AIPAC to spend 100 million targeting candidates insufficiently supportive of Israel

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A California Democrat running for Rep. Katie Porter’s seat suddenly became the target of an unexpected barrage of negative ads from the nation’s premier pro-Israel group this year. So he emailed a former Michigan representative, Andy Levin, for advice. Levin was ousted from his House seat in 2022, after the American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent $4 million against him. Levin was one of a handful of Democrats targeted by AIPAC last cycle, when the group went after a range of progressive candidates in mostly open House primaries over their criticism of Israel. He told Dave Min, who has not called for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza but has privately criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to reach out to progressive Jewish groups for help. That’s what Levin had done.

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But, he acknowledged, “we were simply swamped” by outside spending in his own primary, and Dave Min might face a similar fate. “Most” candidates won’t be able to survive that spending barrage, Levin said in an interview with POLITICO, and “I’m afraid that they can be quite successful in wiping them out.”

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They’ll have so much money, wherever there’s an opportunity, they will take it,”

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So far this cycle, AIPAC has bundled at least $19 million for House and Senate campaigns, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign finance filings. Top recipients include high-ranking members such as House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California, as well as stalwart Israel supporters such as Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas).

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We support candidates from both parties solely based on one criteria – their commitment to strengthening the US-Israel relationship,” AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann said in an emailed statement. “We support scores of progressive candidates including the Democratic leadership and nearly half of the membership of the congressional Progressive Caucus, Black Caucus and Hispanic Caucus. In fact, we are the largest PAC contributor to Democratic candidates.”

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