AIPAC and other groups spent more than $60 million in the Michigan Senate race
The American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other political groups spent more than $60 million to support Congresswoman Hayley Stevens and oppose her opponent, Abdul El-Sayyed, in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in Michigan. Al Jazeera reported this, citing data from the U.S. Federal Election Commission and local media.
According to the FEC, AIPAC and other political action committees (PACs) spent a total of more than $54 million to support Stevens. As of Saturday, AIPAC’s electoral arm, the United Democracy Project (UDP), had spent $30,638,639.63 on this campaign. Al Jazeera calls this amount a record for AIPAC.
The Center for Democratic Priorities, which the publication describes as an organization with opaque funding, spent about $6.5 million on ads supporting Stevens, according to local media reports. However, the organization did not report these expenditures to the FEC, Al Jazeera notes.
The largest spender outside of AIPAC was the newly formed group A Stronger Michigan, which spent over $17 million. It was primarily funded by the nonprofit Center Forward. The affiliated Center Forward Committee spent about $900,000 in this race, while the Unite to Win committee spent nearly $4 million in support of Stevens.
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UDP has raised $100 million in the current election cycle, $30 million of which came from AIPAC. Among UDP’s other donors, Al Jazeera lists hedge fund manager Paul Singer, Robert Kraft of The Kraft Group, investment firm executive Mark Rowen, investment banker Blair Frank, entertainment executive Haim Saban, and real estate developer David Cordish.
El-Sayed raised more direct donations for his own campaign—$14.5 million compared to Stevens’ $11.9 million. Independent committees spent about $3.5 million in support of him. The largest of these was Fighting for Michigan, which, according to the publication, is funded by progressive activists and donors who advocate for Palestinian rights.
During the debate, Stevens stated that she views the campaign finance system as a problem in general and sees no significant difference between the super PACs supporting her and those supporting El-Sayed. El-Sayyed criticized the role of major donors and AIPAC in the race. In a letter to supporters, AIPAC stated that it would not apologize for participating in the political process and defending “shared values.”
El-Sayyed, a progressive epidemiologist and former public health official, and Stevens are vying for the seat of outgoing Democratic Senator Gary Peters. The winner of the November primary will likely face Republican candidate Mike Rogers.
