How AIPAC Lost Illinois (and Everywhere Else)
Another brutal loss borne of a hardheaded, asinine, sketchy political strategy
Tuesday’s primaries in Illinois didn’t get much national attention. That makes some sense. Illinois is a solidly blue state. The Senate and four House primaries were de facto general elections. Whoever won the primary would win the general in November. Therefore, Illinois was less interesting than Texas, Michigan, or Maine, where Democrats are wrestling with which candidate is best equipped to flip a Republican seat.
To the extent the Illinois contests broke into the national political discourse, it was about the role of AIPAC, the pro-Israel advocacy group, and the politics of Israel and Gaza. AIPAC spent more than $20 million backing four House candidates and one Senate candidate to try to increase the number of Democrats in Congress who support the Netanyahu government.
AIPAC and Israel became major flashpoints in several of the races, especially in the 9th District, which has one of the largest Jewish populations of any district in the country.
Illinois became seen as a test of AIPAC’s strength and a preview of how Israel’s politics may play out in the 2028 Democratic primaries.
Despite two of their chosen candidates winning their races, this was a devastating loss for AIPAC. The results speak to the toxicity of their brand, the idiocy of their political strategy, and the dramatic shift in opinion on Israel driven by the genocide in Gaza.
A Loss is a Loss
AIPAC endorsed Raja Krishnamoorthi for Senate and Laura Fine, Melissa Bean, Donna Miller, and Melissa Conyears-Ervin for House seats. Only Bean and Miller won their races. AIPAC tried to spin these results as a success.
Patrick Dorton, the spokesperson for the AIPAC super PAC, told Politico:
We consider this a pro-Israel win. We are better off in the Chicago delegation than we were yesterday.
That’s pitiful, impossible-to-believe bullshit.
Let’s just look at the results.
