Paul Faraci is an American politician from Illinois who has served as a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate for the 52nd district since 2023. He previously served as the Deputy Mayor of Champaign, Illinois from 2015 to 2017 and served on the Champaign City Council representing the 5th district from 2011 to 2017.
Faraci was appointed to the Illinois Senate to fill a term left vacant by the sudden death of Senator Scott Bennett in 2022. He was elected to a full term in 2024. During his time in office, Faraci has focused on issues relating to supporting individuals with disabilities, increasing education funding, promoting workforce development in Central Illinois, and enhancing environmental protections for the Mahomet Aquifer. The 52nd district includes Champaign, Danville, Rantoul, St. Joseph, and Urbana.
Faraci was born in Chicago, Illinois to Piero and Flora Faraci, well-regarded Champaign restaurateurs and small business owners (owners of Great Impasta and Jane Addams Book Shop in Downtown Champaign). Faraci later opened and operated his own restaurant in Downtown Champaign, the City of New Orleans.
Following his career in the restaurant industry, Faraci worked as a senior account manager for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity before serving as a senior advisor to Illinois State Treasurer Mike Frerichs.
In 2011, Faraci was elected to the 5th District on the Champaign City Council as a write-in candidate in a three-way race to succeed council member Gordy Hulten. He was sworn in on May 3, 2011. Faraci was reelected in 2013 and served until May 2, 2017. He was succeeded by Vanna Pianfetti. He also served as Deputy Mayor from 2015 to 2017.
On December 9, 2022, Illinois State Senator Scott Bennett died from complications due to a brain tumor. This created a vacancy in his seat for both the remainder of the 102nd Illinois General Assembly and the upcoming 103rd General Assembly, to which Bennett had just been elected. Scott Bennett's widow, Stacy, was appointed to fill the remainder of her husband's unfinished term but was not a candidate to fill the upcoming full-term vacancy. On January 7, 2023, Faraci was appointed by the Democratic county party chairpersons of Champaign and Vermilion Counties to serve out Bennett's full term. He took office on January 11, 2023. Faraci had been a close friend of Bennett and has emphasized honoring his legacy at multiple points throughout his term, especially when discussing legislation to support individuals with disabilities.
Faraci was elected to a full term in 2024.
In 2025, Faraci was the chief sponsor of Illinois Senate Bill 1723, which increased environmental protections for the Mahomet Aquifer, a sole-source aquifer supplying clean drinking water to "approximately 800,000 people across 15 counties in East Central Illinois." The bill was passed on a bipartisan basis and was signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker in August, 2025.