Chuck Darwin<p>Illinois 9th District has only been represented by two people since 1965, <br>and there hasn’t been a competitive primary since the race Democratic Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, the district’s current representative, won in November 1998.<br> “I wouldn’t be born for another four months,” deadpans<br><a href="https://c.im/tags/Kat" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Kat</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Abughazaleh" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Abughazaleh</span></a>,<br>the TikTok-famous political commentator now running to represent the district. </p><p>Abughazaleh is transparent about the fact that she is not what anyone thinks of as shoe-in for Congress: <br>a 26-year-old narcoleptic freelance social media creator who doesn’t live in the district and has only lived in the state for less than a year<br>-- challenging a Democratic Party leader who has represented this part of Illinois for more than a quarter of a century. </p><p>That’s kind of the point: <br>She is a normal person — with a rental lease she can’t break before it’s up, <br>financial pressure bearing down on her, <br>and prescription medication that she needs to function properly <br>and that has been challenging to obtain since Elon Musk went after her employer, and she and many of her colleagues were laid off. </p><p>And when she looks to Congress, not only does she not see enough people who are concerned with the practical day-to-day challenges she and so many of the people she knows are struggling with <br>— the costs of housing, health care, groceries, transportation <br>— she also doesn’t see anyone confronting with any level of seriousness the peril of our current moment, <br>two months into Donald Trump’s second term<br><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/kat-abughazaleh-congress-1235301996/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">rollingstone.com/politics/poli</span><span class="invisible">tics-features/kat-abughazaleh-congress-1235301996/</span></a></p>