Gaza Genocide09 August, 20263 min read
AIPAC Spent Over Two Million Dollars in New Jersey Primary to Topple Tom Malinowski
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AIPAC spent more than two million dollars to influence February 2026 primaries. Candidates and voters distancing from AIPAC reduces its electoral leverage.
Gaza reshapes US politics
The war on Gaza has pushed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, into a more contested position in US politics, with candidates increasingly avoiding associating with it after voters became more sympathetic to Palestine. In February 2026, Al Jazeera says AIPAC spent more than two million dollars in the New Jersey primary to topple Democratic Representative Tom Malinowski, framing the defeat as a consequence of AIPAC’s “propaganda” after Malinowski opened up to restricting U.S. aid to Tel Aviv. Al Jazeera also describes a broader shift in the Democratic Party, saying “a third of its members are now closer to Palestine,” and that Gaza featured prominently in both parties’ election campaigns ahead of the midterm elections due in November.
The same Al Jazeera account says AIPAC became “a burden on any candidate who accepts money from it,” as the Gaza war turned the issue into a divisive factor in US campaigns. It adds that AIPAC’s influence had previously relied on pressure and relationships rather than direct electoral spending, but that the progressive wing’s criticism in 2022 forced AIPAC to enter the electoral arena directly through the United Democracy Project.
AIPAC tactics and backlash
In the ABC News & Headlines account, AIPAC’s strategy in US elections is described as avoiding direct discussion of Israel, with Jamaal Bowman saying, “Zero per cent [of the ads] talked about Israel.” The ABC report says Bowman compared AIPAC to the NRA and that he turned down an invitation to a meeting, while it describes AIPAC and its affiliates investing big money to unseat him in the 2024 Democratic primary. ABC News & Headlines also quotes Casey Kennedy of Track AIPAC saying, “AIPAC never runs ads that mention Israel,” and it links that approach to public opinion turning against Israel among Democrats.
The same ABC account says AIPAC’s political spending group, the United Democracy Project, put a record-breaking $US14.5 million into ads against Bowman, and it reports that Bowman lost his seat to a pro-Israel Democrat. In parallel, the Washington Examiner piece argues that AIPAC is not foreign money, quoting Caitlin Sutherland that “Foreign money is flowing through the nonprofit sector,” while contrasting that with AIPAC’s funding by American donors.
Money, elections, and Gaza
Arab News describes Abdul El-Sayed’s Michigan Democratic Senate primary win as narrow in votes but outsized in political significance, saying he defeated four-term US Rep. Haley Stevens by roughly one percentage point after vote-counting continued into Wednesday morning.
It reports that AIPAC and affiliated organizations poured more than $30 million into supporting Stevens or opposing El-Sayed, and it says El-Sayed called the spend “a $30 million down payment on a vote to send $3 billion somewhere else.”
Arab News also quotes Alia Kapasi, El-Sayed’s campaign manager, saying in a statement, “This was always going to be the many versus the money,” and it frames Gaza as part of the campaign’s defining features alongside healthcare, economic inequality and distrust of the political establishment.
The same Arab News account says El-Sayed called Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a “genocide” and pushed to end unconditional US military aid and arms sales to Israel, arguing that funds should instead go toward healthcare, schools and housing at home.
Meanwhile, El País reports that the $30 million poured into Haley Stevens’s campaign collided with Abdul El-Sayed’s “battle cry” of “Money out of politics. Money in your pocket. Medicare for all,” and it quotes Aaron David Miller warning that “All of these elements are now under extreme pressure.”