Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive political commentator and social media influencer, announced a primary campaign against Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., last month, promising a mutual aid-focused campaign strategy and striking a generational contrast against the 80-year-old incumbent.
Abughazaleh, 26, made a name for herself online, analyzing conservative media at outlets like Media Matters and Mother Jones, frequently antagonizing of right-wing pundits like former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Her campaign used this notoriety to help raise more than $275,000 from 7,000 donors in its first week. She is urging Democrats to go into 2026 and beyond with an agenda focused on Americans’ material needs and with a resolve to wield power, if and when they do win.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You pitch yourself as asking, “What if Democrats didn't suck?” which I think is a message a lot of Democrats are ready to hear. However, I'd also like to ask why you chose to run in the district you've chosen to run in, especially given the fact, as I understand it, that you're fairly new to the area. Why should people vote for someone who's recently moved to the area and also someone who doesn't currently live in the district?
So I did a video about this the other day, and I talked a lot about it at our kickoff event, but basically my partner and I moved to the Chicago area on very short notice, and we just kind of hit the first furnished apartment that met our needs and was friendly to our cat.
Then we looked for neighborhoods we wanted to live in and had planned to move to, like Edgewater, Andersonville and Rogers Park, which is in the southern part of the district that was planned to do to happen this year, way before I even thought about running for Congress. That's the main thing. We were planning on moving, and so I would rather run the district I wanted to live in, that we were planning on living in with or without a congressional run, rather than stay in the same apartment.
But as far as the pitch, I tell people: “You should be skeptical of me.” I think you should be skeptical of anyone who is asking you to give them power. This is a district that's 25% foreign-born. This is a district with, I think, over 50,000 college kids. A lot of new families have been coming here, and there are a lot of people moving to Chicago for fears of climate change, authoritarianism and bad financial realities. So I'm not the only transplant. There are a lot of transplants here.
Overall, people have been very welcoming. But all I say is just keep an open mind. We're trying to make this campaign not about words but about actions. We raised an entire SUV's worth of period products for people who can't afford them in the community, just on our first event. We plan to keep doing things like that for the entire campaign and beyond, so just keep an open mind. And I'm trying to live by my actions. I just got sick of seeing — of waiting around for someone to do something and hoping that that would happen.
I understand you're the only declared candidate in this primary at the moment, and there's a real chance that Ms. Schakowsky might choose to retire. But in your messaging, you've acknowledged that she is one of the more progressive members of Congress, and you've even praised her for it. However, I'm curious why you're choosing to take this approach rather than maybe going after her on some of the issues where you do, I think, differ, like, for example, in the United States, and its unconditional support for arming Israel.
I've said that I would have voted differently on some votes over the last few years. As a Palestinian person, not a lot of lawmakers — more lawmakers now than ever have even acknowledged our humanity and Schakowsky’s been pretty good on this issue, especially for American lawmakers.
I am very skeptical of people in power. When I say what I've been saying about her, I mean it very sincerely. I don't really have any interest in going on the offense for “A” someone who's not even, you know, running right now, but also, it doesn't really fit my campaign style. I guess that's “B.” I think there's a new way of doing politics, and I think there's a new way of doing campaigns, and that's what I'm trying to do. And that means focusing on mutual aid and direct action, filling in these gaps that Trump has created.
That means having a really big ground game, and not just in population centers. I want to try to talk to voters who don't traditionally vote in primaries. In Illinois, you don't register under a party, so it's kind of an open primary. Going out to the western parts, where I had people drive in and say they didn't feel represented, of people that were Republicans, and they're saying, “I'm willing to give you a shot, because we just haven't our representatives, as these districts keep getting redistricted and redistricted, come all the way out to see us, because they just don't think we'll vote,” same with college kids. My strategy isn't really to focus on this one versus one, or if it opens up to multiple candidates, one versus five, or whatever we're doing type strategy.
I want more people to come in the race. And I think if more people adopted our tactic of not wasting money and instead trying to spend it on the community as much as we can, it would be really enriching for everybody, and it makes everyone bring their A game. I know sound kind of like a Pollyanna talking about this, but that's genuinely what I believe.
