Kat Abughazaleh

Katherine Abughazaleh was born on March 24, 1999,{{Cite web |last=Pachuta |first=Audrey |date=2025-04-03 |title=26-year-old Kat Abughazaleh seeks to disrupt ‘Democratic inaction,’ announces congressional candidacy Content creator seeks to disrupt ‘Democratic inaction,’ announces congressional candidacy |url=https://dailynorthwestern.com/2025/04/03/lateststories/26-year-old-kat-abughazaleh-seeks-to-disrupt-democratic-inaction-announces-congressional-candidacy/ |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=The Daily Northwestern |quote=Exactly one year after becoming constitutionally eligible to be sworn in, Kat Abughazaleh celebrated her 26th birthday last month in a way most people wouldn’t: by launching a campaign for U.S. Congress.}}{{Cite tweet |last=Abughazaleh |first=Kat |user=abughazalehkat |number=1906394495630844302 |date=March 30, 2025 |title=I turned 26 on Monday — very eventful campaign launch day lol}} in Texas to a Palestinian immigrant father and a seventh-generation native of Dallas on her mother's side.{{cite news |title=Who is Kat Abughazaleh, Gen Z TikTok influencer launching challenge to longtime Democrat Jan Schakowsky? |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/kat-abughazaleh-vs-jan-schakowsky-who-is-kat-abughazaleh-26-year-old-gen-z-influencer-launching-challenge-to-longtime-democrat-jan-schakowsky/articleshow/119441226.cms |access-date=March 24, 2025 |work=The Economic Times |publisher=The Times of India}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-communications/watching-tucker-carlson-for-work|title=Watching Tucker Carlson for Work|author=Clare Malone|publication-date=February 25, 2023|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=March 24, 2025}} Her maternal grandmother, Taffy Goldsmith, was a prominent Texas Republican for four decades; she worked on John Tower's campaign for the Senate in the early 1960s, and served as President of the Texas Federation of Republican Women in 2004 and 2005.{{Cite web |last=Chester |first=Glynis |date=2020-07-22 |title=Remembering Taffy Goldsmith |url=https://www.tfrw.org/remembering-taffy-goldsmith/ |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=Texas Federation of Republican Women}} Her paternal grandfather, Taher Abughazaleh, was from Jerusalem; Katherine says he and her grandmother both had to flee from Palestine to Kuwait because of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Taher Abughazaleh visited the US to study at Riverside College in Riverside, California and George Williams College in Chicago, Illinois in the 1950s and 1960s,{{Cite journal |date=1953 |title=Press Time |journal=Tequesquite Yearbook |location=Riverside, California |publisher=Riverside College |issue=1953 |page=137 |via=e-yearbook.com}}{{Cite journal |date=1957 |title=Seniors |url=https://www.e-yearbook.com/sp/eybb?school=45450&year=1957&up=2&startpage=17 |journal=Embers (yearbook) |location=Chicago, Illinois |publisher=George Williams College |issue=1957 |pages=13 |url-access=registration |quote=Taher Abu-Ghazaleh - GWE ... Jerusalem, Palestine |via=e-yearbook.com}}{{Cite web |last=Abughazaleh |first=Taher |date=1967 |title=Abughazaleh, Taher, The Arab Immigrants in Chicago -- A Sociological Study With Group Work Implication : In Candidacy for the Degree of Master of Science in Group Work, 1967 {{!}} University of Minnesota Archival Finding Aids |url=https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/7/archival_objects/201850 |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=University of Minnesota Archives |via=George Williams College Collection}} later working with Kuwaiti real estate investors and eventually settling in Dallas{{Cite news |date=1984-07-03 |title=Hotel sold |work=Annapolis Capital |department=Business Exchange |pages=14 |quote=Abruzzi is headed by Dallas businessman Taher Abughazaleh, who recently became an American citizen, and other Kuwaiti investors...}} after periods living outside the US. Katherine's father, Aladin Abughazaleh, immigrated to the US as a child, first living in Chicago, Katherine says.{{Cite AV media |last=Dent |first=Lisa |last2=McCarthy |first2=Collin |date=2025-04-23 |title=Kat Abughazaleh encourages people to run against her |url=https://wgnradio.com/lisa-dent/kat-abughazaleh-encourages-people-to-run-against-her/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |work=WGN Radio 720 |quote=And actually, Chicago was the first place that my father immigrated to in the United States, when he was really little. |time=2:49}} Aladin founded a commodity trading advisor performance platform.{{Cite news |last=Szala |first=Ginger |date=1998-02-12 |title=Managed Money May 1996 |url=http://futuresmag.com/library/may96/mmoney.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980212083102/http://futuresmag.com/library/may96/mmoney.html |archive-date=1998-02-12 |access-date=2025-04-25 |publisher=Futures Magazine: News, analysis and strategies for futures, options and derivatives traders}} He also founded a data processing company{{Cite web |last=Bej |first=Natalie S. |date=1997-05-29 |title=Response of the Office of Chief Counsel, Division of Investment Management, Our Ref. No. 97-243-CC, Lamp Technologies, Inc., File No. 132-3 |url=https://www.sec.gov/divisions/investment/noaction/1997/lamptechnologies052997.pdf |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Securities and Exchange Commission |format=PDF |quote=cc: Mr. Aladin Abughazaleh - Lamp Technologies, Inc.}} that became a fund of hedge funds administrator, later acquired by BNY Mellon.{{Cite web |date=2008-05-12 |title=BNY Mellon Acquires Fund Of Hedge Funds Administrator LAMP Technologies |url=https://www.globalcustodian.com/bny-mellon-acquires-fund-of-hedge-funds-administrator-lamp-technologies/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250425114700/https://www.globalcustodian.com/banks-boosted-by-us-consumer-borrowing-rise/ |archive-date=2025-04-25 |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Global Custodian |quote=six of the LAMP principals, including CEO Aladin Abughazaleh, are joining BNY Mellon.}}

