Kat Abughazaleh, a 26-year-old progressive influencer and former Media Matters staffer, recently announced her candidacy for Illinois’s 9th Congressional District, challenging long-time incumbent Rep. Jan Schakowsky.
Abughazaleh is part of a new generation of internet-native political candidates who hope to use their online influence to get their message out and shed light on the democratic process.
She spoke to Passionfruit about the growing frustration among younger voters towards political leaders, how she plans to challenge the status quo of political campaigning, and what she thinks the Democratic party needs to do to win back the internet.
What made you want to run for Congress?
Democrats need to grow a f*cking spine, I know how these people think and how to beat them, and it starts with using media that normal people actually watch.
I got tired of waiting around for someone else to make the changes I wanted to see. It’s comforting to think that some hero or perfect candidate is going to come into every district and save the day during the next election, but that’s just not true. We are what we’ve got.
You’ve got a big online following across TikTok and YouTube. What were you doing before running?
I was a researcher at Media Matters. I watched Fox News every night. My specialty was Tucker Carlson. After a couple of years, I decided to start explaining right-wing narratives and what was happening on Fox and in the far-right sphere on TikTok and YouTube.
Those caught on and I’ve gained hundreds of 1000s of followers since. Elon Musk sued Media Matters for their reporting last year, the costs mounted, and I got laid off. Since then, I’ve worked as a contributor at Mother Jones and Zeteo, and now I’m running for Congress.
How did your time in the media inform your campaign and how it’s run? What did you learn trying to translate your reporting on right-wing extremism into online spaces?
One of the things that’s really frustrated me over the past few years is how political parties, but in particular the Democratic party, failed to update how they communicate with voters. Social media is not some new thing that’s just for youngins.
Your mom probably uses TikTok. Your dad is on Facebook. These are not exclusive to young people, this is how most voters communicate now.
One of the biggest problems, in my opinion, with the Democratic Party’s strategy is how they view social media as a whole. They see it as this machine where you put [content] in and get approval out on the other side. That’s just not how it works.
People are looking for connection and sincerity. Especially since 2020, as the pandemic is killing millions and our rights are being stripped away, people are just really desperate for connection.
I’m not trying to run every single message through 10 consultants. I’m not trying to sanitize everything I say to make sure that no one gets offended. I say what I believe. And that resonates with people because they want to be spoken to like people and not products to be manipulated.
Most of our campaign is focused on the ground game, and the digital strategy is just another way to get to know me and coordinate the rest of the campaign.
There’s this idea that the Democrats have a messaging problem, but a lot of the disconnect seems to come down to policy. Where do you see yourself breaking from the Democratic establishment in terms of policies?
One of the biggest problems with the Democratic Party right now is its insistence that we’re still in 1992 and we’re not. It’s 2025, and we can’t just keep using a single playbook, which is why we keep losing. In 2016 and in 2024, Democrats moved to the right and tried to appeal more to the right and less to our own base, and it hasn’t worked either time.
I have no interest in abandoning vulnerable populations. I have no interest in throwing trans people under the bus. I have no interest in taking corporate cash or bending to Elon Musk’s will, and I certainly have no interest in just folding on any of Trump’s authoritarian agenda.
The vast majority of Democratic voters feel the exact same way. But, for some reason, Democratic leadership, and a large part of the elected party, doesn’t seem willing to represent voters.
Passionfruit’s bossman James Del sat down with Brendan Gahan and Keith Bendes from Creator Economy Live! to discuss journalism’s role in the creator economy, the importance of newsletters in building audience, and even some stories from his time doing digital marketing in Las Vegas.
How do you create content that actually makes an impact (and doesn’t just get lost in the void)?
Check out this panel from SWSW 2025, which brought together comedians, creators, and activists who have mastered the art of using humor, satire, and storytelling to inspire change.
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