GABE HAWKINS: With the March 17 primary election fast approaching, The Daily sat down with Shayna Tribush and former Daily staffer Abby Kelso, two Northwestern undergrads involved with Cats for Kat, a student advocacy coalition working for Kat Abughazaleh’s campaign for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District primary.
From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Gabe Hawkins. Welcome to The Open Seat, a limited edition podcast series exploring the once-in-a-generation race to represent Evanston and surrounding municipalities in Congress.
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GABE HAWKINS: Can I just get you to tell me a little bit about the genesis of Cats for Kat and sort of how you got started with the campaign?
SHAYNA TRIBUSH: Yeah so I actually think Abby got started before me, but basically I had wanted to work on a campaign, knew that there was a congressional race going on in the district, and a girl in my class, Asha, had a big Kat sticker on her computer, and I was like, “Oh, do you work for her?”
And she told me about the campaign and a lot of the untraditional things that we’re trying out, and I was like, “Oh, I really, I want to work here,” so we got started really just being campus organizers, so trying to get Northwestern students involved in the race, involved in Evanston and District 9 on a whole.
ABBY KELSO: I became aware of Kat over the summer. I was home in (Washington) D.C. and I was really excited by the progressive momentum we were seeing, especially out of New York, and so I thought that I wanted to get involved in a race that felt applicable to me, and applicable to Northwestern and so when I came back, I started volunteering for the campaign, and I got involved in the youth advisory council and then from there I like applied to be a campus organizer.
SHAYNA TRIBUSH: Yeah just to add on to that, I feel like our main idea and I feel like our main purpose as campus organizers is to really just think about what students want to do, ways that they actually want to be getting involved. We really try to host fun activities that are like joyful and bring (the) community together. So we do trivia at Peckish Pig, which is really fun. Kat’s gonna be at The Prattic March 5. March 6, we’re doing a big fundraising concert to raise money for the National Immigrant Justice Center.
GABE HAWKINS: What resonates with you about Kat Abughazaleh’s campaign? How did you discover her?
SHAYNA TRIBUSH: Yeah as I mentioned before, I feel like I saw her a little bit online. That’s probably when I was first exposed to her, but it was really seeing the sticker on Asha’s laptop and then having a conversation with her, and then doing my own research, and obviously, her policy platform really resonates with me.
She’s incredibly progressive. She believes that there shouldn’t be billionaires and that we need to be making sure what everyone needs for basic existence is available for everyone, and that really resonates with me. Especially, the way that she’s running her campaign, it’s just really special. Her campaign office operates as a mutual aid hub, so people are able to come in and get anything they may need.
ABBY KELSO: I think what appeals about Kat to me is that I feel like she’s uncompromising and pretty unflinching in her values. We’ve all, you know, seen politicians who waffle a bit or who say what they think people want to hear in the moment and change their position, and I feel like Kat is very honest about where she stands, and I feel like that’s something that people appreciate about her, even if they aren’t necessarily supporters. I also just think Kat is talking about the issues that are really concerning for young people, especially college students, in a way that I haven’t seen candidates talk about before. For example, Kat thinks it’s really important, you know, to be doing AI regulations and be educating members of Congress on new technologies as they come up. As like, someone in college about to graduate in like, kind of an uncertain job market, it really appealed to me that she was talking about student loans, AI regulations and like environmental concerns.
GABE HAWKINS: What do some of your mobilization efforts look like?
SHAYNA TRIBUSH: Doing just like door knocking and offering that up to students. We also have the youth action committee, we call it “KIYAC,” and that’s actually students from Northwestern, but also DePaul and Loyola and some people who have recently graduated, and it’s really just young people coming together to support Kat, but also a lot to support the mutual aid efforts.
GABE HAWKINS: In some of your canvassing, like door knocking, what has been the response from voters? Are they receptive to the message?
SHAYNA TRIBUSH: Totally. I would say that especially door knocking in Evanston is like a really wonderful experience. It’s really nice to be out off campus and in the community, and people are really excited honestly that we are out being involved, so we’ll knock on doors and some people will be like, “Oh, I’m voting for her,” or sometimes people will be like, “I know I’m voting for someone else, but thank you for coming out,” and that has been really wonderful.
ABBY KELSO: Just to echo what Shayna said, I think people are very excited to see young people involved, and if they’re not already supporting Kat, something that I think motivates people to support her is seeing that she’s a candidate who can really reach young voters and make young voters excited.
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GABE HAWKINS: Now let’s get into some of her policy proposals. Abugazaleh is proposing a universal single-payer healthcare program. She also proposes passing a federal assault weapons ban, something that many lawmakers have tried to do unsuccessfully, and creating more public housing across the country. Can you just talk a little bit about why these policies are important and resonate with you?
ABBY KELSO: I think something Kat has always said is that everyone deserves to have housing, healthcare and groceries with money left over to spend. And I think she believes, and I believe, that that is actually not that radical of a proposal and that we should expect more from our politicians, and we should expect to have our material needs met. But I think what makes Kat unique is a lot of politicians support those policies, but not a lot of politicians are actually putting in the work while they’re campaigning to provide for those needs for their constituents. And so, her campaign office doubles as a mutual aid hub. She’s showing her values, providing food and clothes and toiletries to her constituents every day.
SHAYNA TRIBUSH: Yeah and I guess to add on to that, the mutual aid office is something I really hope the Democratic Party at large considers, is using a lot of the money that’s funneled into candidates to go towards the community that they’re trying to get elected in. The only way we’re not going to get a (Donald) Trump 2.0 in four years, the next couple cycles, is if we really start making sure that everyone’s needs are met, not just people who live on the coasts or in wealthy areas.
