* Evanston Now…
Democratic congressional primary candidate Kat Abughazaleh appeared Thursday afternoon at a rally of Evanston residents opposed to a planned Popeyes restaurant. […]
The 26-year-old content creator said she was “so moved” by the protest, adding, “our leaders often ignore what we’re fighting for.” […]
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss is also among the candidates in the crowded Democratic primary seeking to succeed Jan Schakowsky in representing the 9th Congressional District. […]
[The protestors] been calling on Biss to — in the words of the mural painted this week on the center’s wall — “Say no to Popeyes.”
[From Rich: So, the idea here is that a congressional candidate is helping force a South Asian-owned Popeyes franchisee to sell his building to a White woman under the guise of “helping small businesses” and “under represented communities” and “healthy choices”? Did I get that right?]
* Evanston Now political reporter Matthew Eadie…
* More from the press release…
On Friday, August 15th, Bushra Amiwala will host Democratic lawmakers from Texas at the Muslim Community Center in Morton Grove, Illinois. The prayer event, open to the public, will run from 1:00 to 2:30pm.
Texas State Representatives Salman Bhojani, Suleman Lalani and many others who wish not to be disclosed at this time will attend. They have walked out of the Texas legislature to prevent the GOP from redrawing the state’s U.S. House maps. The proposal the Democrats aim to prevent would flagrantly gerrymander the state in favor of Republicans, disenfranchising thousands of voters.
Bushra Amiwala, a candidate running to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, is proud to welcome the lawmakers into her community.
“Gerrymandering is far too common in Republican districts. Democrats have sued against gerrymandering, won those suits, and had those rulings ignored by Republicans in power,” said Amiwala, the first Gen Z elected official in the country. “Congressional maps should reflect the populations and demographics of the United States. If they don’t, then we need a new vision of what democracy looks like in this country.”
* Meanwhile…Evanston Round Table…
With the candidate petition circulation period set to begin on Tuesday, Evanston resident and former Niles Township High School District 219 board member Jill Manrique filed paperwork on Monday morning to launch a March 2026 Democratic Primary bid for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District seat.
Manrique now joins more than a dozen other candidates vying to succeed longtime U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who has held the position since 1999 and announced her impending retirement in May. […]
Unlike many other candidates, Manrique has not registered a website or made any official statement announcing her campaign yet, but she said she has plans for a “more robust launch in the future.”
“I do have folks around me that are here to help and not only collect signatures, but spread the word amongst our community,” she said. “So right now we are going to focus on circulating petitions, continuing to build our base and gain strength.”
* US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi in the Sun-Times…
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi on Monday unveiled a detailed “Trump accountability plan” for his U.S. Senate campaign, vowing he would push to restrict ICE agents from wearing masks, block “radical” judges nominated by President Donald Trump, and introduce constitutional amendments to block self-pardons and a potential presidential third term.
Krishnamoorthi’s 17-point plan also includes a push for legislation that would make executive orders targeting individuals or specific entities invalid — and another bill that would give anyone targeted by the Department of Justice for denaturalization the right to a jury trial and the right to counsel. […]
“My plan outlines how, as Illinois’ next U.S. Senator, I’ll use every tool in my toolbox to limit the damage he can do to this country and its citizens — while making sure a Trump-like White House, one without deference for the rule of law, due process, and civil rights — never happens again,” Krishnamoorthi said in a statement to the Sun-Times. […]
Krishnamoorthi’s package includes a direct response to Texas Republicans and their current Trump-backed redistricting plan. The plan includes legislation to end mid-decade redistricting and require states to use independent commissions or three-judge panels for redistricting and another bill to ban federal agents from arresting state legislators for not attending legislative sessions or leaving their state. Krishnamoorthi also wants legislation passed that would deny federal election grants and funding to states that trigger mid-cycle redistricting for partisan purposes.
* Illinois’ GOP congressional delegation skipped Republican Day at the State Fair yesterday. Mitchell Armentrout at the Sun-Times…
[U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood] and his two fellow Republican members of the Illinois congressional delegation, Reps. Mary Miller and Mike Bost, weren’t at their party’s State Fair rally. None of them faces major challengers in their deep-red downstate districts.
…Adding… US Senator Bernie Sanders is stopping in Chicago for a rally with Congresswoman Delia Ramirez and 2nd CD candidate state Sen. Robert Peters…
- Homebody - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 12:13 pm:
So Abughazaleh is trying to pick a public fight with Biss, which I get. But as a fairly left leaning resident of the 9th, am I very much against the trend of certain segments of the activist left trying to insert themselves into local private decisions related to development.
It is one thing to draft zoning and building code requirements and keep in mind the impact it has on affordable housing. It is entirely another to give governmental control to who a person can sell their property to, or what a private entity does that is within the law.
I was already not a fan of hers for the general self-serving carpet bag vibes, but this just cements my opinion.
- ZC - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 12:20 pm:
Forget it, Rich. It’s Evanston.
- mmm mmm good - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 12:21 pm:
Honestly, I know its not healthy, but as far as fast-food restaurants, Popeyes has much more flavor and ambiance than the McDonalds or Burger King at that same intersection. I mean the cajun red beans and rice aren’t the best in the world, but they’re not bad.
- Liz - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 12:24 pm:
Homebody is right - the idea of Evanston forcing the sale of the property to a favored business owner is bad news. (And it’s also an interesting move to reject the corporation because they are headquartered in Canada.)
