The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has told allies that it is considering a major financial campaign to support the Republican Senate nominee in the Michigan general election this fall, after it failed its biggest test of the primary season on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
AIPAC\u2019s super PAC spent $32 million in an unsuccessful effort to boost Representative Haley Stevens over Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a relentless critic of Israel, during the state\u2019s Democratic primary.<\/p>\n
After Dr. El-Sayed\u2019s victory, the group is unbowed and now appears willing to put what is expected to be tens of millions of dollars behind Mike Rogers, the Republican, as some of AIPAC\u2019s major backers are urging, according to a half dozen people who have spoken with the group\u2019s leaders.<\/p>\n
In a statement, AIPAC suggested its supporters would be involved in the general election without laying out specific plans. \u201cOur members remain determined to ensure that voters reject Dr. El-Sayed and his radical anti-Israel agenda in November,\u201d said Deryn Sousa, a spokeswoman for AIPAC.<\/p>\n
In an interview, Patrick Dorton, a spokesman for United Democracy Project, AIPAC\u2019s main super PAC, said no official decision had been made about spending in the race. The organization had about $80 million on hand at the end of June, according to Federal Election Commission filings.<\/p>\n
Backing a Republican in a competitive general election \u2014 especially in a crucial swing state \u2014 would be an extraordinary shift for AIPAC. The organization has long considered itself bipartisan and began spending in federal elections only in 2022.<\/p>\n
Still, many AIPAC supporters consider Dr. El-Sayed to be a threat: He made opposition to Israel a centerpiece of his campaign and has repeatedly said that he would vote to cut off funding for the Jewish state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe days when we are told to shut up and be nice are over \u2014 that\u2019s not what is going to happen here,\u201d said Sam Markstein, the political director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, a national organization with several AIPAC donors on its board. \u201cWe are not going to be bullied, we are not going to be slandered. We are going to double down and we are going to do what we need to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d rather be respected and alive than loved and dead,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
In his victory speech on Wednesday, Dr. El-Sayed sought to reach out to Jewish voters even as he continued to criticize AIPAC\u2019s involvement in the primary. \u201cTo all of my sisters and brothers of the Jewish faith, or any faith at all, or no faith at all, I want you to know that my commitment to your safety \u2014 to Jewish safety \u2014 is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Democratic and Republican operatives in touch with the organization said privately they expected AIPAC-affiliated groups to break from their traditional posture and spend millions for Mr. Rogers in November. Six people who spoke with AIPAC leadership before the primary said they left conversations with the strong impression that AIPAC planned to spend heavily against Dr. El-Sayed if he advanced to the general election.<\/p>\n
Mr. Rogers has repeatedly called himself a steadfast supporter of Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n Many political professionals saw AIPAC\u2019s spending during the Democratic primary as counterproductive. Dr. El-Sayed appeared to be gaining in the polls and was using AIPAC\u2019s involvement as a cudgel with which to attack Ms. Stevens.<\/p>\n But AIPAC leaders were unrepentant in private conversations about their expensive bet against Dr. El-Sayed, according to several people in touch with the organization, seeing the race as always likely to be close.<\/p>\n And in the race\u2019s closing days, some political donors close to the organization found fault not with AIPAC but with its candidate, Ms. Stevens, or the media.<\/p>\n In the end, Dr. El-Sayed won by just a narrow plurality of the vote.<\/p>\n For decades, AIPAC has argued that supporting Israel is smart politics for American politicians on both sides of the aisle. But a new paradigm is emerging: Backing Israel has become a liability in some Democratic primaries. One recent poll showed that nearly half<\/a> of Michigan Democrats had an unfavorable view of AIPAC, compared to just 12 percent who think of it favorably. With critics of Israel winning Democratic primaries in safe seats in New York, California and Illinois, the next Congress is likely to take the most skeptical view of the Jewish state since its founding.<\/p>\n AIPAC\u2019s United Democracy Project has lost races before, but none where it spent so much money. <\/p>\n In the three election cycles AIPAC has participated in so far, it has gotten involved in only one general election race that included a Democrat and a Republican. In that race, United Democracy Project spent roughly $1.2 million against Representative Summer Lee of Pittsburgh, who easily defeated her Republican opponent.<\/p>\n