How AIPAC-backed candidates fared in the US midterm elections
AIPAC and affiliated pro-Israel PACs, including the super PAC United Democracy Project, poured tens of millions of dollars into the US midterm elections, backing hundreds of candidates in primaries and the November 3 general election. Many of those candidates still won: on November 4, after Democrats took both the House and Senate, AIPAC said it had counted some 234 backed candidates from both parties as winners. Track AIPAC found the groups backed candidates in at least 32 of 35 Senate races, spent more than $100,000 in 26 of them, and saw 21 of those high-spend Senate candidates win. The money, however, told a different story. The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft tallied about $84 million from AIPAC, UDP and linked groups this cycle, of which around $55 million — nearly two-thirds — went to candidates who lost.
The costliest defeat was in Michigan, where AIPAC and affiliated PACs spent some $30 million on Democrat Haley Stevens, who lost the Senate nomination, then about $9 million more on Republican Mike Rogers, who lost on November 3 to Abdul El-Sayed. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico, who publicly refused AIPAC money and cited Gaza, won a Senate seat by more than 12 points over Ken Paxton, who received about $6,000 from allied pro-Israel groups. AIPAC has said it will stop endorsing candidates and making direct contributions after this cycle; much of its spending already runs through affiliated PACs, which makes donations harder to track. The group has pointed to continued support for Democrats Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries. Strategist Rina Shah said AIPAC money is no longer a given for many Republicans, and Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute argued candidates now sometimes treat the donations as toxic.
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