A new poll released by the Evanston RoundTable shows congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh rapidly closing the gap in the Illinois Ninth Congressional District primary, as AIPAC-linked groups move to spend over $1 million attempting to stop the campaign’s growing momentum.
The poll shows Abughazaleh gaining significant ground in the race while Daniel Biss remains stagnant, and the AIPAC-funded candidate continues to lose support confirming what the campaign has been seeing on the ground: voters are looking for new leadership and rejecting politics as usual.
The surge comes as AIPAC groups prepare to spend $840,000 on broadcast television, $80,000 on mail, and $150,000 on digital advertising attacking Abughazaleh’s positions as a 16 year-old high school student. The timing, however, is no coincidence.
“The momentum is ours. This is now a two way race,” said Congressional Candidate, Kat Abughazaleh. “From the start, we wanted to run a different type of campaign focused on people, their needs, and a democracy in peril. We have been unflinching in our opposition to the authoritarianism being carried out by this administration and its secret police. Career politicians are not the answer and politics as usual will not save us. And if you’re reading this and you are sick and tired of the same old shit, there is same-day voter registration at the polls.”
Abughazaleh’s campaign has been fueled almost entirely by small-dollar contributions, raising more than $3 million from tens of thousands of supporters without relying on corporate PAC money or billionaire donors. The influx of outside spending only reinforces the stakes of the race.
“This is exactly what people are fed up with,” said campaign manager Katherine Thames. “AIPAC is trying to buy a seat in Congress instead of letting voters decide. But this district belongs to the people, not to the groups writing massive checks to influence the outcome. Fuck ICE. Free Palestine. Vote Kat.”
With early voting underway and the race tightening, the campaign is laser-focused on organizing across the district and turning out voters for Kat.