2026 U.S. House campaign
Launch On March 24, 2025, Abughazaleh announced that she would enter the Democratic
primary election for
Illinois's 9th congressional district seat, which has been held by
Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat and a member of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus, since 1999. At that time, Schakowsky had not yet announced whether she would seek re-election in 2026. She also said she chose to run because Schakowsky, like many incumbent Democrats in safe districts, had not faced a primary challenger for many years. Shortly after announcing her run, Abughazaleh stated that she was attempting "a new type of campaign". Abughazaleh said that the campaign would reject
corporate donations and "the influence of the ultra-wealthy", and instead rely on
grassroots donors and free public events, and work with
mutual aid groups and local businesses. For example, the entry fee for her campaign launch was a box of
sanitary products, which were donated to a Chicago nonprofit for distribution among low-income communities. that also serve as "
office hours", such as beach and neighborhood cleanups. She contrasted her strategy with "a bunch of bullshit ads that are produced by consultants who haven't won an election since the 90s". and the second Palestinian-American woman (after
Rashida Tlaib) ever elected to Congress. The campaign's
Federal Election Commission filing stated that the first week's contributions totaled over $378,000, none from
PACs, with an average contribution of approximately $32. Her campaign in the first quarter of 2025 outraised Schakowsky's. In mid-April, local high school teacher David Abrevaya announced that he was considering running in the primary as well.
Reactions News organizations in Illinois nationally and internationally covered Abughazaleh's announcement and subsequent campaign.
Politico cited
Bernie Sanders who encouraged progressives to run as independent candidates in the light of declining popularity of the party, and
The Washington Post noted the possibility of her campaign being part of an anti-incumbent movement akin to the
Tea Party. News coverage of Abughazaleh's use of digital media, including
Bluesky (rather than Musk's
X), predicted her skills would help her appeal to younger voters. Coverage also compared her to other younger candidates (including several new media "stars") with progressive political stances who are seeking major US political offices, such as
Zohran Mamdani,
George Hornedo,
Saikat Chakrabarti,
Elijah Manley,
Mallory McMorrow, and
Deja Foxx, and placed her in
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's camp of "younger, energetic, left-leaning Democrats" who are "blunt about Democratic errors and missteps." The editorial board of the
Chicago Tribune castigated Abughazaleh, and other Democrats, for using profanity in public statements, admonishing them not to stoop to Trump's level and "debase American politics even further." At the time of her announcement, Abughazaleh did not live in Illinois's 9th congressional district, having only registered to vote in
Illinois's 7th congressional district a month before her announcement; she did subsequently move to the district. Abughazaleh's initial nonresident status in the district, and relatively short duration as a Chicago resident, drew criticism. Abughazaleh released a statement which thanked Schakowsky for her tenure in Congress, and praised Schakowsky as having been supportive of Palestinian rights. After Schakowsky's announcement,
state Senator Laura Fine and
Evanston Mayor
Daniel Biss (a former state senator and the
2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary runner-up) each announced candidacies for the district. Several additional candidates declared their intention to run; as of mid-July, the field totaled twelve. A mid-May federal financial disclosure from Abughazaleh's campaign reported that, before launching her candidacy, she ceased paid journalism work and demonetized her past and current YouTube and TikTok videos. According to Abughazaleh, she did so to avoid conflicts of interest and to avoid monetizing campaign-related social media posts. Abughazaleh condemned
the killing of two Israeli Embassy workers in Washington, D.C. with a statement that "Murdering people for their nationality is abhorrent." She similarly condemned the
2025 Boulder fire attack, saying, "I am a Palestinian person and I do not want senseless acts of terror committed in my name." Abughazaleh said in late May that she had hired private security after a visitor repeatedly vandalized her campaign office, and after she was accused by a Republican candidate of supporting
Hezbollah. A mid-June poll of likely Democratic voters in the district found Abughazaleh coming second at 10%, the front-runner being Biss at 17%.
Broadview ICE Facility incident and subsequent indictment officer during a protest outside the
Broadview ICE Facility on September 19, 2025 In September 2025, in an incident that was recorded on video and posted on social media, Abughazaleh was thrown to the ground by an
ICE agent during a protest at an ICE detention facility in
Broadview, Illinois that was also attended by her primary opponents
Bushra Amiwala and
Daniel Biss. She later told MSNBC that she suffered minor injuries from the incident. Abughazaleh was indicted by the
United States Department of Justice for her role in the protest in October 2025. The indictment alleged that she "physically hindered and impeded" a federal agent. The group that Abughazaleh was with is accused of banging against an official ICE vehicle, breaking one of its mirrors, and scratching the word "PIG" into it. She called the indictment a political prosecution and an attack on
First Amendment rights.
Final months Federal Election Commission campaign finance filings for the period up through December 31, 2025 show Abughazaleh led in fundraising with $2.7 million raised, with Biss and Fine the next most with each just below $2 million. In early 2025,
super PACs paid for television and mailed advertisements criticizing Abughazaleh, leading to concerns about the role of
"dark money" in the election. Abughazaleh was also endorsed in the days leading up to the election by
Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and former
Rep. Jamaal Bowman. After
early voting began, journalist
Brandy Zadrozny reported that a secretive group had approached
influencers offering to pay them to make posts and videos questioning Abughazaleh's credibility. Biss won the primary election, securing 29.5% of the vote to Abughazaleh's 26%. He led the polls in the portions of
Cook County and
Lake County, while Abughazaleh placed first in the portion of
McHenry County. == Political positions ==