Her family held conservative and pro-Republican views, and Abughazaleh was a Republican through her teens; as a teenager, she considered joining the military, hoping to attend the Air Force Academy or West Point.{{Cite web |last=Schmidt |first=Caitlin |date=2015-05-30 |title=Camp lets girls experience careers in law enforcement |url=https://tucson.com/news/local/camp-lets-girls-experience-careers-in-law-enforcement/article_78491ce7-f7e0-539a-9b27-5450e838b59d.html |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Arizona Daily Star |language=en}} She credits a move to Tucson, Arizona for sparking her change in political views; having attended private schools until her second year of high school, she changed to a school with many undocumented and low-income students, and, she said "[t]he bootstrap myth just shattered before my eyes." In Tucson,

she saw poverty for the first time and realized that people didn’t end up on the street due to a lack of personal responsibility, as she had been taught growing up, but because government and society failed to provide for people. One of her closest friends in high school couldn’t attend college due to her financial situation, and Abughazaleh was flabbergasted. “She was much smarter and more talented than I was, and she just couldn’t go to college. She had to help take care of her little brother because both of her parents worked multiple jobs.”{{Cite web |last=Janssen |first=Emma |date=2025-04-24 |title=Kat Abughazaleh Wants Dems to Fight Back |url=https://prospect.org/politics/2025-04-24-kat-abughazaleh-wants-dems-to-fight-back/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250424105743/https://prospect.org/politics/2025-04-24-kat-abughazaleh-wants-dems-to-fight-back/ |archive-date=2025-04-24 |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=The American Prospect}}

During Donald Trump's first presidential term, she attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., aiming to work in journalism or the Foreign Service.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxZh9bNO0GQ |title=A Conversation with Kat Abughazaleh and Juliet Jeske of Decoding Fox News |date=2024-08-21 |last=Juliet Jeske - Decoding Fox News |access-date=2025-04-02 |via=YouTube}} At GWU, she wrote and made videos for the student newspaper,{{Cite news |last=Konneker |first=Liz |last2=Abughazaleh |first2=Katherine |date=October 23, 2017 |title=Lack of funding leaves religion department without faculty in key subject areas |url=https://gwhatchet.com/2017/10/23/lack-of-funding-leaves-religion-department-without-faculty-in-key-subject-areas/ |work=The GW Hatchet}}{{Cite news |last=Abughazaleh |first=Katherine |title=Tattoo shop raises money for Planned Parenthood on International Women’s Day |url=https://gwhatchet.com/2018/03/09/tattoo-shop-raises-money-for-planned-parenthood-on-international-womens-day/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=The GW Hatchet}} performed stand-up comedy, and studied international security and journalism, graduating in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in international affairs.{{Cite web |last=Forgette |first=Brooke |last2=Saenz |first2=Ryan |date=2025-04-21 |title=GW alum, stressing Democratic pitfalls, launches 2026 House bid |url=https://gwhatchet.com/2025/04/21/gw-alum-stressing-democratic-pitfalls-launches-2026-house-bid/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250425180038/https://gwhatchet.com/2025/04/21/gw-alum-stressing-democratic-pitfalls-launches-2026-house-bid/ |archive-date=2025-04-25 |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=The GW Hatchet}} She remained registered as a Dallas voter to have "a lot more voting power" than she would as a D.C. resident.{{Cite news |last=Sprunt |first=Barbara |last2=Parks |first2=Miles |date=June 27, 2020 |title=Some Longtime D.C. Residents Still Vote In Other States. Is That ... Legal? |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/06/26/883257215/some-longtime-d-c-residents-still-vote-in-other-states-is-that-legal |access-date=2025-04-02 |work=NPR |language= |quote='If I were a D.C. voter, I wouldn't have someone to call and say "vote this way." Right now, I can call my congressman...'}} By graduation, she was seeking jobs in progressive politics.

