26-Year-Old Democratic Influencer Falls Short In Plot To Go To Congress
Former social media influencer Kat Abughazaleh failed to compete with her opponent, Evanston, Illinois, Mayor and former state lawmaker Daniel Biss, in the crowded Democratic primary to represent a deep blue Chicago-area House district.
The 26-year-old, who previously worked for the left-wing group Media Matters for America, won 25.6 percent of the vote, behind Biss who received 29.6 percent, with 90 percent of the votes counted, according to the Associated Press. Given that Illinois’ ninth district is heavily Democratic — with Vice President Kamala Harris winning it by 37 percentage points in 2024 — Biss is effectively a lock to win the November general election to represent the seat in Washington.
Biss will succeed Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky, 81, who is retiring at the end of his term in Congress after representing this seat since January 1999, taking office a little more than two months before Abghazaleh was born.
Abughazaleh ran a far-left campaign touting his strong opposition to the Trump administration, his support for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and his belief that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Although she is considered the underdog, she has seen momentum down the stretch, with a surge in polls as well as last-minute support from far-left Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan in the final two days before Tuesday’s primary. Tlaib, like Abughazaleh, is of Palestinian origin. (RELATED: Gen Z Progressives Say They Were Too Sleepy to Make It to Key Campaign Event)
A poll from Democratic firm Public Policy Polling (PPP), released a week before the primaries, showed Abghazaleh trailing Biss by just four points, an improvement of three points from the previous month. The PPP poll showed that while the 26-year-old led among men by eight points, she came third among women, behind Biss and Fine.
Illinois Democratic gubernatorial candidate Daniel Biss speaks to fans gathered for a Pussy Riot show at Subterranean on March 6, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
A grand jury indicted Abughazaleh and five others in October 2025 after they allegedly blocked law enforcement vehicles outside an ICE facility the previous month. That month, she abruptly left an interview with journalist Tara Palmeri when Palmeri confronted the candidate with video footage of the incident.
Like Abughazaleh, the victorious Biss also adopted left-wing political positions during his campaign, particularly regarding his opposition to ICE.
“We did everything we could to protect our residents before Donald Trump took office, passing strict sanctuary laws to ensure our police did not cooperate with federal law enforcement on civil immigration matters,” Evanston’s mayor told CNN in September 2025.
Biss received support from the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC and Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren.
A former math teacher, Biss has served as mayor of Evanston, a relatively affluent suburb of Chicago with a population of just under 80,000, since 2021 and has also served in both houses of the Illinois State Legislature for the previous eight years combined. He ran for governor of Illinois in 2018, coming in far behind in the Democratic primary to the current governor. JB Pritzker. (RELATED: Married Democratic Candidate Gets Closer to Much Younger Far-Left Opponent Over Drinks)
Biss, who is Jewish and has family members living in Israel, criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for its handling of the Gaza war. The Ninth District is widely considered the most Jewish congressional district in the state of Illinois. It has been represented by a Jewish Democrat – Schakowsky or his predecessor Sidney Yates – for more than 60 years.
Had she won, Abughazaleh, who turns 27 on March 24, would have become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, beating by about two years the previous record held by New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
During her time at Media Matters, Abughazaleh claimed that she looked up to Tucker Carlson, who then had a show on Fox News, for his work. She rose to prominence creating music videos for “Tucker Carlson Tonight” from an ostensibly left-wing angle. At the time, she wrote in her bios on various social media platforms: “I watch Tucker Carlson so you don’t have to.” »
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