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On March 24, 2025, a liberal influencer named Kat Abughazaleh announced her candidacy for Congress, challenging Representative Jan Schakowsky (Democrat-Illinois) in the northern Chicago suburbs. She took to the social networking site X and later YouTube to share a two-minute and seventeen-second video explaining her decision.
"I'm Kat Abughazaleh and I'm running for Congress," her post was captioned.
The 26-year-old began her now-viral video accusing President Donald Trump and DOGE head Elon Musk of "dismantling our country piece by piece," adding, "so many Democrats seem content to just sit back and let 'em." Abughazaleh, whose mother is a seventh-generation Texan and whose father is a Palestinian immigrant, added that Congress needs a "makeover" and a "vision" bigger than "what we've been told is possible."
"So, I say it's time to drop the excuses and grow a f**king spine. I'm Kat Abughazaleh, and I'm running for Congress in Illinois's 9th District. Unfortunately, this party has become one where you have to look to the exceptions for real leadership, as the majority work from an outdated playbook," Kat stated.
All you need to know about Kat Abughazaleh amid her Congress candidacy announcement
Kat Abughazaleh was born and raised in a multi-ethnic, upper-middle-class family in Dallas, Texas. According to AOL, both her parents are conservatives and regular viewers of Fox News. Kat moved to Tucson, Arizona, as a teenager.
Since July 2024, she has stayed in Chicago but voted for the 2024 election in Washington, D.C., where she was previously based.
"At least half my high school was low-income or undocumented. The bootstrap myth just shattered before my eyes," she told HuffPost in a March 2025 interview.
Likewise, she told Rolling Stone earlier this week that she was born to "Reagan Republicans."
Abughazaleh previously worked as a video producer at the Texas-based liberal organization Media Matters for America (MMA). She was ousted in 2023 after Elon Musk sued the group for defamation. At the time, MMA claimed it was unable to pay its employees' salaries while continuing the expenses of its legal battle. The case is still ongoing.
Kat is an alumnus of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., holding a bachelor's degree in International Security. In 2024, she joined Mother Jones and has also worked for Zeto News. She has covered the 2024 DNC in Chicago and has been featured in major publications, including The New York Times and Current Affairs.
Ever since, the social media content creator has been known for her videos dismissing conservatives and their ideologies/ policies, calling out Fox News, and challenging Democrats to step up. She has over 207,400 followers on X and 217,000 followers on TikTok. Many of her videos have amassed over a million views.
More about Kat Abughazaleh’s viral video
Kat Abughazaleh, in a social media video posted on Monday, announced her Congressional candidacy and explained why she was running. She mentioned that the country deserved Democrats who would oppose the current administration.
"There is absolutely no reason you shouldn't be able to afford housing, groceries, and healthcare, with some money left over. Families should have free childcare, social security should be expanded, and our inalienable rights shouldn't be dependent on who's in power," Kat stated.
She continued:
"That means standing up to authoritarians, not shrinking away when the fight gets tough. And while the current Democratic leadership might be fine cowering to Trump, I'm not."
Kat Abughazaleh mentioned spending her "entire career reporting on the far-right and being attacked by them as a result." She further claimed that Elon Musk's lawyers reportedly tried to "depose" her here in Chicago a few months back to ask about her "mean tweets." The 26-year-old shared that she thought "comedy was legal again" until she was proven otherwise.
Kat claimed she wasn't scared of standing up to "these people" as she knew their thought processes and how to "beat" them. Abughazaleh went on to describe her campaign as "different," and she was unwilling to "wait a year to help people."
"We're focused on meeting constituent needs, with one simple rule: What if we didn't suck? My campaign and I would rather spend our money on book drives and clothing exchanges, and public events than fancy fundraisers for rich donors. I also want my campaign to be as transparent as possible," Kat Abughazaleh noted.
The Congressional hopeful shared she would be posting regular videos about the "costs and steps of running for office" as people deserved "better" human rights, financial freedom, and a party that stood up to authoritarians.
Kat Abughazaleh further stated that people should "thrive, not survive," and she planned to "fight for those ideals" during her campaign and in Congress. She asked people to visit her website, katforillinois.com, to learn more about her and urged them to contribute.
She assured the donors that the donations wouldn't go to waste on "old, ineffective tactics" such as "spammy guilt trip texts," "no focus groups to test my views," or "gritty consultants" who cared more about their paycheck than actually winning.
"It's time to challenge the status quo. And if our leaders won't do it, we will. I am Kat Abughazaleh, and I am running for Congrss, because it's time for Democrats to do more," she concluded.
While Abughazaleh didn't directly mention 80-year-old Representative Jan Schakowsky in her video, her website highlights that the latter has been in the House for 14 terms and was first elected in 1998. It also mentions that Democrats had "a representation problem," as they are either "millionaires" or were "born before the first moon landing."
The newly formed website also cites Kat Abughazaleh's policy changes, including better protections for the LGBTQIA+ community, passing the Green New Deal to deal with climate change, increasing public school teachers' salaries, offering universal pre-K, expanding Social Security, and banning restrictions on abortion.
Meanwhile, Jan Schakowsky shared a statement with the press following Kat Abughazaleh's candidacy announcement. She mentioned always encouraging "more participation in the democratic process," adding she was glad "to see new faces getting involved as we stand up against the Trump Administration."
The veteran politician mentioned welcoming "all voices and ideas" while claiming her primary goal was to fight back against this "extreme MAGA regime."
If elected to Illinois' 9th Congressional District in northern Chicago, including suburbs Evanston, Skokie, and Niles, Kat would be the first Gen Z woman in Congress.