In the early 2020s, Abughazaleh worked part-time as a bartender in Washington, D.C., alongside her media analysis work. In August 2022, she drank a spiked drink, causing her to black out and then to consult a doctor. Her tweets about the experience{{Cite tweet |last=Abughazaleh |first=Kat |author-link= |user=KatAbughazaleh |number=1559634929780228097 |date=2022-08-16 |title=Someone drugged my drink this weekend. Here’s are some symptoms of a spiked drink that I wish I knew beforehand (and was never told): |access-date=2025-04-25 }} were shared and liked hundreds of thousands of times, and spurred news coverage on symptoms that indicate a person has been nonconsensually drugged.{{Cite news |last=Santora |first=Sara |date=2022-08-17 |title=Woman Shares Symptoms of Her Drink Being Spiked: 'I Wish I Knew Beforehand' |url=https://www.newsweek.com/woman-shares-symptoms-drink-spiked-twitter-1734640 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Newsweek |quote=The thread has amassed a total of over 373,000 likes and more than 2,000 comments thanking Abughazaleh for sharing her knowledge and speaking out about her experience.}}{{Cite news |last=Llorico |first=Abby |date=2022-09-21 |title=DC woman shares story of suspected spiked drink |url=https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/health/dc-spiked-drinks-what-happens-next/65-a764f4a8-d024-4683-baf6-b3d85624a023 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=wusa9.com |publisher=WUSA 9 |language= |publication-place=Washington, D.C. |quote=...she reached nearly 200,000.....'I've been doing a part-time shift as a bartender over at a bar in DuPont that I've been working at for a few years,' Abughazaleh said.}}{{Cite news |last=Parker |first=Lara |date=2022-10-17 |title="Here Are The Symptoms I Wish I'd Known Beforehand": This 23-Year-Old Had Her Drink Drugged, And She Is Sharing Her Story To Help Others |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/laraparker/spiked-drink-explainer |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=BuzzFeed |quote=Recently Kat, after realizing that her drink had been spiked, shared her story on Twitter in a viral thread that has since been read and shared hundreds of thousands of times.}}

Abughazaleh lived in Washington, D.C. until she and her partner moved to Chicago, Illinois in July 2024; she has since said that they moved on very short notice.{{Cite web |last=Payne |first=Russell |date=2025-04-02 |title=A TikTok star says Democrats are 'scared of wielding their power.' How would she be different? |url=https://www.salon.com/2025/04/02/a-tiktok-star-says-democrats-are-scared-of-wielding-their-power-how-would-she-be-different/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Salon |language=}} In the 2024 general election, Abughazaleh voted in Washington, D.C. rather than Illinois.{{cite news |last=Kapos |first=Shia |date=March 25, 2025 |title=Gen-Z challenges Schakowsky |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2025/03/25/gen-z-challenges-schakowsky-00246902 |access-date=March 26, 2025 |newspaper=Politico Illinois Playbook}}

By 2023, Abughazaleh had become a senior video producer for Media Matters for America; her job required her to cover the content of Fox News, including Tucker Carlson's show on that network at the time; this was reflected in the self-description of her Twitter profile, "I watch Tucker Carlson so you don’t have to." In January 2023, she started a TikTok profile, where she covered Carlson and his show. In about four months, she had gained 130,000 followers, and several of her videos have reached 1 million views. By April 2023, some of her posts on Twitter, where she had more than 182,000 followers, had become viral, and she faced online harassment by conservative commentators and right-wing users.{{cite news |last=Hall |first=Ellie |date=April 28, 2023 |title=Meet Kat Abu, The TikToker Mocking Fox News "Just For Funsies" |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/katherine-abughazaleh-kat-abu-tucker-carlson-fox-news-critic |access-date=March 24, 2025 |work=Buzzfeed News |publication-date=}} In one instance she collated screenshots of the harassing messages, creating a "visual aid" to illustrate what she and other prominent women media makers experience frequently.

In May 2024, The New Republic named Abughazaleh a political influencer to watch.{{Cite news |date=May 2024 |title=25 Political Influencers To Watch As the Election Nears. |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/180462/25-political-influencers-watch-2024 |work=The New Republic |pages=20-29 |volume=255 |issue=5 |quote=Media Matters for America, a progressive research and information center devoted to correcting conservative misinformation in media, has been plying its trade since the dawn of digital journalism, but there's never been anyone on staff quite like Kat Abughazaleh, who 'watches Fox News for a living,' as she puts it, and was seemingly born to conquer the video realm.... Whether Abughazaleh is laying waste to right-wing talking points, explaining the latest culture-war obsession in conservative circles, or tormenting Tucker Carlson, her work brims with wit that's more Edgar Wright than Beltway wonk.}} That same month, Abughazaleh and 11 colleagues were laid off from Media Matters following Elon Musk suing Media Matters.{{Cite magazine |last=Stuart |first=Tessa |date=2025-03-24 |title='We Are in an Emergency': Progressive TikTok Star Launches Bid to Unseat Old-Guard Dem |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/kat-abughazaleh-congress-1235301996/ |access-date=2025-03-25 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=}}{{Cite web |last=Hetzner |first=Christiaan |date=2024-08-30 |title=Texas judge who owns Tesla stock rules Musk lawsuit against media watchdog can go to trial |url=https://fortune.com/2024/08/30/elon-musk-tesla-lawsuit-media-matters-texas-reed-oconnor/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=Fortune |language=en |quote=Musk's lawsuits have proven effective when it comes to draining defendants of their financial resources. Earlier this month GARM shut its doors, while Media Matters fired a dozen staffers in May, including Katherine Abughazaleh, a vocal critic of Musk with a large social media following.}}{{Cite news |last=Baragona |first=Justin |date=2024-05-23 |title=Media Matters Lays Off Dozen Staffers Amid Elon Musk Lawsuit |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/media-matters-lays-off-a-dozen-staffers-amid-elon-musk-lawsuit/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=The Daily Beast}}

