Inside Kat Abughazaleh's Campaign for Congress 🦅
The 26-year-old "influencer" is running in Chicago
Author’s Note: Our full coverage of Kat’s campaign appears in Issue 6: WHERE DID YOU GO? Pre-order your copy here.
blog.seventy-one // If your opinion of Kat Abughazaleh were to be formed by the commentators, analysts, and television presenters who make up our modern punditariat, it would probably sound something like this:
Kat Abughazaleh is a left-leaning “TikToker.”
Kat Abughazaleh is a “social contagion.”*
Kat Abughazaleh is the next Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a new face to channel the beliefs and feelings of progressive Zoomers — while stoking the ire of Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson.**
And Kat Abughazaleh is running to represent the Ninth District of Illinois, where, if elected, she’ll head to DC as the youngest congresswoman ever.
I’ve spent the last three months documenting Kat’s campaign in its early stages, as I found her story fascinating for a number of reasons. For one, it’s developing right in our backyard. And while I won't claim to be an expert on local politics in the Ninth District, I actually lived there for four years, from 2017 to 2021.
For another, Kat isn’t a sitting politician, tweeting as a means of communication with her constituents. No, she’s a career creator, someone whose résumé hinges on the very videos she’s uploaded and reports she’s shared online.
But the final reason I was compelled to tell this story is that Kat isn’t from Chicago. She moved here in 2024…and doesn’t even reside in the Ninth District (while uncommon, as it turns out, you actually don’t have to live in the district you’re running to represent.)
When she announced her campaign to take on the incumbent, Jan Schakowsky — a popular progressive congresswoman who, at eighty years old, has held the seat since 1999 — there was real pushback. Many residents view Kat as an outsider.
“How can she credibly claim to be the best candidate to represent a district she’s never lived in?” one Chicagoan wrote to me on Reddit.
“What specifically does she bring to the table for this district other than being internet famous?” another user commented.
Kat, for her part, appears understanding of the criticism, even jokingly referring to herself as a “carpetbagger.” But she’s also steadfast in her campaign’s purpose.
“Some people have gotten mad at me just for the audacity of running, and that feels wrong in a real democracy,” she tells me. “I want to win because I want to make a difference. But even just by running, we’re making a difference.”
As part of my reporting process, I asked Chicago voters to submit questions they wanted to hear Kat answer. I received dozens, and whittled them down to eight; we then took the train to her campaign office in Rogers Park and turned on the camera.
You can watch more above. And the full story, “What Kat Abughazaleh Says About America,” is available to read in the print!
Preorders are now open for Issue Six: WHERE DID YOU GO? I'm a tad biased, but I think this one is a fascinating read—not just if you're interested in the intersection of politics and new media. No, it's a story about communication, of how (and where) people receive their information…and what forms of expression we perceive as legitimate.***
Block Party attendees will be the first ones to receive their copies on July 19. Orders will then begin shipping out the following week.
That's it for today! See you on Thursday for our next Neighborhood Watch review.
— NGL
P.S. Last blog, we reviewed Simon Kim’s new adventure film—and recommended two can’t-miss videos. You can read it here.
Thanks for reading! Shoot us a reply, comment, or DM if anything resonated with you in particular—we respond to them all.
* A columnist for a publication called the Chicago Contrarian actually called her that, funny enough.
** Elon has actually tweeted about Kat multiple times.
*** It goes without saying, but for what it’s worth: This story and companion video are not endorsements of Kat or her campaign.