CHICAGO: A Palestinian-American journalist and social media influencer is tied for first place among 16 other candidates in the March 2026 Democratic primary election for the ninth Illinois congressional district seat.
Kat Abughazaleh, whose father and grandparents originate in Gaza and Bethlehem, was the first to announce her candidacy when incumbent Jan Schakowsky announced her retirement, having been elected in 1998.
Abughazaleh has so far raised more than $1 million for her campaign, dwarfing the fundraising of all but one of her rivals, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss.
Both she and Biss have renounced donations from the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has poured money into the candidacy of Laura Fine.
Abughazaleh, who graduated from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs in 2020, told Arab News that her popularity is in part driven by her humanity “for all of the victims” of the Gaza war, both Israeli and Palestinian.