By July 2024, her social media followers had reached a total of nearly half a million across TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram. On July 24, 2024, the progressive magazine Mother Jones announced that they hired Abughazaleh as a "Video Creator" to produce content on "democracy, far-right media coverage, disinformation, and radicalization";{{Cite news |date=September 2024 |title=#NEWSPEOPLE |work=Editor & Publisher |pages=40–47 |volume=157 |issue=9 |quote=As part of an initiative to confront disinformation that runs rampant on digital platforms, 'Mother Jones' recently hired popular social media commentator Kat Abughazaleh as video creator, a role that highlights her signature videos about democracy, far-right media coverage, disinformation and radicalization.}} she also joined the media outlet Zeteo to produce videos countering "right-wing narratives".{{Cite news |last=Merid |first=Feven |date=August 14, 2024 |title=The Media Today: Q&A: Kat Abughazaleh on ‘vibe checking’ 2024 |url=https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/qa_kat_abughazaleh_vibe_check.php |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Columbia Journalism Review |language=}}

The Democratic National Convention invited Abughazaleh as one of several content creators to cover the August 2024 convention.{{Cite news |last=Behrmann |first=Savannah |last2=Mcgowan |first2=Mary Frances |last3=Anastèício |first3=Nicholas |date=2024-08-22 |title=Rolling out the 'blue carpet' for social media content creators at the DNC. |url=https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/725977/rolling-out-the-blue-carpet-for-social-media-content-creators-at-the-dnc/ |work=Nationaljournal.com |quote=Kat Abughazaleh, known as 'Kat Abu' on TikTok, has gone viral for watching 'Fox News so you don't have to' and fact checking conservative personalities such as Tucker Carlson.}} While at the DNC, she participated in an Uncommitted sit-in{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNv_PFSWado |title=Hour 17 Of The DNC Sit-In: Let Palestinians Speak |date=2024-08-22 |last=Kat Abughazaleh |access-date=2025-04-02 |via=YouTube}} (though she says she was not a member of the Uncommitted movement){{Cite news |last=Carson-Holt |first=Elsie |date=2025-04-07 |title=What’s Kat Abughazaleh’s Deal? |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/kat-abughazaleh-interview-congress-campaign/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |work=The Nation |language= |issn=0027-8378 |quote='The main criticism I have of her is that she is in Democratic leadership, and I think that if your party is not aligning with your values, which, based on her voting record, it isn't, you need to be more outspoken,' she said.....When she covered the Democratic National Convention last summer.... There, she slept on concrete outside the United Center with other demonstrators after hearing that the DNC would not allow a Palestinian American to speak onstage....'I wasn’t even a member of the uncommitted movement. I was just a Palestinian American that wanted to belong in this party,' Abughazaleh said.}} and interviewed Ro Khanna about the Democrats' Middle East policy.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFYmr0UV7hI |title=Talking With Ro Khanna About Uncommitted Voters And Kamala Harris |date=2024-08-27 |last=Kat Abughazaleh |access-date=2025-04-02 |via=YouTube}} Abughazaleh said during the convention that she "honestly was shocked" and "appalled" at how little Kamala Harris's acceptance speech addressed Gaza and Palestinian concerns,{{cite AV media |last=Hasan |first=Mehdi |last2=Thakker |first2=Prem |last3=Abughazaleh |first3=Kat |date=2024-08-23 |title=The Post-Kamala Speech Town Hall Q&A |url=https://zeteo.com/p/the-post-kamala-speech-town-hall |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=zeteo.com |publisher=Zeteo |location=Chicago, Illinois |quote=Hasan: '... did she address Gaza sufficiently?' Abughazaleh: ' [laughs dismissively]... I honestly was shocked. I was... no, I was absolutely appalled.' |time=5:16}} and later characterized Democratic leaders' choices in communications about the issue as "not just wrong but dumb".

Politico highlighted her prominence on TikTok in September 2024, predicting her account would be among those playing "an outsized role in the last 50 days of the presidential race".{{Cite news |last=Mathur |first=Anusha |date=2024-09-16 |title=TikTok steals the spotlight |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-nightly/2024/09/16/tiktok-steals-the-spotlight-00179410 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=POLITICO |language=en}} In October 2024, she worked with progressive advocacy group People For the American Way to create a new video series on white Christian nationalism.{{Cite web |date=2024-10-17 |title=People For the American Way Foundation and Influencer Kat Abughazaleh Launch New Video Series on the Threat of White Christian Nationalism |publisher=People For the American Way|url=https://www.peoplefor.org/people-american-way-foundation-and-influencer-kat-abughazaleh-launch-new-video-series-threat-white |access-date=2025-04-01 }}