- Liz - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 12:29 pm:
Read through Raja’s anti-Trump plan. Many of the proposals are in themselves fine, but I’m really looking for one of those candidates to so some sense of strategy. Seems to me to be a much better move, in terms of likelihood of actual results, to propose legislation that Republicans would feel compelled to support — playing on their resentment of Biden’s blanket pardons, for instance. Without that, it’s pretty hollow and just meant to gain voters in the “I hate Trump more than my opponents” competition.
- hisgirlfriday - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 12:30 pm:
That Popeyes article is a trip. “Not in harmony with our village” she says of a Popeyes that as the article notes would be at an intersection with a bunch of other fast food joints.
Also, unless it has closed, there is already a Popeyes just across the street from Evanston on Howard a couple miles or so from this proposed Popeyes location and as far as I know Evanston has survived that
- Northsider - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 12:31 pm:
[From Rich: So, the idea here is that a congressional candidate is helping force a South Asian-owned Popeyes franchisee to sell his building to a White woman under the guise of “helping small businesses” and “under represented communities” and “healthy choices”? Did I get that right?]
You did.
She’s also okay with the head of the executive branch ruling by fiat? Good to know.
- NIU Grad - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 12:46 pm:
“The 26-year-old content creator said she was “so moved” by the protest, adding, “our leaders often ignore what we’re fighting for.”
Translation: 26-year-old who spends all of her time in front of a phone waded into a local issue and was moved by how passionate people actually are about municipal zoning questions. Wait until she shows up to six-hour zoning meetings…
- Excitable Boy - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 12:46 pm:
- Floy has argued that Popeyes would “not [be] in harmony with our village,” and instead suggested she be allowed to buy the property and rent it to Gabi Walker-Aguilar, owner of 4Suns Juice Bar -
It’s incredible how altruistic some people are.
- ArchPundit - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 1:09 pm:
===Floy has argued that Popeyes would “not [be] in harmony with our village,”
That quote alone has me pulling for Popeyes
- Pro Tip - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 1:14 pm:
== ”Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here” ==
I’d go to a place where you don’t use jargon from college political science classes. Might make it easier to persuade working class folks to vote for you.
- TJ - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 1:20 pm:
I used to live in Evanston, granted almost a decade ago, but what the heck is so disharmonious about a fast food chicken restaurant? It’ll be within a block of a Starbucks, a Dunkin Donuts, a Wendy’s, a Rosati’s, a McDonald’s, and a Buffalo Wild Wings. Seems pretty on brand for that specific spot in Evanston.
Admittedly though, the zoning issue sounds more concrete to me, but that’s not remotely protest-worthy, imho.
- Leatherneck - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 1:34 pm:
=I used to live in Evanston, granted almost a decade ago, but what the heck is so disharmonious about a fast food chicken restaurant?=
Evanston used to have a KFC on 1901 Dempster, as recently as August 2011 (per Google Street View). It closed sometime before October 2012 and then the building was converted to Starbucks by October 2016.
- no use for (nick)name - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 1:49 pm:
The primary day cannot come soon enough, simply so Abughazaleh can see her single-digit, 5th place finish and promptly move back to Texas
- Amalia - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 1:51 pm:
meanwhile there’s an actual really good candidate in the 9th, Phil Andrew
- Joseph M - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 1:53 pm:
The Popeyes is definitely a weird issue for a congressional candidate to focus on since zoning proposals are so locally contentious for dumb reasons. But I think the politicos here are really underestimating Abughazaleh’s ceiling if she manages to turn online attention into voter turnout, especially if the pack remains crowded. Take one look at her social media and you’ll find insane engagement that has received little media coverage. Call her a carpetbagger all you want, but if she gains momentum with disaffected liberals, it’ll be a much tougher challenge for the remaining candidates who could split up legacy voters. I still expect Biss to win though.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 2:08 pm:
===you’ll find insane engagement===
She’s currently being ratioed and roasted
https://bsky.app/profile/katmabu.bsky.social/post/3lwhihumy3k2k
- Joseph M - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 2:39 pm:
I didn’t say it was only positive engagement, haha. She deserves to get ridiculed for being a Popeye NIMBY. But regardless, any engagement–whether it’s good or bad–boosts algorithmic metrics, which in turn drives more attention/name recognition. Controversial “rage baiting for attention” defines the political moment we are in (and Ezra Klein has a great recent podcast episode about this new attention economy). That’s a huge reason why Mamdani won the primary in NYC - his charisma/policies won him supporters, but even his opponents contributed to his popularity because it got eyes on him.
I’m not going to pretend that Kat will follow Mandani’s path since Biss still has huge advantages, but we should stop thinking that “being ratioed and roasted” is only detrimental.
- Pundent - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 2:59 pm:
=“our leaders often ignore what we’re fighting for.”=
That would be the appropriate response.
- Helm - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 3:08 pm:
Buffalo Joe’s and Hecky’s are the only chicken joynts in Evanston that matter.
- fs - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 3:20 pm:
== That Popeyes article is a trip. “Not in harmony with our village” she says of a Popeyes that as the article notes would be at an intersection with a bunch of other fast food joints.==
This. Perhaps “Harmony with our village” is really just code for “the right type” of international corporate fast food place. I’ll let you figure the coding and real intent from there.
- Northsider - Friday, Aug 15, 25 @ 3:31 pm:
Helm @ 3:08: I agree, although Evanston Chicken Shack has its fans.