We Tied in the Polls... Then An Influencer Smear Campaign Started Kat Abughazaleh For Illinois

[xocetaceans]

There is current reporting on MS-NOW on this topic:

Dark money group offers influencers $1,500 for posts attacking Chicago Democratic primary candidate
Progressive House candidate Kat Abughazaleh told MS NOW the secretive campaign is “filled with false and defamatory claims.”

Mar. 13, 2026, 10:24 AM EDT
By Brandy Zadrozny


A week out from a crowded and contentious Democratic primary in Illinois’s 9th Congressional District, Amanda Informed, an online influencer in Florida received an email with an offer: one negative post about candidate Kat Abughazaleh on Instagram and TikTok, for $1,500.

The request, which came from a secretive political organization called Democracy Unmuted, was forwarded to her by Matt Anthes, founder of Advocators, a digital marketing agency focused on politics and advocacy through micro-influencers.

The job offer, reviewed by MS NOW, came with a brief explaining how the group wanted Amanda — who declined to give her real name citing privacy concerns — to post for her roughly 100,000 followers. Democracy Unmuted explained that it wanted creators to “engage voters” and encouraged them “to look past viral personalities and ask real questions about who is running and why.”

The suggested talking points were all focused on Abughazaleh, the youngest candidate and a former journalist for the left-leaning website Media Matters. The offer called for influencers to “highlight more than one” of Abughazaleh’s alleged shortcomings: she was inexperienced, came from a wealthy family, may live with her partner in a different neighborhood and is too new to the area to serve.

...

https://www.ms.now/news/kat-abughazaleh-dark-money-influencers

Hopefully, with the election of enough progressives in the upcoming and next elections, dark money campaigns (among other things) can finally be reigned in by reshaping SCOTUS.

[31st Street Bridge]

1. Billionaires are raping the country at every turn

You got this, Kat!

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. Ratfuckers aren't all Republicans

And some are funded by AIPAC.

[Initech]

3. Who are these "dark money groups"? Name some fucking names.

They get away with this shit because they get to hide in the shadows. Name these pieces of fascist shit. Expose them. This is how we lose our country.

[leftstreet]

4. "Democracy Unmuted" in the OP just appeared

Their website has zero in terms of About or Contact or whatever

Just a bunch of recognizable left-leaning issue graphics

https://democracyunmuted.org/

[angrychair]

5. Kat is amazing

If I lived in her district I would absolutely vote for her.

These are the type of people we should be recruiting to run for public office at every level.

[Nasruddin]

6. Kat sounds amazing

I probably don't agree with her on everything (in fact I'm sure) but if I were in her district she'd get my vote.

That being said, don't pin too much on the SC.
To fix that useless, harmful institution, we need impeachments and a constitutional change (hopefully, one that gets rid of it in its current form altogether).

Otherwise, the next president and congress has to pack it. I recommend they add about 5000 people to it. That should render it useless and end the argument at the same time.

[AZ8theist]

7. If they are spending this kind of money to attack her.....

....she must be making certain people nervous. Reich wing panic is so satisfying.

[Prairie Gates]

8. Always running an underdog race against Fine and Biss, but she's landed a lot of punches

I don't think there's actually that much mystery about where the money is coming from. The problem for the funders is that their well-known PAC is considered lower than dogshit in IL-9 right now.