I'd like to ask you a little bit about that campaign strategy because it’s in some ways reminiscent of some of the tactics from the Sanders campaign. You've promised no focus-tested messages, no wasted money on ads and you've kind of described what seems to me sort of a mutual aid network through the campaign. But I'd be curious to hear how you square this with what appears to be the prevailing force in the party, which is to move away from what some conservative Democrats decry as “small dollar dominance.” They seem not to want to be beholden to any actual constituency and are hoping to raise money from large dollar donors. So, I'm wondering how you see your campaign fitting into a party moving in that direction.
My campaign doesn't fit in that direction. If they don't want small dollar donors, hell, I'll take them. We've taken no corporate cash, just individual contributions. Our average donation is less than $38 right now.
I think that that's disgusting. I think that this is supposed to be the big tent “We’re for the people” party. And you're saying we need to move away from the people. I did a video about this, like last month, where I said, “Small dollar donors, m*therfucker, you mean constituents?” Like, that's ridiculous to me.
I'm not sure who will come in the race, and they might be taking these big dollar donors, might be taking corporate cash, and that's fine by me. I think that this strategy, yeah, it might, we might, might not be blanketing every single second of TV commercial space, but people will actually know me and will either be helped by this campaign and by the groups in their community who are doing the work or will know someone who has been.
I'm tired of just agreeing that this is how it's always been done, so we have to keep doing it this way. Let's try something different.
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You know, I understand, in your current district, the primary is probably essentially the real election. I'm wondering if you think that what you're doing now can be translated to a general election where you will be going up against billionaire money, corporate money and the sort of resources that Republicans pull in from large dollar donors.
Yeah, I mean, I think so. I think that this is a very progressive district and a very progressive area. It's been kind of on the forefront of progressive policy for years and years and years. I'm not sure it'll be that easy for Elon Musk or whoever to just buy a general election here. But once again, I think that a person-to-person approach — we are in a time where politics is so faceless and it's so impersonal, and by trying to recenter it around people, there's only so much that money can buy, and that's really what I'm trying to go for.
Especially people my age, we know that we probably will never buy a house. We will probably be in medical debt by age 40. This type of connection that's not on Zoom, that is fostered in helping people, is really all we have.
I'd also like to ask you about some characters currently in the party. As I've mentioned there, the dominant force in the party is pushing for it to become more conservative, more business friendly. You've seen some overtures towards deregulation among Democratic thinkers recently. You are still running as a Democrat, and I am hoping to ask you if there are people in the party you see as a role model for your own political trajectory and why.
Oh, absolutely. I mean, Bernie and AOC are packing stadiums in a non-election year in states that they don't even represent. AOC is a political icon. She walked so the rest of us could run. You know, she brought out this anti-establishment but also intelligent, compassionate, empathetic style of leadership that we hadn't seen in a long time.
I think it's what they're doing right now is very reminiscent of like FDR Democrats, of we don't have to accept this. We can push back, and we can make things better, and we don't have to compromise on making things better. We can just do it and that's the type of future I want to live in.
Do you think that the rest of the party is malleable enough to go in that direction if it does prevail in a primary? I'm curious whether or not you think that there is an ability in the party infrastructure to be shaped by popular opinion in this way.
I think it's going to take a lot of pressure, and I think that I am just one of many, not just young people, but people that are ready to stand up and say, “We need to change things.” I had a lot of older people show up to our kickoff event, and they were like, “I was considering running.” I told them, “You should run, run against me. Let's make this a race in a very genuine way.” People are ready for a change, and I think that with enough pressure, when you threaten their power, that's when they change things. And we don't just have to threaten their power; we can take it for ourselves, and we can show people that this is what you can vote for instead. You can vote for someone who actually cares about you, cares about the future, and is not just beholden to corporate interests.
I think that there's a lot of jockeying in 2026 ahead of 2028, and what I'm curious to hear from you is what you think the marquee policy should be for the Democratic Party. You've mentioned some Democrats embracing New Deal interventionism in the economy. I've talked to other people who have suggested that a public option for health care should be the leading policy. I'm wondering, if you had your way, what would be the one policy that Democrats would unite behind in the 2026 and 2028 elections?
Besides anti-authoritarianism, which isn't really a policy, it's more just a “We don't like Nazis type of thing.” In terms of actual policy on my website, we have what I call “basic existence,” and I think that's really what should be the core tenet of life and of how politics should work.