Analyzing the election results, she wrote for The New Republic that "[i]deally, a new party (or several!) would emerge" from the Democratic Party's failure, but "in the interim.... new blood, motivated by radical change rather than stagnant power, needs to storm [the] ineffective gerontocracy" of the party.{{Cite news |last=Abughazaleh |first=Kat |date=November 8, 2024 |title=Democrats Need to Clean House Before They Screw Up Again: It wasn’t just the people running Kamala Harris’s campaign who failed. The leadership of the entire party is at fault. |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/188172/democrats-need-clean-house-screw |access-date=2025-04-02 |work=The New Republic |issn=0028-6583 |ref=tnr-nov2024}}

Abughazaleh's coverage of the far right led to her nomination for a 2025 Webby Award in the News & Politics: Creators category.{{Cite web |year=2025 |title=News & Politics Creators, 2025 |url=https://winners.webbyawards.com/winners/creators/individual-creator/news-politics?years=0 |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=The Webby Awards |quote=Kat Abughazaleh: Eyes on the Far Right: Creators: News & Politics: Nominee, 2025: Mother Jones}}

{{See also|2026 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois#District 9}}

On March 24, 2025, she announced that in the next federal election in 2026, she would be running as a candidate in the Democratic primary election{{cite web|url=https://www.axios.com/2025/03/24/kat-abughazaleh-jan-schakowsky-primary-challenge|title=26-year-old influencer launches House Dem primary challenge|last1=Solender|first1=Andrew|work=Axios|publication-date=March 25, 2025|access-date=March 24, 2025}} for Illinois's 9th congressional district seat, which has been held by Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat and a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, since 1999.{{Cite web |last=Cooper |first=Jonathan J. |date=2025-04-02 |title=Democratic base's anger puts some party leaders on shaky ground |url=https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2025/democratic-bases-anger-puts-some-party-leaders-on-shaky-ground/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=The Associated Press |language=}} Abughazaleh approves of Schakowsky's voting record, but calls for electing "representatives who face the same challenges we do" (such as high rents and the high cost of health insurance) and have had similar experiences, such school shooting drills. Abughazaleh also criticizes her role in Democratic leadership: "if your party is not aligning with your values, which, based on her voting record, it isn’t, you need to be more outspoken" in opposing the current administration, such as "any legislative or parliamentary procedure they can use to gum up the works" as well as physically "putting their bodies between Elon Musk and any government building".{{Cite news |last=Reston |first=Maeve |last2=Wells |first2=Dylan |date=2025-04-06 |title=Younger Democrats want to force an uncomfortable conversation about age |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/06/young-democrats-age-leadership/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |work=The Washington Post |language= |issn=0190-8286}} In her view, "you have people like Schakowsky who have done a lot more than other people in Congress — but it’s still not working" because "the Democratic Party has prioritized decorum and its own structure over actually representing democracy".

In her initial campaign announcement, Abughazaleh explained that she "[did not] think that the Democratic Party right now [was] doing enough". News outlets and Abughazaleh herself connected her campaign with the "widespread frustration" with the Democratic Party among its progressive members, particularly after Donald Trump's rise.{{Cite web |last=Korach |first=Natalie |date=2025-03-25 |title='We Can’t Fall for This Stuff': Why a MAGA-Media Antagonist Is Running for Congress |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/maga-media-antagonist-running-for-congress |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Vanity Fair |quote=...is kicking off a congressional campaign amid growing grassroots frustration with party leaders over their failure to aggressively combat Donald Trump's agenda. She argues that any capitulation to Trump won't result in 'an easier sentence or less aggression by the Trump administration,' adding, 'That’s not how these people work.'}} She also criticized the party for "just continually not listening to voters, not considering any other solutions... There’s a lot of talk about being a big tent, but it feels like they’re only extending that tent to the right, and they’re kicking the rest of us out".{{cite web |last=Gambino |first=Lauren |date=8 April 2025 |title=‘What if we didn’t suck?’: the leftist influencer who wants to campaign for Congress differently |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/08/influencer-congress-race-illinois |access-date=8 April 2025 |website=theguardian.com}}

Shortly after announcing her run, Abughazaleh stated that she was attempting "a new type of campaign". Abughazaleh said that the campaign would reject corporate donations and "the influence of the ultra-wealthy," and instead rely on grassroots donors and free public events, and work with mutual aid groups and local businesses.{{cite AV media |last=Dent |first=Lisa |last2=McCarthy |first2=Colin |date=March 27, 2025 |title=Meet the 26-year-old running for Illinois’ 9th district |url=https://wgnradio.com/lisa-dent/meet-the-26-year-old-running-for-illinois-9th-district/ |publisher=WGN Radio 720 |quote='No, we're just funded by grassroots donors, and I intend to keep it that way. You know, I don't want to take any corporate cash. I have no interest in taking money from people whose views directly contradict my own that I'd have to change to, you know, get this money.' |time=8:19}} For example, the entry fee for her campaign launch was a box of sanitary products, which were donated to a Chicago nonprofit for distribution among low-income communities. Abughazaleh has stated her campaign intends to spend its funds on "trying to help meet people’s material needs" and informational services such as "know your rights" wallet cards, as well as local public service projects{{Cite news |last=Abughazaleh |first=Kat |date=2025-04-24 |title=My First Month as a Congressional Candidate |url=https://medium.com/@katabughazaleh/my-first-month-as-a-congressional-candidate-93fe37ebfa26 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250425120100/https://medium.com/@katabughazaleh/my-first-month-as-a-congressional-candidate-93fe37ebfa26 |archive-date=2025-04-25 |access-date=2025-04-25 |work=Medium |language=en}} that also serve as "office hours", such as beach and neighborhood cleanups. She contrasts her strategy with "a bunch of bullshit ads that are produced by consultants who haven't won an election since the 90s."

