Pro-Israel money pours in to unseat progressives in congressional races

Quarterly campaign finance reports reveal the Democratic representatives Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri – progressive “Squad” members – will face formidable challenges in their 2024 congressional primaries, partly due to the influence of pro-Israel lobbying groups.

Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota, and Summer Lee, of Pennsylvania, meanwhile, have far outspent their primary challengers, and the Michigan Democrat

Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American member whose outspoken criticism of Israel has brought the ire of her political opponents, does not yet face a challenger.

The powerful pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) is expected to lavish $100m on efforts to defeat progressive candidates it views as insufficiently supportive of Israel in 2024 – and the latest campaign finance reports in closely watched races pitting highprofile progressives against moderate challengers offer a preview of where the group may prioritize spending.

Bowman, the New York congressman and progressive, faces a particularly fierce campaign by George Latimer, a Westchester county politician who has so far raised $3.6m – nearly $1m more than Bowman. More than $950,000 in contributions to the Latimer campaign came through earmarked donations to Aipac.

Meanwhile the Missouri congresswoman Cori Bush and her primary challenger, the St Louis county prosecutor, Wesley Bell, have raised comparable hauls, with Bell reporting about $100,000 more than Bush, who has raised $1.6m. Although Aipac does not appear on Bell’s most recent campaign filings, he raised more than $650,000 in earmarked contributions through the group Democracy Engine Inc Pac – a donation platform that allows unpopular Pacs to obscure their donations andlists Aipac as a client on its LinkedIn page.

Asked about Aipac’s support for Latimer and its affiliation with Democracy Engine, a spokesperson for the group, Marshall Wittmann, told the Guardian: “We strongly support George Latimer who is a strong advocate for the USIsrael relationship in clear contrast to his opponent who is aligned with the anti-Israel extremist fringe.” (He did not directly address the question about Democracy Engine.)

In addition to the spending unleashed by Aipac so far in support of campaigns to challenge incumbent progressives, it is almost certain that Aipac’s political action committee and Super Pac will weigh in. United Democracy Project, the Super Pac launched by Aipac in 2022, spent nearly $33m in the 2022 election cycle and has so far spent more than $17m with $32m to spare as of 16 April, according to data from