After Bowman’s loss in New York, pro-Israel lobby eyes next targets – Washington Examiner

Pro-Israel groups are vowing their work is far from over in the wake of Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s (D-NY) loss in New York at the hands of Westchester County Executive George Latimer on Tuesday.

Bowman’s defeat represents a high-profile rebuke of Congress’s most progressive members, dealing a significant setback for progressive critics of Israel in a closely watched race with national implications.

The former middle school principal in the Bronx was under fire for his call for a ceasefire days after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack inside Israel. His comments in mid-November telling pro-Palestinian protesters that reports of sexual violence by Hamas were “propaganda” further damaged his chances with pro-Israel voters in his district, even after he apologized.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s political action committee, known as the United Democracy Project, spent nearly $15 million on the primary. The Democratic Majority for Israel PAC spent nearly $1 million on the race as well. A third PAC called Fairshake, which is crypto-aligned, also backed Latimer with more than $2 million in spending.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome,” Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster and president and CEO of DMFI, said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “George Latimer deserved to win this race and Jamal Bowman deserved to lose it, and that’s exactly what happened.”

“The voters are smart,” he said. “They know what to pay attention to. If there hadn’t been a strong case here, voters wouldn’t have paid attention to it.”

Campaign finance records show that the funding from pro-Israel groups in the race was utilized in a variety of ways. The groups spent a record amount of money on attack ads on the airwaves, mailers with negative ads, phone banking, and canvassing, while also boosting Latimer’s candidacy.

In some cases, the pro-Israel groups weren’t entirely focused on Bowman’s stance on Israel. They also highlighted Bowman’s other vulnerabilities. The member of the progressive House “Squad” has drawn scrutiny, specifically after he pulled the fire alarm in a Capitol office building ahead of a vote to avoid a government shutdown. He was censured by the House. Earlier this year, an old blog post from Bowman was recovered that showed he once circulated conspiracy theories about 9/11.

“We had a very vigorous opposition research and press program that brought to the surface about a dozen stories critical of Bowman in January, February, and March,” a person involved with a major Israel lobbying group said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The person said their team of researchers found the receipts of Bowman circulating the 9/11 conspiracy theories. They also unearthed the tape in which the congressman had praised Holocaust denier Norman Finkelstein.

“I think you’d have to say that the money that we and others spent was a lot less effective than the free press strategy we employed,” the person added.

Next up is the Aug. 6 primary that pits Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) against challenger St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell. AIPAC has unveiled a plan to spend up to $100 million to unseat Bush and her fellow Israel critics. However, the groups aren’t being specific about their future plans with the fear of tipping off their opponents.

According to campaign finance records, AIPAC’s affiliate didn’t start spending heavily in Bowman’s congressional race until about a month and a half before the primary. Overall, the group has spent $1.9 million in support of Bell and $213,000 against Bush, according to independent expenditures. Most recently, it invested on May 29 in support of Bell, one payment of nearly $17,200 for media production and another payment of nearly $390,200 for media placement. Those payments likely were reflected in the data tracked by AdImpact, which noted approximately $320,000 in ad reservations for cable, radio, satellite, and other formats from the expenditure arm in late May. So far, DMFI has not spent any money in this race, according to the records.

Bell has far outpaced Bush in fundraising. But a quarterly fundraising report will be due in mid July with new figures. Bell’s campaign ended April with $1.1 million cash on hand to Bush’s $528,000. Bell has received more than $360,000 in individual contributions earmarked as having been directed to his campaign through AIPAC.

Nearly two weeks later, on Aug. 13, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) will face off against former Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels in a Democratic primary. Samuels only lost to Omar by two points in the primary in 2022. So far, Omar is significantly outraising Samuels, and pro-Israel groups have not participated in the race. But Samuels’s campaign manager told the New York Times that $4 million would be enough to defeat Omar.

While some Democratic strategists acknowledge Latimer was a strong candidate and that greatly contributed to Bowman’s loss, they also believe the pro-Israel groups will deploy a similar playbook in the August races, hoping to build on their success.

“Cori Bush is an extremely flawed candidate. Ilhan Omar is an extremely flawed candidate. I think if you’re both of these lawmakers who have very, very credible challengers from within their own communities — I would be quaking in my boots today because now there is a proven model that works,” Jon Reinish, a prominent Democratic strategist, said.

“A lot of the messaging wasn’t about how terrible and flawed these people’s records are on Israel, on antisemitism. A lot of it was about times they broke with President Biden,” he added.

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Bush reflected on Bowman’s loss and attempted to get out in front of looming spending in her race, issuing a statement on Tuesday calling the Israel lobby’s involvement the equivalent of dark money trying to “buy our democracy.”

“AIPAC and their allies — backed by far-right Donald Trump megadonors — poured a tidal wave of cash into this primary race showing us just how desperate these billionaire extremists are in their attempts to buy our democracy, promote their own gain, and silence the voices of progress and justice,” Bush wrote.