The campaign's Federal Election Commission filing stated that the first week's contributions totalled over $378,000, none from PACs,{{Cite web |date=2025-04-15 |title=FEC Disclosure Form 3 for Kat for Illinois |url=https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00900449/1886840/ |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=docquery.fec.gov |quote=REPORT OF RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS For An Authorized Committee... FILING FEC-1886840 ... Report Type = APR QUARTERLY .... Covering Period 03/24/2025 Through 03/31/2025}} with the average contribution approximately $32.{{Cite web |last=Fishman |first=Elly |date=2025-04-17 |title=Can Kat Abughazaleh Help Democrats Grow a Spine? |url=https://www.gq.com/story/kat-abughazaleh-congress |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=GQ |language=en-US}} Her campaign in the first quarter of 2025 outraised Rep. Schakowsky's; Schakowsky has not yet declared whether she intends to run in 2026.{{Cite web |last=Lissau |first=Russell |date=2025-04-20 |title=Powered by small donors, Kat Abughazaleh raised more funds than Rep. Jan Schakowsky last quarter: Democrat Kat Abughazaleh, a 26-year-old internet personality, received more financial support in her 9th District campaign’s first week than veteran lawmaker Jan Schakowsky did in the entire first quarter, records show. |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2025/04/21/abughazaleh-schakowsky-9th-district-congress-politics |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250422200359/https://www.dailyherald.com/20250420/us-congress-politics/political-newcomer-outraised-u-s-rep-schakowsky-in-9th-district-last-quarter-records-show/ |archive-date=2025-04-22 |access-date=2025-04-22 |publisher=Chicago Sun-Times |via=Daily Herald}}

As of April 2025, if elected, Abughazaleh would be the youngest woman, the first Gen Z woman,{{Cite web |last=Vakil |first=Caroline |date=2025-03-24 |title=Kat Abughazaleh challenges Jan Schakowsky for House seat |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5211158-progressive-influencer-kat-abughazaleh/ |access-date=2025-04-24 |publisher=The Hill}} and the second Palestinian-American woman (after Rashida Tlaib), ever elected as a Congressmember.{{Cite web |date=2025-04-01 |title=Palestinian American YouTuber Kat Abughazaleh announces Congressional run |url=https://arabamericannews.com/2025/04/01/palestinian-american-youtuber-kat-abughazaleh-announces-congressional-run/ |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=ArabAmericanNews}} Abughazaleh states that she does not "want to be a career politician" and is not interested in staying in office indefinitely, should she win; to give the next generation a chance to lead, she would want to serve no more than five terms (ten years).{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/live/8JScaiDk7T0 |title=Campaign Stream + Virtual Office Hours: Our First Three Weeks! |language=en |date=2025-04-17 |access-date=2025-04-23 | publisher=Kat Abughazaleh |via=YouTube |quote=If I win, I don't want to serve more than five terms, because there are high school kids going through stuff right now that I have no idea about. And they should be leading as well. |time=51:00}}