It's not just health care, it's not just the economy, it's not just housing, it's not just support, it's not just immigration — it's a lot of different things rolled up into one, and right now, a lot of people, including myself, have to pick two, sometimes pick one, sometimes pick zero, of housing, health care and groceries. You should be able to afford all of those with money left over to both save and go to the movies or take your kids to the zoo. That should just be the very baseline because we shouldn't be just surviving but thriving. I think their main thing should just be basic existence.
I think a lot of people in Congress have lost touch with what that means because they haven't had to worry about out-of-pocket medical costs. They haven't had to worry about which groceries have gotten more expensive. They haven't had to worry about being a renter because they've owned their home outright for years and years and years. And I think, I just think that that is really what we should be if we want to connect with voters. What should we be talking about?
What would you say? I know that there are some in the party and in the press who, they'll hear arguments like the one you've just made, and they’ll contest it, saying, “We tried that, especially in the first few years of the Biden administration, and it didn't work.” What would you say to people who suggest that populism didn't deliver for Democrats and are trying to pull the party in a different direction or trying to make it more conservative with the idea of triangulating?
Yeah, they, I mean, they didn't deliver. They didn't actually try that. They tried a ghost of it, but also tanked so much legislation in the name of bipartisanship, which is all fine and dandy if you agree on basic human rights. But you know, we tanked voting rights, we tanked so many things, in the name of “We need to compromise.” No, we don't. If it's people's basic human rights, you do not need to compromise on that. We tried going to the right in 2016 with Hillary. It didn't work. We tried going to the right in 2024 with Kamala. It didn't work. I don't know why we keep trying this.
Democrats are so scared of wielding their power, and frankly, it's pathetic. If you are actually in office to help people, you should be doing everything you possibly can to do so. And if people are not on board, if your opponents, if the Republicans, are not on board with helping Americans, then they can just stand by and watch as we do it ourselves.
Do you think the current members of the party have the credibility to make that argument with the public? Do you think they have that goodwill with the voters, or if people will even believe that they will do something for them?
A lot of them don't. I mean, Chuck Schumer certainly doesn't. Hakeem Jeffries doesn't. If they reversed every single one of their tenets of governance and went hard on resisting Trump and on communicating with their communities, then maybe it might be different. I think that there's still time to do that. I'm not sure if they will, and I think that's the reason there are going to be a lot of primary challenges. People are talking about a democratic Tea Party, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it, frankly, even if not all of those candidates win, it sends a message, and it says, “You took the big tent and you just shifted it right, and you left all these people out in the sun.” It's time that we take it back
In terms of existing pieces of political infrastructure, have you begun working with any outside organizations? I'm thinking specifically. I've spoken with people from the Justice Democrats, for example. I'm wondering if you've coordinated with any groups like that, or if you would consider doing so in the future.
Right now. I mean, it's just been me and my campaign manager, Sam Weinberg. I’ve been putting out feelers and things like that. We really wanted to drop this as a surprise for everyone on launch day, so we didn't tell a bunch of people. But now that we've kind of gotten through the chaos of the first week, we're interested in talking with groups and people and trying to find goals that align with both of our values,
I've got one last question, which is whether you have a message for people at home who might be thinking about running for office or otherwise getting involved with politics.
If you're thinking of running for office, do it. Whether that’s a state or local office, you can go to runforsomething.net. If you want to run for Congress, I'm doing a series of videos on how to do it to try to demystify this process. I am 26, I have four digits in my bank account, and I have no health insurance and I am running for Congress. I can do it. You can do it. Leadership shouldn't just be reserved for the already rich and powerful. We are supposed to be a country by the people, for the people, and you are the people. So let's take it back. I keep saying this — it’s corny — but be the change you want to see. If you have an idea that you think more people should be doing, you can tell them, or you can do it yourself. That's what I'm doing with my campaign, and I would love to see you do it with yours.
I think Maxwell Frost may have started his campaign from a similar position. Have you spoken with anyone who's kind of done something similar to what you have done or what you're trying to do in the past?
Like I said, you know, we kept it kind of quiet before we launched, and this week, it's been very chaotic. So no, not yet, but we’ve gotten a lot of encouragement and also heard from a lot of people that are in a similar position and are now thinking of running for Congress.
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