There was an election in Illinois last night to determine who would represent the Democrats in the fight for a seat in the House of Representatives. It was closer than we would have thought, but candidate Kat Abughazaleh wasn't too far behind the winner, Daniel Bliss.
DDHQ Race Update (est. 83% in): Illinois US House 9 Democratic Primary
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) March 18, 2026
Daniel Biss (D): 32,409 (29.8%)
Kat Abughazaleh (D): 27,947 (25.7%)
Laura Fine (D): 22,002 (20.2%)
Follow more results here:https://t.co/8aV8unBArq
You may remember Abughazaleh from earlier coverage, where she was bounced off the pavement by an ICE agent after impeding an ICE vehicle with her body. She was federally indicted last fall, accused of attacking and blocking vehicles outside the Broadview ICE facility near Chicago. She's also known for having worked for Media Matters, dating Ben Collins, owner of The Onion, and missing a virtual candidate forum hosted by Indivisible, blaming narcolepsy.
In what looks a lot like Christine Blasey Ford suddenly appearing with rape charges against Justice Brett Kavanaugh before his confirmation, Abughazaleh's opponent and election winner, Daniel Bliss, was hit with #MeToo charges on the eve of the election.
Daniel Biss, candidate for IL-09 in tomorrow's election, has been accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student during his tenure as a professor at the University of Chicago
— Popstonox (@Popstonox) March 16, 2026
Megan Wachspress, now a Stanford law lecturer, says she was that student pic.twitter.com/HlPT78k63N
That post got hit with a Community Note:
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Per Wachspress’s own allegations, Biss was only 5 or 6 years older than she was, they did not date until he was no longer her instructor in any capacity, and he ended their relationship after a handful of dates in which they did nothing more than make out.
Recommended
Independent reporter Benjamin Ryan has more:
Analysis on the Illinois congressional district MeToo accusations:
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) March 17, 2026
*Everyone on Bluesky sympathizes with Megan Wachspress, the 42-year-old accuser, who is a lecturer at Stanford Law School. They call her brave for coming forward and talking about how she was harmed.
*Everyone… pic.twitter.com/bHz6rnCmNF
The post continues:
… on X is exasperated by what they see as MeToo over-reach and sympathizes with Daniel Biss, the 48-year-old mayor of Evanston, Illinois, and a leading candidate in today's congressional primary in the Chicago area.
Wachspress wrote on Bluesky and in a Substack that when she was a 20-year-old junior at U. of Chicago, Biss was her professor in a math course. He was then an assistant professor at the university and was 26. He was very friendly to her during office hours and then, after the term ended, sought a romantic course of action with Wachspress. The two dated for a little while and did some making out, she asserts. But then each of them decided this wasn't appropriate and they cut it off. Biss' campaign has since confirmed this account.
Neither has reported that there was any sex between them.
Wachspress says she found this, among other elements of what she described as demeaning sexism, so demoralizing that despite her mathematical prowess, she pursued a different field in her graduate studies.
Wow, she changed her major.
I really thought we were done with this kind of thing. They’re only 6 years apart in age, they dated after she was his student, the most they did was kiss. She had agency, because women are not infants. The idea that this should torpedo his career 20 years later is preposterous. https://t.co/Z9xyLmqgHZ
— Billy Binion (@billybinion) March 17, 2026
I hardly know anything about this race (except Kat used narcolepsy in a hilariously overwrought Gen-Z statement as an excuse for skipping an event), but I'm glad Bliss won if only so it sends this signal that this kind of fake MeToo-ing doesn't work and is then disincentivized. https://t.co/DMI8URgEaf
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) March 18, 2026
In case you don't want to read it, here's the TL:
— Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) March 18, 2026
1) Student dated her former professor for a while AFTER he was no longer her instructor
2) They never had sex
3) They broke up by mutual agreement
4) This is who MeToo says is "brave as shit"
If this is what MeToo has become, it… https://t.co/ZCfsU7wZiH
The post continues:
… should end. It hasn't jumped the shark, it has committed suicide. A decades old consensual, non-sexual relationship that ended by mutual agreement is now somehow considered some sort of sexual assault? This trivializes actual victims and it should be roundly mocked and ridiculed
And it was.
Are you fucking kidding me here?!? https://t.co/AXkIz9pFyF
— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) March 18, 2026
“They dated” 😂😂😂 omg these people are so fucking toxic.
— Gary (@garyalan82) March 18, 2026
So… they dated for a while. They fooled around a bit, and then ended the relationship by mutual consent. 22 years later, it's supposed to be some kinda scandal?
— ZathrasZathrasZathras (@ZathrasCubed) March 18, 2026
Nope. Absolutely not. Look, I regret some of my exes, but that's just life.
Bluesky is full of idiots: CONFIRMED.
It’s bizarre watching some people continue to insist women are both empowered girlbosses and helpless damsels in distress. You generally have to pick one.
— Billy Binion (@billybinion) March 17, 2026
This woman is apparently now a lecturer at a law school, which is both terrifying and not surprising.
— Everybody is Insane (@colorblindk1d) March 17, 2026
Biss is a twat, but not for this.
— iamscroticus (@iamscroticus) March 17, 2026
All of the Democratic candidates were losers, but isn't it something that a woman whom Bliss dated consensually more than 20 years ago would come forward with her #MeToo story the day before the election? We wonder who she voted for.
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