The District AIPAC Couldn’t Conquer

One of the most Jewish districts in the country appears set to forcefully reject the group’s influence.

Of the roughly $20 million super PACs affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee have spent ahead of a quartet of Democratic congressional primaries in Illinois on Tuesday, the largest chunk has gone toward the state’s 9th District, one of the most heavily Jewish districts in the entire country.

It’s also the district where AIPAC’s preferred candidate is seen as having the least chance of winning. Two progressives whom AIPAC has spent millions of dollars opposing — Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and journalist Kat Abughazaleh — are seen as the most likely victors, while the path to victory for State Sen. Laura Fine, whom AIPAC has backed, now relies on multiple left-wing candidates splitting their vote.

Progressives are hopeful AIPAC’s struggles in the 9th District, which includes Chicago’s North Side and suburbs to the north and east of the city, can provide a blueprint for other left-wing candidates hoping to battle AIPAC as the lobby seeks to stamp out any dissent within the Democratic Party on providing unconditional military aid to Israel. The strategy they hope to replicate is simple: Make sure voters in the district know who AIPAC is and why the group is pouring millions into elections.

“When voters know about the dark money forces that are paying for the ads that they’re seeing, then progressives win,” said Rep. Greg Cesar (D-Texas), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which is backing Biss. “When voters don’t know, then we lose.”

But AIPAC’s comparative success in three other Illinois districts holding primary elections the same day — its preferred candidates are favored to win in the 8th District, which includes suburbs to the south and west of the city, and are among the front-runners in the plurality-Black 2nd and 7th Districts in Chicago — may end up pointing to why an ultimate victory for the left in the long electoral battles over U.S. government support for Israel may be hard to secure.