AIPAC Tops $100 Million in Election Spending for Second Straight Cycle

By David Moore, Sludge,

The pro-Israel group's PAC and super PAC have poured $104.3 million into the midterms, including more than $30.6 million in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary.

Summary

The pro-Israel group's PAC and super PAC have poured $104.3 million into the midterms, including more than $30.6 million in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, the most it has ever spent on a single race. For the second cycle in a row, AIPAC has surpassed $100 million in federal election spending, according to a Sludge review of campaign finance records. As recently as 2021, AIPAC had never directly donated to a federal candidate—its PAC made its first donations in January 2022, and that same month it formed its own super PAC. By the 2024 cycle, AIPAC’s nine-figure outlays in elections marked a dramatic increase in its spending for the House and Senate lawmakers who approve billions of dollars in economic and military aid packages for Israel. Now, about three months before Election Day, AIPAC is cementing its status as one of the largest spenders on congressional elections. The spending comes as a growing number of congressional Democrats are challenging unconditional military aid to Israel, recently casting votes to restrict or condition the flow of U.S. weapons as Israel continues its strikes in Gaza and Lebanon. AIPAC’s PAC and super PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP), have combined for more than $104.3 million in political spending so far in the 2026 cycle, according to a review of FEC data. That figure does not include spending to influence voters by allied super PACs like Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) or by a sprawling network of pop-up super PACs that were seeded by UDP or DMFI. The $104.3 million figure is likely to swell before the midterms are through. As of the end of June, UDP had another $80 million on hand to spend on elections, according to its most recent FEC filing, and AIPAC PAC is likely to continue funneling contributions to lawmakers totaling in the millions of dollars per month. The nine-figure total includes the most AIPAC has ever spent on a single race: the Aug. 4 Michigan Senate Democratic primary, where UDP has spent $30.6 million supporting Rep. Haley Stevens and opposing Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. AIPAC has notched wins recently on Capitol Hill. In addition to continuing billions of dollars in military aid, last month the U.S. House passed a National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2027 that includes a provision expanding U.S.–Israeli defense cooperation, language that AIPAC applauded. Additional context: the Michigan Senate primary spending breakdown According to Al Jazeera’s review of FEC records, AIPAC’s United Democracy Project has spent slightly more than the Sludge figure once rounding is accounted for — $30,638,639.63 as of early August — confirming it as the largest single-race investment in the group’s history. But UDP’s spending is only part of the picture: a dark-money nonprofit called the Center for Democratic Priorities has independently spent about $6.5 million on ads supporting Rep. Haley Stevens, pushing total outside spending backing her past $60 million. Because it operates as a nonprofit rather than a PAC, the Center for Democratic Priorities is not required to disclose its donors to the FEC, making its funding sources untraceable through public filings. Beyond UDP and the Center for Democratic Priorities, Politics Today identifies several of the individual mega-donors behind the broader pro-Stevens financial network: hedge fund manager Paul Singer, businessman Robert Kraft, investor Marc Rowan, and entertainment executive Haim Saban. Additional money has flowed through a cluster of newly formed committees — including A Stronger Michigan (backed primarily by the nonprofit Center Forward), Michigan Forward 2026, Center Forward Committee, and Unite to Win — several of which have funding sources that are not fully disclosed under current U.S. campaign-finance rules. The financial imbalance in the race is stark. Stevens’ own campaign spent just $12,000 on advertising through early July before ramping up to roughly $1 million, while outside groups poured close to $50 million into boosting her candidacy — nearly 50 times her own campaign’s ad spending. Her opponent, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, spent about $3.2 million from his own campaign account, supplemented by only around $1 million in outside spending, and has instead leaned on a grassroots operation of more than 10,000 volunteers statewide (compared to the “hundreds” Stevens’ campaign says it has recruited). The spending has become a central campaign issue. At a rally in Dearborn, Michigan state legislator Alabas Farhat told supporters they would make AIPAC “burn” millions by electing El-Sayed, while Sen. Bernie Sanders — campaigning alongside El-Sayed in Detroit, Lansing, and Grand Rapids — went further, telling supporters Stevens was “nothing more than an employee of these billionaires.” Stevens has responded by saying she supports “comprehensive campaign finance reform,” but has largely avoided directly addressing AIPAC’s role in her campaign. El-Sayed, for his part, has framed the race as a contest of “the many versus the money.” Michigan political strategist Adrian Hemond offered a more skeptical read on the spending’s electoral impact, suggesting that while Democratic primary voters clearly don’t favor AIPAC, the group’s involvement doesn’t appear to be registering as a decisive issue for most voters. The race is unfolding against a backdrop of growing intraparty division over Israel policy: earlier this month, 103 House Democrats voted unsuccessfully to block $3.3 billion in U.S. military aid to Israel — described by observers as the clearest sign yet of a widening rift within the party. Sources:

• Al Jazeera, “How much has AIPAC spent against Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed? And why?” August 2, 2026.
• ABC News/AP, “AIPAC has spent a record amount on Michigan’s Senate primary, the biggest test of its influence yet.”
• Politics Today, “AIPAC Spending Dominates Michigan Senate Campaign Race.”