On Monday, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss acknowledged that he had what he now calls an "ill-advised" romantic relationship with a former undergraduate student at the University of Chicago in 2004, his campaign said. The disclosure followed a public allegation by the woman, Stanford Law lecturer Megan Wachspress, who posted about the relationship on Bluesky and later expanded on Substack just ahead of Tuesday's primary in Illinois' 9th Congressional District. The campaign described the encounters as brief and said Biss ended the relationship once he realized it was inappropriate.
What the accuser says
Wachspress first made the allegation in a Bluesky post, then published a longer account on Substack describing attention she says she received from Biss during an academic quarter in 2004. As reported by The Daily Northwestern, she wrote on Bluesky: "It took becoming a professor myself to realize the implications - what it means to be attracted to someone who categorically has less power than you."
Biss's response
A campaign spokesperson told The Daily Northwestern that the relationship began only after the course ended and lasted for a handful of dates. According to the spokesperson, Biss "realized then, as he does now, that it was ill-advised, and he ended it." The campaign characterized the encounters as brief and said Biss later offered an apology, according to the outlet's reporting.
Academic background
Before his full-time political career, Biss served on the University of Chicago mathematics faculty in the early 2000s. University coverage and public biographies note that he joined the department after finishing his Ph.D. in 2002. The University of Chicago's alumni magazine and other profiles place his academic tenure at UChicago in that period, providing the backdrop for Wachspress's claim that the encounter took place while she was an undergraduate.
Political fallout and next steps
The allegation surfaced just as voters in the open IL‑09 Democratic primary were heading to the polls, injecting a late controversy into an already high-profile suburban contest. It remains unclear how much immediate impact the revelation will have on Tuesday's outcome, and campaign officials and election authorities had not announced any formal inquiries or filings tied to the allegation at the time of the reporting.
This is a developing story, and local reporters say they will update coverage as Biss's campaign, Wachspress, or other parties release more information.