GABE HAWKINS: Some of Abughazaleh’s opponents paint her as being politically inexperienced. I’m just curious to how you respond to some of these criticisms?
SHAYNA TRIBUSH: One thing that the campaign often says is like “We have a lot of experienced politicians right now in Congress, and look where we are.” I think it’s about getting different experiences in and different perspectives, and one aspect of Kat’s experience that I find particularly compelling is the coverage she did of the far right. When she was working for Media Matters, she basically watched Fox News every night, which is pretty insane, and I don’t think I could do that. She has really been sounding the alarm about how the right is using the media, but also the things that they’re doing.
GABE HAWKINS: What message you would have for voters who may be hesitant to vote for Abughazaleh, maybe they don’t know enough about her platform — what would you sort of say to them?
SHAYNA TRIBUSH: Well, this goes to voters who are registered in the district and potential Northwestern students who are thinking about voting in this race. Come out and meet Kat. She is holding events in the community every single day, multiple times a day. Come out and see her speak and ask her the questions that you care about.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of conversations with her and just getting to speak with her. She’s really just a down-to-earth person who wants the world to be a little bit better, and that is the sense 100% you get from talking to her.
ABBY KELSO: Candidates in this race and politicians in general are banking on college students not to show up and are banking on college students not showing up to vote and making a difference in the polls, and I think that means that they don’t have to cater to college students and that they don’t have to support policies that appeal to college students. And so, I think this is a really unique race. This is a very rare opportunity to shape the future of the Democratic Party in a Democratic stronghold district.
GABE HAWKINS: Abughazaleh has repeatedly emphasized courting small-dollar donations rather than funding from super PACs like AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee). She’s also boasted that she’s not received any funding or had any correspondence with the pro-Israel lobby. Can you talk about why this is significant and how does it distinguish her from other candidates who are in the race?
SHAYNA TRIBUSH: I’ll speak to the small-dollar donors. I think it’s similar to what I was saying earlier about the mutual aid hub, where it’s who you’re speaking with and who you’re interacting with shapes your understanding of the needs of the district and the needs of the country. If you are spending all your time speaking with wealthy donors who are trying to put forward their message about what they think the country needs, that is going to influence your understanding and, therefore, your priorities when you get to Congress.
The people she is interacting with the most are just the normal people of the district, the normal people in the country, and she is seeing what the needs are when people come into the mutual aid hub, whether that is baby formula, diapers, coats, rain gear.
ABBY KELSO: Just to echo Shayna, being funded by small-dollar donations and not by any corporate PACs or Republican-backed PACs means that she truly is a politician who’s accountable to her constituents and she’s accountable to you, and I think that should be the standard for all politicians across the country. I think it’s important to elect politicians who don’t just say their values, but actually reflect them in their actions.
GABE HAWKINS: As of last week, Abughazaleh closely followed Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss as a front-runner for the congressional race. How do you think she can carve out a path to victory in the next few weeks?
SHAYNA TRIBUSH: I think it’s doing what she’s doing. The more people she speaks with, the more people that give her a chance to hear her message. I think people will see this as a very interesting race. There are a lot of people that are still undecided in this race. It’s not necessarily a situation of splitting votes, but getting people out to vote, and I think that Kat is a candidate that will get out people to vote who are maybe feeling a little disengaged with politics right now, and traditional politicians right now. I think that what she’s doing is very inspiring, and I hope to see the evidence of that on March 17.
ABBY KELSO: And there are also a lot of people who are not considered traditional high-propensity primary voters and I think most of the time, politicians expect primary voters to be wealthy white people, specifically in this race. People expect it to be a lot of older Evanstonians. Kat actually has the ability to bring out people who don’t traditionally vote in the primary, whether that be poor people, college students, like, people in far-reaching areas of the district, and I think Kat has made a consistent effort to reach people who aren’t seen as those high propensity voters and go to every corner of her district and talk to every kind of constituent and so I think we’ll see that play out on Election Day.
GABE HAWKINS: And then my final question: In the event that she does not win, how do you hope to continue some of this momentum of the campaign?
SHAYNA TRIBUSH: I really hope that people will see that even if she doesn’t win, she ran a very successful campaign and got a lot of people talking about how politics is done, how campaigning is done, and I know that she’s going to continue spreading that message throughout the country, while continuing her work in District 9. I think for, for me, it really looks like trying to encourage other campaigns, like the Democratic Party at large, to be funneling their resources into mutual aid efforts because I think that not only is it beneficial when it comes to running a successful campaign, but it also is like, by directly helping your constituents, you are helping yourself. I’m really hoping that that momentum continues.
ABBY KELSO: Yeah, I think if I take away anything from this campaign, it’s that you can and you should expect more from your politicians and just because you are a young person, or even if you are a young person, you deserve to be represented, and you deserve for the issues you care about to be represented.
GABE HAWKINS: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Gabe Hawkins. Thanks for listening to this episode of The Open Seat. This episode was reported by me, Gabe Hawkins, and produced by Wallis Rogin.
The Audio Editor is Ruby Dowling. The Multimedia Managing Editors are Yong-Yu Huang, Femi Horrall and Jonah McClure. The Editor in Chief is Emily Lichty.
Our theme music is “Revolution” by Xennial, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License and provided by the Free Music Archive.
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