In 2006, Senator Steve Rauschenberger announced he would be leaving his position as Illinois Senator for the 22nd Legislative District as he pursued the position of Lieutenant Governor. Noland was the Democratic nominee to replace Rauschenberger and faced Republican Mayor Billie Roth in the general election. During the campaign, Noland promised to support property tax relief as local county boards continued to increase property taxes. Noland defeated Roth by a 56%-44% margin. Senate committee assignments In the Illinois General Assembly, Noland served on the Judiciary and Public Health Committees while he chaired the Criminal Law Committee. He also served on the Energy Committee, Committee of the Whole, Licensed Activities Committee, and the Subcommittee on Special Issues and chaired the Transparency Subcommittee. Ethics reform Noland was a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 1961 which called for the end of a long time practice of elected officials placing their names on taxpayer funded signs and other electronic messaging. Senate Bill 1406 would place a limit on campaign contributions for various campaign committees. Previously, Illinois had no regulations limiting the amount a contributor could give to a campaign committee. Noland also was a sponsor on Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 17 (SJRCA17), which would give Illinois residents the power to recall elected members of the Executive Branch and then provide for a special election. SJRCA17 failed to pass. SJRCA17 not only dealt with the recall of Governors but every elected official down to the municipal level and erected no safeguards to ward off those who would simply wish to recall a Governor on the basis of being from the opposing party. On October 15, 2009, during a veto session of the Illinois General Assembly, the Illinois Senate passed House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 31. The bill was then sent to Governor Pat Quinn for his signature and signed into law. HJRCA31 grants Illinois voters the option, by way of the November ballot, to ratify an amendment to the State Constitution that would allow for Gubernatorial recalls. Noland's legislation was featured as the main article in the Chicago Tribune's "Clout Street" the following day, October 16, 2009. Campaign for Congress When Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth announced she was going to run for the US Senate. Noland said that he would explore running to replace Duckworth. After exploring a campaign in the summer of 2015 he announced that he would run for the Democratic nomination, leaving his