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Nearly $7 billion<\/span> couldn\u2019t keep President Donald Trump from returning to the White House and Republicans from controlling the House and Senate.<\/p>\n \u201cIt made me physically nauseous,\u201d said Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh, reflecting on the massive sums<\/a> Democrats raised and spent<\/a> on the 2024 presidential election, \u201cthinking about how many people could be fed, or how many clinics could be funded, or how much student debt could be paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n So after Abughazaleh announced her candidacy for a highly competitive primary in March, she transformed her campaign headquarters in Rogers Park \u2014 a lower-income neighborhood in Chicago\u2019s North Side\u2014 into a mutual aid hub.<\/p>\n Situated at the front of her 9th Congressional District campaign office are rows of basics like diapers and winter clothes to medical supplies like Narcan. \u201cWe\u2019ve also had people bring in stuff like nail polish,\u201d said Abughazaleh, adding, \u201ceveryone deserves good things.\u201d Anyone is welcome to come off the street, she explained, without checking for income or immigration status.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In addition to offering supplies while the office is open, the campaign also helps stock a community fridge available any time of day and hosts drives to collect specific supplies. A request for tampons for Chicago\u2019s Period Collective, for example, resulted in a massive outpouring of support. \u201cWe ended up getting over 5,600, and my campaign manager\u2019s car was just filled with tampons,\u201d said Abughazaleh through laughter. \u201cI wanted him to get pulled over so bad.\u201d <\/p>\n The point here is to \u201cshow\u201d the campaign\u2019s values through providing for the community, rather than simply telling people why they should vote for me, said Abughazaleh.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t think of anything that would have made me be a Democrat faster \u2026 than people showing their values rather than just saying them.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cI grew up Republican,\u201d she said, \u201cand I can\u2019t think of anything that would have made me be a Democrat faster \u2014 especially if it were today, when people have lost all faith in the political system \u2014 than people showing their values rather than just saying them.\u201d<\/p>\n Abughazaleh faces off against a competitive field to replace retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. As of early November, 21 candidates had filed to run in Illinois\u2019s 9th Congressional District<\/a> \u2014 including a whopping 17 Democrats and four Republicans. The Democratic primary race will be held in March.<\/p>\n Abughazaleh, a former journalist <\/a>with a large social media following, is ahead of the pack in conventional fundraising, and hopes that her \u201cexperimental\u201d approach to campaigning will help pull her over the finish line. In fact, she thinks the Democratic establishment could learn a thing or two from her.<\/p>\n In November, with SNAP benefits paused due to the government shutdown, Abughazaleh\u2019s campaign donated $2,500 to the Niles Township Food Pantry<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t think of anything more convincing for voters, but also just the right thing to do during that period, and during all of this, than the Democratic Party using its immense resources to \u2014 with no strings attached \u2014 stock food banks, fund clinics, and make sure people have what they need,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t need to spend $20 million to make lefty Joe Rogan in a lab,\u201d Abughazaleh added, in a nod to a strategic pitch Democratic operatives offered<\/a> earlier this year. \u201cWe can spend $20 million on making sure kids have enough to eat, or making sure that parents have baby formula, or making sure that older folks are having meals actually delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n Abughazaleh\u2019s approach has<\/span> not been without its detractors. On social media, some people have accused<\/a> the campaign of attempting to buy votes by offering free food, water, and clothes, in the same place as advertisements for the candidate.<\/p>\n Accusations of \u201cvote buying\u201d are a serious risk for candidates implementing strategies like Abughazaleh\u2019s, said Jessica Byrd, a political strategist who served as chief of staff for Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. \u201cOne accusation of buying votes, and your entire campaign is under a microscope. It slows you down, it makes you less effective, and then you have to spend money to defend yourself,\u201d explained Byrd. \u201cSo it really is a risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n