Tracy Katz Mull

Northbrook state Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl is running for the 10th Congressional District Democratic State Central Committeewoman seat in March in what is all but certain to be a drama-free campaign.

While candidates for the State Central Committee are on the primary ballot, there are usually few campaign mailers and no media ads. The groundwork is usually among township and county party officials and with voters at the grassroots.

“When I learned that our current committeewoman was retiring at the end of her term in March 2026, I was all in,” said Katz Muhl, who is also Northfield Township Democratic committeeperson. “Taking on this new role as state central committeewoman, while remaining as Northfield Township committeeperson, is a tremendous opportunity to lift up and grow the field operations for which our home township is well known.”

And the 57^th District state representative has an affinity for political field operations.

There was a distinct fait accompli vibe to her committeewoman bid. In short order, she was endorsed by a dozen Illinois legislators and 14 elected officials in Lake and Cook counties, as well as more than two dozen municipal and township officials in the two counties.

All that was something of a reprise from January 2024, when Katz Muhl was effectively the unanimous choice of committeepersons in Lake and Cook counties to replace state Rep. Jonathan Carroll, who resigned suddenly.

Lake County Democratic Party Chair Lauren Beth Gash (herself a longtime 10th District state central committeewoman) told Capitol News Illinois at the time that she was deluged with calls supporting Katz Muhl as Carroll’s replacement.

“All of them have been urging me to put Tracy in – to vote for Tracy to be selected, to vote for Tracy for this appointment, for this position,” Gash told CNI.

Katz Muhl accrued campaign donations as quickly as she garnered endorsements. She had 139 Individual contributions totaled $217,299 in her first quarter, more than $90,000 in $6,900 contributions from herself and her husband, along 14 family members. She also received donations from state Sen. Laura Fine, Evanston Mayor Dan Biss, Congressman Brad Schneider and Cook County Board President Tony Preckwinkle.

Besides Northbrook and Northfield, the 57th District House District includes parts of Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Glencoe, Glenview, Mount Prospect, Riverwoods, Wheeling, Wilmette and Winnetka.

Katz Muhl won in November in a landslide, with 59.5 percent of the vote. As of June 30, she had more than $250,000 on hand.

A Georgetown undergrad with a University of Chicago Law School degree who practices trademark law, Katz Muhl is matter of fact about her political prowess, speaking of a “field operations-driven vision” of political action.

She’s been in the field a long time, first as a regional legislative leader for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. She’s also organized and worked locally on education and increasing voter turnout.

She’s been able to translate the issues she’s passionate about into law. Last winter, Katz Muhl proudly led gun-safety reforms she championed in the Legislature to get guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.

“Karina’s Law,” which was signed by Gov. J. B. Pritzker on Feb. 10, creates protections to remove firearms and ammunition from individuals who are the subject of court orders of protection.

“When a person is subject to an order of protection, that person should clearly not have access to firearms,” Katz Muhl said.

At the 2024 meeting when she was appointed to her 57th House seat, Katz Muhl told CNI, “we’ll work hard and take not a minute of it for granted.”

That continues to be her mantra.

At her state central committeewoman announcement, Katz Muhl promised that “every campaign event will be a working field operations event. This campaign isn’t about talking. It’s about training more people to do the work, so that Democrats win.”

With the nominating petition collection period starting Aug. 5, she said, “We’ve got work to do. I’m ready to build our strength across the 10th District. When more Democrats do the work, more Democrats win.”