Illinois congressional candidate and former Media Matters for America staffer Kat Abughazaleh skipped a campaign event because she slept through it, citing her struggles with "sleep attacks."
"I have a chronic illness called narcolepsy. It makes me extremely tired and occasionally causes ‘sleep attacks,’ times when my brain literally cannot stay awake," Abughazaleh, who’s running to represent Illinois’s Ninth Congressional District, admitted in a statement Tuesday. "I ended up sleeping through alarms, calls, and even my campaign manager knocking on my door repeatedly."
Abughazaleh was supposed to attend a candidate forum hosted by Indivisible Edgewater, part of the multimillion-dollar Indivisible network backed by progressive billionaire George Soros. The day before, Abughazaleh was in Los Angeles—nearly 2,000 miles from her district—on a live stream with far-left streamer Hasan Piker, according to Matthew Eadie, a reporter for Evanston Now. Piker once said America deserved 9/11 and lamented the United States’ victory over the Soviet Union.
Last month, she drew criticism after double-booking a Democratic Socialists of America event in Chicago, Eadie reported, giving little explanation for why she failed to show.
Abughazaleh is no stranger to controversy. The far-left candidate made headlines in September when she tried to obstruct an ICE vehicle during a rally in which protesters chanted "Shoot ICE." She took to X to post videos of her obstructing the ICE vehicle. Other protesters were caught on tape screaming "shoot the f—ers."
At the Broadview ICE facility, an ICE agent tried to run dozens of protesters over with an SUV as we walked on a public crosswalk.
He kept driving for about a full football field until ICE barraged us with pepper balls. pic.twitter.com/bGX7vh5o84
— Kat Abughazaleh (@KatAbughazaleh) September 26, 2025
On her website, Abughazaleh promises "no capitulation to fascists," and also pledges to recognize a Palestinian state. She garnered praise from Arab media after she featured a keffiyeh in her campaign launch video.
She’s running from the left flank in a crowded Democratic primary to replace the 14-term Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Abughazaleh was endorsed by progressive Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.), and her toughest competition is Evanston mayor Daniel Biss, who has been endorsed by many prominent state Democrats.
She expressed remorse after sleeping through the Tuesday event. "Once again, I am so sorry and—to be honest—very embarrassed. Thank you for wanting to hear from our campaign at all, and I hope that we can share our vision with you in the future."
