Progressives are hailing Daniel Biss’ win in Illinois’ 9th District primary as a blueprint for how the left can prevail against an avalanche of AIPAC funding in open seats.
The template. Invest early and aggressively link AIPAC’s shell groups to the pro-Israel advocacy organization.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC spent $550,000 in the 9th District primary, the group’s largest-ever spend in an individual race. While these numbers are dwarfed by the $7 million spent by AIPAC’s allied groups, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said Biss’ victory shows the group can do less with more.
“We don’t have to match dollar-for-dollar, but we do have to have a sufficient amount so we can defend our candidate,” said Jayapal, who co-chairs the CPC PAC. “We have to call out AIPAC early. They are not popular.”
AIPAC’s allies started the cycle off by attacking Biss — the mayor of Evanston, Ill., who labels himself a “progressive Zionist” — to boost their preferred candidate, state Sen. Laura Fine.
But after it became clear Fine wasn’t a viable contender, Kat Abughazaleh, a Palestinian American influencer who’s very critical of Israel, started surging. AIPAC shifted gears to try to assure a Biss victory.
In the Illinois primaries, AIPAC created two new groups — Elect Chicago Women and Chicago Progressive Partnership — to carry their ads. While there was no explicit link to AIPAC, there were some hints, such as shared vendors and consultants, that Biss allies were quick to point out to reporters.
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) said it was important to “communicate strongly where the super PAC money was coming from” to educate voters.
Biss said CPC PAC’s support was “a game-changer” in helping him defeat “an absolute wall of money.”
“Their brand is toxic,” Biss said of AIPAC. “They are basically Republicans now, so they don’t really understand Democratic primary voters.”
The other angle: We’ll note that CPC PAC-endorsed candidates fell short in Illinois’ 2nd, 7th and 8th districts. New Democrat Coalition Chair Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) pointed out more moderate Democrats like Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller and former Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.) also won on Tuesday.
“I think this is where people can look at a painting and see what they want,” Schneider said, cautioning on drawing conclusions from Tuesday’s results. “Voters want workhorses more than showhorses.”
