioned for the Justice Coalition Action, an Illinois-based Palestinian-rights advocacy group, and circulated in the field between Oct. 29 and Nov. 3, according to a polling memo released Thursday afternoon.

The Justice Coalition has yet to formally endorse a candidate, but recently endorsed Junaid Ahmed in the 8th Congressional District, and held a meeting with its volunteers Thursday evening to discuss the results of the poll and future potential endorsement, encouraging members to consider the viability of the races’ competitors.

The poll is the first publicly released poll not sponsored by either campaign and shows the race at its closest point thus far, with the previous three polls showing Biss leading the field on his own.

* Head to heads…

* Major issues…

Candidates better get on the Democratic voter bandwagon.

* Pritzker, of course, is very popular in the district…

The problem is, Pritzker still holds a grudge against Biss for his 2018 gubernatorial campaign. I’m not kidding. The governor still petulantly reminds even very powerful Democrats about their support for Biss back in the day (the dude has a severe case of what we in the biz call “Irish Alzheimer’s” - when you only remember the slights). I doubt he’ll say anything about this race, even though he lived in Evanston for a very long time.

Whatever, the numbers clearly show that the folks in that campaign ought to tie themselves to the governor as closely as they can.

…Adding… When I wrote this last night, I meant for it to come off as a bit cheeky. I read it again this morning, and it’s not cheeky. Oops. Pritzker does give people guff about their support for Biss, but he did endorse Biss for mayor earlier this year.