News organizations in Illinois{{Cite web |last=Norkol |first=Mary |date=2025-03-26 |title=Progressive TikToker launches bid to unseat Rep. Jan Schakowsky |url=https://www.wbez.org/politics/2025/03/26/kat-abughazaleh-progressive-tiktoker-illinois-9th-district-jan-schakowsky |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=WBEZ |language=en}}, nationally and internationally{{Cite web |last=Hembert |first=Salome |date=2025-04-10 |title=Pour bousculer le parti démocrate, une Tiktokeuse se lance dans la course aux élections de mi-mandat de 2026 |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/secteur/high-tech/pour-bousculer-le-parti-democrate-une-tiktokeuse-se-lance-dans-la-course-aux-elections-de-mi-mandat-de-2026-20250410 |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=Le Figaro |language=fr}}{{Cite news |last=Hermsmeier |first=Lukas |date=2025-04-19 |title=Kat Abughazaleh: "Man hat mich schon als woke Antifa-Kommunistin bezeichnet" |url=https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2025-04/kat-abughazaleh-usa-demokraten-donald-trump-soziale-medien/komplettansicht |access-date=2025-04-20 |work=Die Zeit |language=de-DE |issn=0044-2070}} covered Abughazaleh's announcement and subsequent campaign. Politico cited Bernie Sanders who encouraged progressives to run as independent candidates in the light of declining popularity of the party, and The Washington Post noted the possibility of her campaign being part of an anti-incumbent movement akin to the Tea Party.{{Cite news |last=O'Neill |first=Shane |date=2025-03-31 |title=Kat Abughazaleh, from YouTube to Congress? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/2025/03/31/kat-abughazaleh-democrat-congress/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250401001602/https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/2025/03/31/kat-abughazaleh-democrat-congress/ |archive-date=2025-04-01 |access-date=2025-04-02 |work=The Washington Post |language= |quote=In short, she's running when more and more people are questioning doctrinaire Democratic politics and asking whether this is her party's version of 2010, when a new crop of 'tea party' candidates unseated incumbent Republicans and pushed the party further to the right.... She was laid off in 2024 after Elon Musk sued Media Matters over a report it released documenting antisemitism on X.}} News coverage of Abughazaleh's use of digital media, including Bluesky (rather than Musk's X), predicted her skills would help her appeal to younger voters.{{Cite news |last=Snelling |first=Grace |date=2025-03-26 |title=How this TikToker running for Congress is designing her campaign for Gen Z |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/91305411/how-this-tiktoker-running-for-congress-is-designing-her-campaign-for-gen-z |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250326111904/https://www.fastcompany.com/91305411/how-this-tiktoker-running-for-congress-is-designing-her-campaign-for-gen-z |archive-date=2025-03-26 |access-date=2025-04-02 |work=Fast Company |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Karanth |first=Sanjana |date=2025-03-24 |title=Political Commentator Runs For Congress To Change Democrats' Status Quo |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/political-commentator-kat-abughazaleh-congress-democrats_n_67e1c32de4b0a6f688046570 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=HuffPost |language= |quote=...Abughazaleh said in a video first posted on Bluesky — a move she said was intentional so that her campaign doesn’t heavily rely on Elon Musk’s X or Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta.}}{{Cite web |last=Silberling |first=Amanda |date=2025-03-25 |title=Once a target of Musk's ire, Gen Z creator Kat Abughazaleh is running for Congress |url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/25/once-a-target-of-musks-ire-gen-z-creator-kat-abughazaleh-is-running-for-congress/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=TechCrunch |language= |quote=Given her history with Musk, she isn’t planning to center X in her digital strategy. Above all other social media platforms, Abughazaleh is prioritizing Bluesky, where she has around 154,000 followers. On Monday, for example, she posted her campaign announcement exclusively on Bluesky for an hour and a half before moving to other platforms.}} Coverage also compared her to other younger candidates (including several new media "stars") with progressive political stances who are seeking major US political offices, such as Zohran Mamdani, Isaiah Martin,{{Cite web |date=2025-04-04 |title=Democrats Want to Win the Internet. The Internet’s Liberal Stars Want a Seat at the Table. |url=https://www.notus.org/democrats/democrats-influencers-running-kat-abughazaleh |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=NOTUS |language=en-US}} Jake Rakov,{{Cite news |last=Browning |first=Kellen |date=2025-04-10 |title=Younger Democrats Don’t Plan to Wait Their Turn |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/us/politics/young-democrats-trump.html |access-date=2025-04-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Covey |first=Erin |date=2025-04-10 |title=Breaking Down the Early Primary Challenges to House Democrats |url=https://www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/house/house-overview/breaking-down-early-primary-challenges-house-democrats |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=Cook Political Report |language=}} Saikat Chakrabarti,{{Cite web |last=Wardwell |first=Faith |last2=Miller |first2=Elias |date=2025-04-14 |title=Young voters' indignation at older leaders spurs Democratic primary challenges |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/young-voters-indignation-older-leaders-spurs-democratic-primary-challe-rcna200620 |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=NBC News |language=}} Elijah Manley,{{Cite web |last=Moore |first=Elena |date=2025-04-23 |title=The next AOC? Young Democrats are aiming to topple incumbents inside their own party |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/04/23/nx-s1-5339833/young-democrats-trump-primary-challenges-midterm-elections |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250423204132/https://www.wbez.org/2025/04/23/the-next-aoc-young-democrats-are-aiming-to-topple-incumbents-inside-their-own-party |archive-date=2025-04-23 |access-date=2025-04-23 |publisher=NPR}} and Deja Foxx,{{Cite web |last=Long |first=Katherine |date=2025-04-11 |title=Gen Z Politicians Don’t Want to ‘Wait Their Turn’ |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/women-rule/2025/04/11/gen-z-politicians-dont-want-to-wait-their-turn-00286160 |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=POLITICO |language=en}} and placed her in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's camp of "younger, energetic, left-leaning Democrats" who are "blunt about Democratic errors and missteps."{{Cite web |last=Pergram |first=Chad |date=2025-04-22 |title=Democrats' identity crisis: Youth revolt rocks party after Trump comeback |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-identity-crisis-youth-revolt-rocks-party-after-trump-comeback |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/Gvka2 |archive-date=2025-04-22 |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Fox News}}

Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader, when asked about Abughazaleh's campaign in March, said, "I’m not familiar with who you are talking about", and praised Schakowsky as "a longstanding stalwart progressive member". Democratic National Committee vice chair David Hogg, announcing an effort to fund younger primary challengers to campaign against incumbent House Democrats, said Schakowsky was an incumbent whose work has been strong enough that his group would not fund a challenge to her seat.{{Cite web |last=Kochi |first=Sudiksha |title=DNC official leads effort to primary 'out-of-touch ineffective' Democratic incumbents |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/16/dnc-vice-primary-congressional-incumbents/83119581007/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}

