作者：阿里特·约翰 | 59分钟前 | 发布于 2026年3月14日，美国东部时间上午7:00
卡特约旦阿卜古扎莱赫在伊利诺伊州民主党初选中发起了一场辩论，首先纠正了主持人的说法：她认为自己是一名研究员和记者，而非“网红”。
“我的专长其实是对抗极右翼，”她谈及过往工作时表示，“现在治理我们国家的每个人——斯蒂芬·米勒、埃隆·马斯克、汤姆·霍曼——都是我过去报道并战胜过的人，他们对此心知肚明。”
尽管她拒绝接受网红标签，但这一称呼却不胫而走。她在YouTube和TikTok账号上的一段辩论片段迅速走红，观看量远超辩论本身在YouTube上的播放量。
这种线上吸睛能力使阿卜古扎莱赫能够颠覆传统政治策略，在伊利诺伊州第9国会选区竞逐众议院席位。现在的问题是，她这种非传统竞选方式能否在众多资深民主党人中脱颖而出——这些人在社区拥有更深厚的根基。
3月17日的初选胜者将极大可能赢得民主党众议员简·沙科斯基（Jan Schakowsky）即将退休的席位。沙科斯基的现任任期将于年底结束。
阿卜古扎莱赫的策略凸显了民主党面临的更大挑战：他们需要在传统新闻、电视广告和邮寄宣传之外，寻找新的选民触达方式。一批年轻候选人（其中许多试图挑战民主党现任议员）认为，在唐纳德·特朗普总统第二个任期的当下，民主党必须改变策略和信息传递方式以应对时代需求。
这种以数字为核心的方法也考验着一个问题：线上动员能否弥补竞选活动潜在的弱点。
部分候选人（如德克萨斯州议员贾丝明·克罗克特、亚利桑那州国会候选人及Z世代活动家德贾·福克斯）在最近的竞选中未能将线上关注度转化为选举胜利。
但进步人士指出了佐伦·曼达尼（Zohran Mamdani）等其他人的成功案例——他去年在纽约市长竞选中通过数字视频脱颖而出。
尽管阿卜古扎莱赫拥有全国性线上平台，但她是首次参选，获得的地方支持寥寥。她是在竞选启动后才搬到该选区的新移民，因此缺乏部分主要对手与选区的长期联系。
阿卜古扎莱赫（右二）在2月25日芝加哥举行的第9国会选区民主党初选中发表讲话，左起依次为埃文斯顿市长丹尼尔·比斯、州参议员劳拉·法因和福克斯芝加哥政治记者帕里斯·舒茨。
Nam Y. Huh/AP
但同样是这种线上影响力帮助她超越其他民主党对手——她拒绝了打电话拉赞助等传统筹款方式，反而通过Twitch直播筹集小额捐款，实现了筹款领先。
“如果没有现有的平台，我不可能参加竞选，试图否认这一点很愚蠢，”她在接受CNN采访时表示，“我们只是在尽可能创新，让竞选活动更贴近选民。”
在选区扎根
阿卜古扎莱赫面临的核心挑战是在2025年5月搬到该选区后建立选民基础。她将竞选办公室改造成互助中心，为居民提供卫生用品等物资，并参与当地抗议和活动。但其他主要竞争对手——埃文斯顿市长丹尼尔·比斯和州参议员劳拉·法因——均在州议会任职数十年，与选区有着深厚渊源。
“在类似伊利诺伊州的竞选中，选民确实在寻找有业绩且能有效对抗特朗普的候选人，”邻近第7选区的民主党策略师亚历杭德罗·韦尔迪恩表示，“比斯显然符合这一形象。”
在最近的辩论中，阿卜古扎莱赫称自己并非为竞选才搬到该州，而是因伴侣希望居住在此而选择。法因则表示，她从小在该区长大，丈夫遭遇严重车祸后医保拒保的经历促使她投身政治，推动消费者保护法案。
“我让伊利诺伊州从一个工业优先的州转变为更注重消费者权益的州，”法因称，“这就是我存在的意义。”
阿卜古扎莱赫反驳了“异地参选者”的质疑。当被问及对该区的承诺时，她提到祖父数十年前移民芝加哥，父亲在此学习英语。
“但我不想以此为主要论点，因为我们城市本身就是移民和难民的聚居地，”她在辩论中表示，“我不想让人们觉得‘非本地出身就无法带来积极改变’。”
芝加哥民主党策略师杰米·塞克斯顿（未参与本次初选）表示，考虑到当前社会流动性，“异地参选者”攻击的影响力已不如从前。
“这对老年可靠选民影响较大，”他指出，“她的关键问题是能否动员追求变革的年轻进步族裔选民。”
阿卜古扎莱赫在达拉斯长大，母亲一方是共和党运作人，父亲一方是1948年“大灾难”（Nakba）的幸存者——当时约70万巴勒斯坦人逃离或被驱逐出如今的以色列领土。
阿卜古扎莱赫于2025年5月6日在芝加哥罗杰斯公园社区的竞选办公室搬运竞选标牌。
Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service/Getty Images
她的巴勒斯坦裔美国人背景和前保守派身份塑造了其政治理念。在2024年民主党全国代表大会上，作为持证内容创作者，她曾与活动人士一起在会场外抗议，呼吁邀请巴勒斯坦发言人（未成功）。整个竞选期间，她是最直言不讳的以色列批评者，称其对加沙的战争是“种族灭绝”——联合国委员会去年认定以色列在哈马斯10月7日袭击后在加沙犯下种族灭绝罪，以色列对此予以否认。
她认为比斯和法因的立场不够激进。比斯曾与美国以色列公共事务委员会（AIPAC）会面并提交政策文件，但否认寻求其背书；法因虽接受过AIPAC相关人士的捐款，但强调无法与外部团体协调。
包括比斯和阿卜古扎莱赫在内的几位民主党候选人批评称，大量不明资金涌入竞选——他们认为这些资金与AIPAC有关。支持法因、针对比斯的“Elect Chicago Women”等组织已开始活动。竞选最后阶段，与Elect Chicago Women有关的新超级PAC“芝加哥进步伙伴关系”（Chicago Progressive Partnership）对阿卜古扎莱赫发起攻击，她认为这是AIPAC担忧其竞选势头的表现。
AIPAC未回应置评请求。
“人们对我、巴勒斯坦和AIPAC的讨论发生了翻天覆地的变化，这很疯狂，”阿卜古扎莱赫表示，“我希望不需要这么多平民死亡才能让人们意识到这一点，但这是我人生中第一次人们持续关注巴勒斯坦议题。”
该广告重点攻击阿卜古扎莱赫两年前迁居该州，以及高中校报支持当时的佛罗里达州共和党参议员马可·卢比奥。
“真正的卡特·阿卜古扎莱赫是谁？我们并不真正了解，”广告质问。
阿卜古扎莱赫以其标志性风格在YouTube频道上嘲讽并分析该广告。
“如果我是对手，我会选最痛苦的路线，但我不是，”她表示，“所以AIPAC试图制造进步派内斗，拉拢年轻人离开我们的竞选——因为他们知道我们能赢。”
从里根共和党人到民主社会主义者
阿卜古扎莱赫称，她的左翼转向始于高中。15岁时，全家从达拉斯搬到图森，她结识了一位因经济困难无法上大学的女孩。
“我当时想，‘等等，难道里根说的都对吗？’”她回忆道，“这听起来很荒谬，但当你只接触到亿万富翁资助的整个虚假信息产业时，你可能会相信很多不实之事。”
大学毕业后，她在左翼媒体监督网站“媒体真相”（Media Matters）担任研究员和视频制作人。
与许多年轻进步候选人一样，阿卜古扎莱赫主张对共和党（甚至部分民主党人）采取更激进的政治策略。去年秋天，她是因抗议ICE（移民海关执法局）而被起诉的六人之一，该团体被称为“Broadview六人”，被控阻挡联邦探员车辆。
2025年9月19日，包括阿卜古扎莱赫在内的第9国会选区候选人在布罗德维尤移民海关执法局外抗议时，被联邦探员释放的催泪瓦斯包围。
Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service/Getty Images
阿卜古扎莱赫将这些指控视为荣誉勋章。她的竞选广告结尾用了抗议现场画面，包括执法人员推搡她倒地的镜头。广告主旨是“当少数人无法发声时，我们期望议员们拥有权力、平台和特权来对抗ICE”。
然而，许多进步派仍支持比斯或保持中立（如佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯）。比斯获得国会进步党团PAC和马萨诸塞州参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦的支持，沙科斯基也背书了比斯。阿卜古扎莱赫则得到罗·哈纳（Ro Khanna）议员和“正义民主党”（Justice Democrats，支持挑战民主党现任议员的组织）的支持。
阿卜古扎莱赫将缺乏体制内支持归因于“政治惯性”。“我不会因此责怪任何人，这是新的尝试，我们正在证明自己。”
Kat Abughazaleh knows how to create viral moments. Can she translate that into votes?
