“AIPAC’s reported demise has been premature, to say the least,” a Republican strategist unaffiliated with AIPAC told the Washington Reporter following the pro-Israel giant’s successes in the Illinois primaries. “A 50 percent win record in contentious Democratic primaries is better than crypto or AI did the same night. It’s a good reminder that, even in a Democratic primary, declaring war on the Jewish state is not a cost-free move.”
AIPAC spent millions of dollars via an array of outside groups to successfully remold Illinois’s congressional delegation for the foreseeable future, helping former Rep. Melissa Bean (D., Ill.) in her bid to return to Congress and preventing former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D., Ill.) from returning to the Hill.
Bean and Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller won their primaries in solidly Democratic districts; they will replace Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D., Ill.) and Robin Kelly (D., Ill.), longtime members of Congress who gave up their seats to unsuccessfully run for Senate.
Deryn Sousa, AIPAC’s spokeswoman, told the Reporter that “campaigns focused on attacking the U.S.-Israel relationship and the Americans who support it continue to fall short.”
That was particularly evident in Bean’s primary, where she defeated a field including second-place finished Junaid Ahmed, who touted endorsements from radical anti-Israel organizations.
Illinois wasn’t only filled with wins for AIPAC, as the GOP strategist noted. The group came up short in its attempt to keep Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss out of Congress. Biss narrowly won a plurality in the primary to succeed Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D., Ill.), who initially came to Congress by defeating future Gov. JB Pritzker (D., Ill.), who beat Biss in the 2018 primary for governor.
Illinois’s 9th District, which includes Northwestern University, was AIPAC’s highest-profile loss of the night. Both Biss and anti-Israel influencer Kat Abughazaleh beat state Sen. Laura Fine, who was backed by AIPAC.
Following the Illinois races, AIPAC made a quick foray into the Georgia special election to succeed former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) by successfully backing Clay Fuller in the solidly red district.
Now, Sousa noted to the Reporter, “AIPAC members across the country will be very active this cycle in both Republican and Democratic primaries. We’re focused on the next round of races, with more than twenty endorsed candidates on the ballot in the first week of May.”
Reps. Erin Houchin (R., Ind.), Jim Baird (R., Ind.), Rudy Yakym (R., Ind.), Marlin Stutzman (R., Ind.), Mark Messmer (R., Ind.), Frank Mrvan (D., Ind.) are among the candidates endorsed by AIPAC in the upcoming May primaries.