At the time of her announcement, Abughazaleh did not live in Illinois's 9th congressional district, having only registered to vote in Illinois's 7th congressional district a month before her announcement.{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Isabel |date=March 25, 2025 |title=Online 'influencer' challenging Rep. Jan Schakowsky |url=https://capitolfax.com/2025/03/25/online-influencer-challenging-rep-jan-schakowsky/ |access-date=March 26, 2025 |newspaper=Capitol Fax |quote=Rich has heard that she currently lives in the upscale Streeterville neighborhood.}}{{cite news |last=Harrington |first=Adam |date=November 7, 2024 |title=17 incumbent Illinois U.S. representatives vied for reelection. Here's who's won. |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/illinois-us-representatives-election-results/ |newspaper=CBS Chicago |quote=The 7th Congressional District includes the Loop, River North, Streeterville, and the West Loop, and...}} Abughazaleh's nonresident status in the district, and relatively short duration as a Chicago resident, has drawn criticism of her campaign.{{Cite web |last=Steffens |first=Jackson |date=2025-04-09 |title=Political Newcomer Kat Abughazaleh Begins IL-09 Congressional Challenge |url=https://loyolaphoenix.com/2025/04/political-newcomer-kat-abughazaleh-begins-il-09-congressional-challenge/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=The Loyola Phoenix |language=en-US}} Local politics commentator Eric Zorn predicted that, even if Schakowsky chooses not to run for re-election, local Democrats will "get behind a more established candidate with better local bona fides and greater experience in government" rather than "a very young candidate easily labeled a carpetbagger". Abughazaleh has stated that she and her partner had already been planning to move into the district when moving to Chicago on short notice the previous year, that they live "one bus stop" from the 9th district, which she claims is gerrymandered, and that they plan to move into it this summer, as soon as they can break their lease on their existing home.{{Cite web |last=Cherone |first=Heather |date=2025-03-31 |title=Progressive Media Star Kat Abughazaleh Brings Fight to Remake Democratic Party to Chicago With Congressional Bid |url=https://news.wttw.com/2025/03/31/progressive-media-star-kat-abughazaleh-brings-fight-remake-democratic-party-chicago |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=WTTW News |publication-place=Chicago, Illinois}}

{{Under construction|section}}

In an ideal political environment (as opposed to under the Trump administration), Abughazaleh says her most crucial policy agenda item would be Medicare for All. She has lacked health insurance since being laid off in mid-2024.

Abughazaleh supports the Green New Deal to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

She supports the queer rights and transgender rights movements, saying that "The transgender community, the queer community as a whole — but particularly the trans community — have often been the first targets in authoritarian and fascist regimes."{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6pP2aMZEFc |title=No, We Aren't Losing Over Wokeness: Explaining Why Dems Can't Move Right With CNN's Jim Sciutto |date=2025-04-02 |last=Kat Abughazaleh |access-date=2025-04-19 |via=YouTube}} She has stated that, if a military spending bill included restrictions on gender-affirming care, she would not vote for it.{{Cite web |last=Larson-Erf |first=Griffin |title=Kat Abughazaleh challenges Jan Schakowsky for House seat |date=2025-03-31 |url=https://northstarnews.org/46797/news/kat-abughazaleh-challenges-jan-schakowsky-for-house-seat/ |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=North Star News}}

Abughazaleh favors regulating AI: "Platforms need to implement some type of system that allows you to give or revoke permission for them to use your content to train AI."{{Cite web |last=Lorenz |first=Taylor |date=2025-04-10 |title=Creator Turned Candidate Kat Abughazaleh Says Dems Need To Grow a Spine |url=https://passionfru.it/kat-abughazaleh-says-dems-need-to-grow-a-spine-162210/ |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=Passionfruit |language=en-US}}

She is against the proposed changes to US voting registration law proposed in the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, saying that it would stop millions of women from exercising their right to vote because so many of them have chosen not to retain their original names (as listed on their birth certificates) upon marriage.

Abughazaleh criticized new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration in spring 2025, saying, "it's going to affect all of us that aren't billionaires. And it's going to impact the poorest of us the worst."{{Cite web |last=Uhl |first=Jordan |last2=Rousseau |first2=Rob |date=2025-04-25 |title=Ep. 363: A New Approach To Campaigning ft. Kat Abughazaleh |url=https://www.insurgentspod.com/p/ep-363-a-new-approach-to-campaigning |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250425192057/https://www.insurgentspod.com/p/ep-363-a-new-approach-to-campaigning |archive-date=2025-04-25 |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=The Insurgents}}

• 2026 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois

{{reflist}}

• {{official website}}
• [https://medium.com/@katabughazaleh Official campaign blog]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abughazaleh, Kat}}

Category:1999 births

Category:21st-century American women politicians

Category:American people of Palestinian descent

Category:American political commentators

Category:American TikTokers

Category:George Washington University alumni

Category:Living people

Category:Media Matters for America people

Category:Place of birth missing (living people)

Category:Politicians from Chicago

Category:Politicians from Dallas