Northwestern Political Union hosted four Democratic candidates for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District at a town hall Thursday, allowing each candidate to inform Northwestern students about their platforms.
As the primary race heats up for a seat that U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) has occupied since 1999, two of Thursday’s attendees — Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and content creator and influencer Kat Abughazaleh — have surged to the top of early polling.
The forum also featured former Skokie school board member and activist Bushra Amiwala and former Google employee Nick Pyati.
Schakowsky announced in May that she will not be running for reelection, opening the field to a slew of candidates. Seventeen Democrats and four Republicans filed their candidacies to compete for the seat in the March primary election. The winning candidate in the November general election would serve a district that includes Evanston, Skokie, Glenview and Wilmette.
Amiwala set up her fellow candidates’ microphones at the start of the debate after they struggled to figure them out — a similar cordialness lasted throughout the debate.
Candidates often agreed with each other, never interrupting or insulting anyone else. Yet each candidate also sought to differentiate themselves from their opponents.
Abughazaleh tried to do this by emphasizing the way she is running her campaign.
“I am the grassroots candidate in the race,” she said. “We’re using our resources in a different way — mutual aid is a top priority for our campaign.”
She said Democrats must take from the Republican playbook and appeal to the emotions of voters more effectively.
Pyati said the Democratic Party needs a candidate who can turn the party into one that will win general elections.
“The candidates in this race are fantastic Democrats,” he said. “Another year, I would’ve been putting up lawn signs and knocking doors for them.”
Political Union co-President and Weinberg senior Clark Mahoney said that candidates’ “respectful” demeanor toward each other defined a large portion of the debate and is part of the union’s goals.
The group’s other co-president, Weinberg junior Marc Quintanar, said the debate was an effective way for students to be civically engaged.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to have students be able to experience a range of candidates from all sides of the election,” Quintanar said.
Candidates tackled questions on subjects ranging from immigration enforcement to climate change to affordability — all while expressing collective distaste for the Trump administration.
On federal immigration enforcement, all candidates stood firmly opposed to the actions of the Trump administration, but remained optimistic about communities coming together. Amiwala discussed her work on the Skokie school board to protect students, and Biss highlighted Evanston’s response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in the city.
However, when the Israel-Hamas war was discussed, three of the four panelists stood staunchly in favor of the “Block the Bombs Act,” which aims to prevent the U.S. from transferring certain weapons to Israel. Pyati, however, said he does not support the bill and believes that there are other ways to leverage the U.S.’ position to ease tensions in the region
During the Q&A section, one student criticized Biss for running for Congress partway through his second mayoral term, which began in April.
Biss denied ever promising to serve a full term, insisting that he has never “broken a campaign promise that (he’s) made.”
“I think the best way that I can serve this community is to be in Washington and be a part of the fight against this nightmare administration,” Biss said.
A day before the forum, Abughazaleh was arraigned over alleged actions in relation to protest activities at an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois.
Known initially for her social media following, Abughazaleh has consistently reiterated her anti-ICE stance and has made it a focal point of her platform.
“I don’t want to do this forever — I want to do what I’m good at, and that’s communicating, that’s fighting for what’s right, that’s leading the way, and that’s fighting against the right,” Abughazaleh said. “I’m running to get in, get some fascists out, do some good and go back to hanging out with my cat.”
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