By Arit John | 59 min ago | PUBLISHED Mar 14, 2026, 7:00 AM ET
Kat Abughazaleh started off a recent debate in her Illinois Democratic primary with a correction for the moderator: She sees herself as a researcher and journalist, not an “influencer.”
“My specialty was actually fighting the far right,” she said of her previous work. “Everyone that runs our country now – Stephen Miller, Elon Musk, Tom Homan – they are the people I used to report on and win against, and they know that.”
While she rejects the influencer label, there’s a reason it’s stuck. A clip of the moment went viral on her YouTube and TikTok accounts, receiving far more views than the debate itself did on YouTube.
That ability to generate attention online has allowed Abughazaleh to upend the traditional political playbook in her bid to win a House seat in the state’s 9th Congressional District. The question now is whether her unorthodox campaign can break through in a crowded field packed with more established Democrats with deeper ties to the community.
The winner of the March 17 primary will be heavily favored to win the seat held by Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who is retiring at the end of her current term.
Abughazaleh’s strategy highlights a larger challenge facing Democrats, as they look for new ways to reach voters beyond traditional news, TV ads and mailers. A wave of younger candidates, many of them seeking to unseat Democratic incumbents, have argued the party must change its tactics and messaging to meet the current moment under President Donald Trump’s second term.
The digital-first approach also tests whether rallying support online can help make up for potential weak points campaigns may have.
Some candidates — such as Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Arizona congressional candidate and Gen Z activist Deja Foxx — have failed to translate their online attention into electoral wins in recent races.
But progressives have pointed to the success of others like Zohran Mamdani, who used digital video to break through in his New York mayoral campaign last year.
While Abughazaleh has a national platform online, she’s a first-time political candidate with few local endorsements. A recent transplant who moved to the district after she launched her campaign, she lacks the long-standing ties to the district of some of her primary opponents.
Abughazaleh, second from right, speaks as, from left, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, State Sen. Laura Fine, and Paris Schutz, a political correspondent for Fox Chicago, listen to her during the US House 9th District primary debate in Chicago, on February 25.
Nam Y. Huh/AP
But that same online presence has helped her outraise the rest of her Democratic rivals while rejecting traditional fundraising strategies like calling donors to ask for money. Her campaign has depended on small dollar donations, many of which come through livestreams she’s hosted on Twitch.
“It would be impossible for me to run for office if I didn’t already have an existing platform, and it’s stupid to try to deny that,” she said in an interview with CNN, adding: “We’re really just trying to be as creative as possible and make our campaign as accessible as possible.”
Establishing roots in the district
A central challenge for Abughazaleh has been establishing herself in a district she’s lived in since last May. She has turned her campaign office into a mutual aid hub, where residents can receive items like menstrual products, and has participated in protests and local events. But the other leading contenders in the race — Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and state Sen. Laura Fine — have both served in the state legislature and lived in the district for decades.
Alejandro Verdin, a Democratic strategist working on a race in the nearby 7th Congressional District, said Abughazaleh has run a smart, modern campaign, but Biss is a known entity among the progressive voters both candidates need.
“In similar races in Illinois, voters are really looking for candidates that have a track record and can be an effective counterweight to Trump,” he said. “And Biss definitely fits that profile.”
During a recent debate, Abughazaleh said that she didn’t move to the state planning to run for office, but felt compelled to run in the district covering the neighborhood she and her partner wanted to live in. Fine said she’s lived in the district most of her life and decided to run for office after her family’s health insurance tried to cancel their coverage after her husband was in a bad car accident. That experience, Fine said, led her to run for the state House and back consumer protection bills.
“I’ve taken Illinois from a state that favored industry, to one of the more consumer friendly states in the country,” Fine said. “That’s my reason for being here.”
Abughazaleh has pushed back on the idea that her recent move to the district is a negative. When asked about her commitment to the district, she noted that her grandfather moved to Chicago decades ago and her father learned English there.
“But I also don’t want to lead with that, because this is a city of transplants and immigrants and refugees in our own country,” she said during the same debate. “I don’t want to play into this narrative that they can’t make a positive change because they’re not from here.”
