Abdul El-Sayed’s Win in Michigan Is a Defeat for Pro-Israel Group AIPAC
Once upon a time, the money cannon meant something. In the Citizens United era, outside groups have carpetbagged around the country, flooding their preferred candidates with millions of dollars and blanketing the airwaves with ads, often enough ensuring victory. But in the bloody battle between two Democrats vying for a Senate seat in Michigan, big-dollar politics met defeat. Outside groups spent more than $63 million supporting Haley Stevens, a candidate backed by the establishment, dwarfing the amount spent on her opponent, a brash progressive named Abdul El-Sayed with a war chest some nine times smaller. In this primary, outside spending became a campaign issue. El-Sayed, a former public health official and a Rhodes scholar, told voters he would take on big money in politics and regularly singled out the involvement of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The advocacy group’s main super PAC spent a record $31.7 million to help elect Stevens, who calls herself a “proud pro-Israel Democrat,” and defeat El-Sayed, who counts among Israel’s most vocal critics and calls the war in Gaza …
