Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

WATCH: Illinois Gov. Candidate Daniel Biss Juggles Fire In Campaign Ad

Politicians in a crowded primary field will try unusual things to get attention from voters. Daniel Biss, seeking the Democratic nomination for the Illinois governor’s race, went in an unusual direction: juggling fire.

Biss, a member of the Illinois state senate, juggles three flaming clubs while discussing his campaign platform as a way to stand apart from the more “high budget” ads from his competition. Biss referred to himself as a “middle class guy who doesn’t have millions of [his] own dollars to spend on TV commercials.”

Biss makes the case in the 43-second video that he’s the progressive candidate in the race, promising that he will “finally make billionaires pay their fair shares in taxes and will lead the fight for universal single-payer healthcare.”

Biss, who is Jewish, lost the endorsement of Rep. Brad Schneider after it emerged that his running mate, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, supported the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. Ramirez-Rosa dropped out of the race soon after.

Biss’ main opponent is fellow Jewish Democrat J.B. Pritzker, who has spent nearly $70 million of his own funds on the race. Elections will be held on Tuesday.

Contact Haley Cohen at [email protected]

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.