A barrage of out-of-state donors supercharged State Sen. Laura Fine’s congressional campaign in the final quarter of 2025, giving the Glenview legislator more money in the bank entering 2026 than any of her competitors.

Financial disclosures filed Saturday night show that out-of-state support accounted for over 90% of the $1.26 million Fine raised in the final three months of 2025.

Since launching her campaign, over 60% of Fine’s financial support has come from outside Illinois.

Between her campaign launch in early May and late September, Fine raised just over $660,000 total, leaving her trailing her top competition by significant margins entering the final quarter of the year. 

But a $1.26 million fundraising haul, fueled almost entirely by donors outside Illinois and facilitated in part by quiet support from a controversial lobbying group, left Fine with over $1.4 million in the bank at the end of December, more than any of her top competitors but not too far ahead of Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss.

Biss reported raising about $658,000 in the final three months of the year, entering 2026 with just over $1.37 million in his war chest. His contributions last quarter came largely from inside Illinois, over 70%, according to an Evanston Now analysis of his donors.

Since launching his campaign, over 80% of Biss’ total contributions have come from Illinois-donors. For Fine, that number sits at just above 27%.

Content creator Kat Abughazaleh, too, gained a significant portion of her fundraising from outside Illinois, according to her report with the FEC, though much of Abughazaleh’s contributions were less than $200, meaning the location of individual donors is not disclosed.

That means it’s difficult to pin down where the majority of Abughazaleh’s contributions are coming from, but of the $1.18 million she reported between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, about $415,000, or 35%, came from large-dollar donors.

Breaking that number down, just under $99,000 came from Illinois, or roughly 24%. In total, though, small-dollar donors (people donating $200 or less), made up about 70% of Abughazaleh’s total contributions.

For Biss and Fine, it’s largely reversed. Biss received about 95% of his total 2025 fundraising from donors giving $200 or more. Fine received 97%.

Abughazaleh’s haul is driven by a unique online platform and an hours-long live-streaming fundraising strategy that helps boost her campaign. While she often notes she doesn’t have wealthy donors to call, as many other politicians do, she did receive $3,500 donations (the individual maximum) from nearly two dozen donors.

Abughazaleh’s fundraising was also boosted in late October with a flood of support after she was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly impeding Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, charges she’s still fighting in court. 

Between Oct. 29, the day her indictment was unsealed, and Nov. 1, Abughazaleh raised over $120,000 from donors who gave in aggregate over $200.

It is important to note, however, that dozens of Abughazaleh’s donors gave several times, often giving smaller amounts that in total topped the $200 disclosure threshold. For example, a Washington state man contributed to Abughazaleh 90 separate times between October and December. While his average donation was just $12, he gave over $1,000 in total.

Her campaign has often touted a “$32 average donation” as a sign of grassroots support, though donors who gave smaller amounts multiple times, sometimes dozens of times, appear to be considered as separate contributions in the campaign’s average donation calculation, despite how much a single donor may give in aggregate.

Abughazaleh’s campaign also spent big in the fourth quarter, spending over $1.38 million in just three months. Big expenditures included digital advertising, fundraising consulting and legal fees, along with a large payroll of campaign staff.

Biss’ campaign quickly took a swing at Fine’s substantial outside support, which was boosted by fundraising emails from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a controversial pro-Israel lobbying group quietly supporting her campaign.

“As Laura Fine is forced to travel the country to drum up support, Daniel Biss has earned overwhelming backing right here at home from the people of Illinois’ 9th District,” Biss’ campaign manager, George Lundgren, wrote in a statement Saturday.

An analysis of Fine’s donors shows she raised just over $104,000 of her $1.26 million in the final three months from Illinois, with even less being from the 9th District itself.

Fine attended several private fundraisers across the country in the final months of the year, including fundraisers in Los Angeles and New York, as confirmed on her report of expenditures with the FEC. 

In a statement, Fine’s campaign sidestepped questions about her out-of-state donors, instead suggesting Biss’ end-of-year fundraising shows he “struggles to raise money.”

“He is relying on hundreds of thousands of dollars in out-of-state money from independent expenditures to highlight a barely-there record that he keeps changing,” a spokesperson from Fine’s campaign told Evanston Now, saying her campaign is gaining momentum, citing her list of local endorsements.

When asked for clarity on what she views as a “record that keeps changing,” Fine’s campaign pointed to Biss’ position on U.S. military aid to Israel, something he previously suggested he didn’t support withholding, but said publicly last September he would vote to block if elected to Congress.

Biss, so far, is the only candidate to be supported by an outside PAC, with the pro-science hybrid PAC, 3.14 Action Fund, paying for over $236,710 in mailers since Jan. 16.

In response to Fine’s comments, a spokesperson for Biss’ campaign dug back, writing, “Laura Fine is lashing out because she knows AIPAC’s right-wing agenda and MAGA supporters are wildly out of step with Ninth District voters. Laura should drop the spin and tell the truth about where her campaign’s money is really coming from.”

Fine’s campaign has previously denied that AIPAC has endorsed her. While technically true, given AIPAC has not officially or publicly stated its endorsement of her candidacy, the group has quietly supported her bid for Congress, first revealed by Evanston Now in October.

While the top three contenders took swings at each other, Wilmette Democrat Phil Andrew took a shot at both Fine and Biss, criticizing the two for “stacking the deck” by running for both Congress and State Central Committee person.

The move allows Fine and Biss to use their state-level campaign accounts to fund ads, something Fine has done in mailers advertising her campaign by writing: “Vote Laura Fine for 9th Congressional District,” with small lettering that adds “Democratic Committeewoman.”

Andrew reported $484,752 in end-of-year fundraising, bringing his total for 2025 to $1.2 million, though over $400,000 is self-funded loans. He ended the year with over $961,000 on hand, more than Abughazaleh but less than Fine and Biss.

State Rep. Hoan Huynh, who has stayed largely quiet throughout the campaign, reported over $639,000 in fourth quarter contributions, though $200,000 is a self-funded loan.

Huynh’s haul and low spending left him with over $737,000 in his war chest, not far behind Abughazaleh.

Skokie School Board Member Bushra Amiwala’s campaign said she surpassed $1 million raised in 2025, joining Huynh, Andrew, Fine, Abughazaleh and Biss with more than a million dollars raised.

Other candidates, including State Sen. Mike Simmons, economist Jeff Cohen, Wilmette Army vet Sam Polan and former prosecutor Nick Pyati, trailed significantly entering the new year.

Saturday’s report is the final financial disclosure before the March 17 primary, meaning any fundraising between now and primary day won’t be disclosed until mid-April, after a Democratic nominee is chosen.

The top fundraising Republican candidate was Mark Su of Chicago.