2026 election cycle
The first races the PAC involved itself in were two Democratic primaries for seats in the United States House of Representatives. [7] One, in North Carolina, was a primary between incumbent representative Valerie Foushee, who had previously received support from AIPAC (although she disavowed AIPAC in 2025), and challenger Nida Allam. [4] The PAC spent about $1 million in support of Allam, who went on to lose to the incumbent by less than 1% in the election in her district. [3] The other was the open primary for Texas's 30th congressional district, which was vacated by Jasmine Crockett, who was running in the 2026 Senate election in Texas. [2] American Priorities spent $100,000 in support of Frederick Haynes III, who won his primary without any major opposition. [3]
The PAC considered spending in support of pro-Palestine candidates in Illinois house races, but opted not to. [4] [3] Some candidates that American Priorities could have supported, like Junaid Ahmed in Illinois's 8th congressional district, lost their primaries. [3] This led to criticism from pro-Palestine journalist Ryan Grim, who said that spending from the deep-pocketed group could have led to Ahmed (who lost to Melissa Bean, an AIPAC-backed candidate) winning the primary. [3]
The PAC decided to spend around $2 million supporting Democrat Adam Hamawy in his primary campaign to win New Jersey's 12th congressional district, an open and heavily Democratic seat. [6] [8] The spending included $600,000 to air an ad highlighting Hamawy's time as a doctor during the Iraq War and Gaza War. [6] Hamawy was also endorsed by other progressive organizations, including Justice Democrats, which had at one point donated to American Priorities. [9] [10] Hamawy outraised his opponents and won the Democratic primary to succeed the retiring representative, Bonnie Watson Coleman. [8] [11] The New Jersey Globe credited the spending from American Priorities with raising Hamawy's profile and establishing him as the frontrunner in the race. [12] After Hamawy's victory, a senior strategist for Hamawy described the group's spending as "extremely helpful". [13]
American Priorities spent over $400,000 supporting the campaign of Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district. [14] Rabb won the primary by over 10% over his closest rival. [14]
In California, the group spent heavily in support of progressive Democrat Randy Villegas in his campaign to take on incumbent Republican representative David Valadao. [15] [16] Villegas was opposed in the nonpartisan primary by moderate Democrat Jasmeet Bains, who received support from the lobbying group Democratic Majority for Israel. [15] Villegas won second place in the primary as Valadao placed first, earning a spot in the November general election and defeating Bains, who placed third. [16]
In June, the group devoted $2 million to support a trio of Democratic candidates running in House of Representatives elections in New York. Primaries in New York were less than a month away. [17] The New York candidates the group supported were all endorsed by New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani and included Brad Lander, who was mounting a primary challenge against incumbent representative Dan Goldman in the election in district 10; Darializa Avila Chevalier, who was mounting a primary challenge against incumbent representative Adriano Espaillat in the election in district 13; and Claire Valdez, running in the election in district 7, a seat which was open following the retirement of incumbent representative Nydia Velázquez. [17] Goldman and Espaillat were both endorsed by AIPAC. [17] The three candidates supported by American Priorities received criticism from their opponents for receiving support from the PAC, although all three claimed not to have any involvement with the group. [18]
All three New York candidates supported by American Priorities won their primaries, including two who defeated AIPAC-backed incumbents. [19] The group's aggressive spending in support of Avila Chevalier was described by some political operatives and by Justice Democrats with being a crucial component in her victory against Espaillat, the incumbent. [13]
In Colorado, American Priorities supported Melat Kiros in her primary challenge against incumbent representative Diana DeGette. [20] The group spent around $140,000 on TV ads. [20] Drop Site News reported that the incumbent received outside support from a super PAC which received funding from the United Democracy Project, an AIPAC affiliate. [21] Kiros won her primary, unseating the incumbent. [22]
American Priorities spent in support of Abdul El-Sayed during the Democratic primary for the 2026 United States Senate election in Michigan. [23] El-Sayed was opposed in the primary by Haley Stevens, who was heavily supported by AIPAC. [23] El-Sayed went on to defeat Stevens. [24]
In Minnesota, American Priorities spent over $50,000 in support of Peggy Flanagan, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. [25] Her opponent in the Democratic primary, U.S. Representative Angie Craig, was supported by AIPAC's donor network. [25] Flanagan defeated Craig in the primary. [26] In the House district Craig retired from to run for Senate, American Priorities supported Matt Little with around $60,000 in spending. [27] One of Little's opponents, Matt Klein, was endorsed by Democratic Majority for Israel. [27] Little won the primary. [28]
American Priorities spent $200,000 in support of Aisha Wahab in the runoff for a special election for California's 14th congressional district. Wahab defeated fellow Democrat Melissa Hernandez, whose campaign received significant funding from AIPAC. [29]
