Illinois Democrats nominated Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.), who was boosted by $4 million in spending by a super PAC linked to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, for the vacant seat in the 8th Congressional District.
Bean defeated Junaid Ahmed and Yasmeen Bankole, both of whom AIPAC said “ran campaigns highlighting their opposition to the U.S.-Israel partnership.”
But Chicago treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin did not win her 7th District primary despite $5 million in spending by the United Democracy Project, the AIPAC-affiliated super PAC.
While congratulating state representative LaShawn Ford on winning the nomination, AIPAC said that “the pro-Israel community is proud to have helped defeat Kina Collins, who has voiced anti-Israel views over multiple election cycles.”
In addition, state senator Laura Fine did not win her primary in the 9th District, but neither did a candidate opposed to Israeli policies, Kat Abughazaleh.
The race included $7 million in support of Fine by outside groups reportedly funded by AIPAC donors. The winner was Daniel Biss, mayor of Evanston, who had been endorsed by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
“Across Illinois, dark money groups like AIPAC, crypto and the AI industry did not run a single ad about their actual priorities and instead sought to fool voters into thinking billionaire-backed candidates were for economic populist issues like taxing billionaires, challenging health insurance companies and Wall Street, and even fighting ICE,” stated Adam Green, co-founder of PCCC.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton won the Democratic primary for Senate to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
“The pro-Israel community looks forward to continuing its long-standing partnership with Lt. Gov. Stratton as she advances to the general election,” AIPAC stated.
The races were the first since the United Democracy Project spent $2.3 million against former representative Tom Malinowski in New Jersey, who had assembled a pro-Israel voting record during his previous his time in Congress.
Instead, the Democrats nominated progressive activist Analilia Mejia, who has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Donna Miller, Cook County commissioner, beat Robert Peters, “whose campaign focused on undermining the U.S.-Israel relationship and disparaging the millions of Americans who support it,” in the 2nd District, AIPAC said.
“AIPAC congratulates the additional endorsed pro-Israel candidates on their primary victories tonight in Illinois, bringing the total to 45 AIPAC-backed candidates advancing to the general election in November,” the pro-Israel group said.
The group added that “Illinois voters rejected half a dozen anti-Israel candidates across several heavily Democratic open-seat races.”
“These results further demonstrate that campaigns defined largely by opposition to AIPAC, our members and the values we represent continue to fall short on election night,” it said.
