A 26-year-old TikTok personality and political commentator with more than 200,000 followers has announced she will run for Congress in Illinois’ 9th district.
Kat Abughazaleh made the announcement on her social media platforms this week, revealing that she will run for the seat currently held by Rep. Jan Schakowsky.
I'm Kat Abughazaleh and I'm running for Congress. pic.twitter.com/tEtaNcc5xL
— Kat Abughazaleh (@abughazalehkat) March 24, 2025
Abughazaleh describes herself as an independent journalist and says Democrats need “to do more to stop Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s takeover of the federal government,” according to her campaign website. She formerly worked for the site Media Matters, covering right-wing media political reporting, but was laid off after that publication was sued by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
She recounted the story on her campaign website of being deposed by Musk’s lawyers when she first moved to Chicago, and says that legal issue helped motivate her to push back against the billionaire and President Donald Trump.
“I know how they think, and I know how to beat them,” she said.
The launch of her campaign raised questions from several outlets, including in Rolling Stone, which reported she was born in Texas and has lived in Illinois for less than a year. CapitolFax also reported that Abughazaleh lives in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood, which is not located within Schakowsky’s district.
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“We deserve Representatives who face the same challenges we do (or at least have some time in the last decade),” she said on her website. “They don't deal with out-of-pocket prescription costs or nightmarish rent hikes or existential fear about their lives in 50 years. You and I do.”
Schakowsky said in a statement to the publication that she "always encourages more participation," though she has not officially announced whether she will seek reelection.
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”What makes our community, and our country, so great is that we welcome all voices and ideas,” she said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “I have always encouraged more participation in the democratic process, and I’m glad to see new faces getting involved as we stand up against the Trump Administration.
In her launch video on social media, Abughazaleh had brought up what she described as the void of real leadership within the party, and said she is aiming to inspire a new generation of Democrats to run for office.
“This party has become one where you have to look for the exceptions for real leadership. We need a makeover, which means we need a (bigger) vision than what we’ve been told is possible,” she said.
Abughazaleh acknowledged that Schakowsky has a “pretty great track record on voting,” but that it’s time for a new generation of leadership in Washington, according to Rolling Stone.
There is at least some appetite for her candidacy, as her campaign reported it has raised more has than $200,000 in donations within the first day of her announcement.
She says that money will be used in unique ways for the campaign, insisting that she will not send out “guilt trip texts” or spend money on “grifty consultants,” according to her launch video.
She will also continue to post videos to her social media followers, saying that she wants to give a look behind the curtain at the process of running for office.