Jaimey Sexton, a Chicago-based Democratic strategist who is not involved in the primary, said the “carpetbagger” attacks matter less than they once did, given how transient society is now.
“It matters to older, more reliable voters,” he said. “Her big question is, can she galvanize the younger, progressive, ethnic vote who wants change?”
Abughazaleh grew up in Dallas, the granddaughter of a Republican operative on her mother’s side and on her father’s side, survivors of the Nakba of 1948, when roughly 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes in what is now Israel.
Abughazaleh carries yard signs into her campaign office in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, on May 6, 2025.
Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service/Getty Images
Her background – as a Palestinian American and a former conservative – has shaped key parts of her approach to politics.
During the 2024 Democratic National Convention, where she was credentialed as a content creator, she camped outside with activists who pushed unsuccessfully for a Palestinian speaker. Throughout the race, she’s been the most vocal critic of Israel and its war in Gaza, which she has called a genocide. (A UN Commission found last year that Israel committed genocide in Gaza in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack, a claim Israel has denied.)
Biss and Fine have not gone far enough, she’s argued.
Biss met with AIPAC and submitted a policy paper, though he said he didn’t seek their endorsement. Fine has received donations from people who’ve previously given to AIPAC causes, though she’s noted her campaign can’t coordinate with outside groups.
Several Democratic candidates in the race, including Biss and Abughazaleh, have criticized the millions of dollars pouring into the race from dark money groups they say are tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The groups, including Elect Chicago Women, have boosted Fine and targeted Biss. In the final days of the campaign, Chicago Progressive Partnership, a new super PAC reported to have ties to Elect Chicago Women, has started running attacks against Abughazaleh, which she’s argued is a sign that AIPAC is worried her campaign has momentum.
AIPAC did not respond to a request for comment.
“It’s been kind of crazy how much has changed, how people talked about myself and Palestine and AIPAC,” Abughazaleh said. “I wish it didn’t take the deaths of so many civilians for people to come to this point, but it’s the first time in my life that people have consistently cared about Palestinians.”
The ad from Chicago Progressive Partnership highlights that she moved to the state two years ago and wrote in her high school newspaper that she supported then-Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio for president.
“Who is the real Kat Abughazaleh?” the ad says. “We don’t really know.”
As is her style, Abughazaleh mocked and analyzed the ad on her YouTube channel.
“If I’m an opp, I’ve really taken the most painful route for it,” she said. “But I’m not, which is why AIPAC is trying to cause progressive infighting, and trying to peel young people away from our campaign. Because they know we can win.”
From Reagan Republican to democratic socialist
Abughazaleh said her shift to the left began in high school. When she was 15, her family left Dallas for Tucson, where she said she became friends with a girl who couldn’t afford to go to college, even with scholarships.
“I was like, ‘Wait, you mean Ronald Reagan wasn’t right about everything?’” she said. “That sounds silly, but when you are only exposed to what an entire industry of misinformation from billionaires has exposed you to, you might think a lot of things that are just not true.”
After college she began working at Media Matters, a left-leaning site that monitors right-wing media, as a researcher and video producer.
Like many young progressive candidates, Abughazaleh has argued for a more adversarial approach to politics against Republicans – and some fellow Democrats.
She has already shown what those tactics might look like. Last fall, she was one of six people indicted for protesting outside of an ICE facility in Broadview. The group, dubbed the “Broadview Six,” was accused of blocking a federal agent’s vehicle.
Protesters, including Abughazaleh and other candidates for the 9th Congressional District, are enveloped in a cloud of gas released by federal agents while they attempt to block a vehicle at the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on September 19, 2025.
Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service/Getty Images
Abughazaleh has worn the charges like a badge of honor. Her closing campaign ad features footage of the protest, including images of law enforcement agents shoving and knocking her to the ground. The ad is about “what we should expect from lawmakers who have the power, platform and privilege to stand up to ICE when so few of us do,” she said.
Still, much of the progressive movement has either fallen behind Biss or, as was the case with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, stayed out of the race entirely.
The Evanston mayor has been endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Schakowsky has also backed Biss. Abughazaleh, who got into the race before the incumbent declined another run, has been backed by Rep. Ro Khanna and Justice Democrats, a group that backs challenges to Democrats.
Abughazaleh attributed her lack of institutional support to politics as usual. “That’s not something I want to hold against anyone – I get it,” she said. “It’s something new that’s happening, and we are proving ourselves.”