Adam Schiff, Jewish impeachment star with AIPAC backing, advances to Senate runoff to replace Dianne Feinstein
The results in California underscore the limits of pro-Israel campaign finance, which often gets outsize attention in elections
Democratic Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff and his wife Eve Schiff greet supporters during his California primary election night gathering at The Avalon in Los Angeles, March 05, 2024. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Jewish Democrat who has the backing of AIPAC, advanced to the runoff for the U.S. Senate after Tuesday’s primary.
But the Israel lobby scored a loss in a closely watched California House race where it had spent more than $4 million opposing the winning candidate.
And protesters interrupted Schiff’s victory speech on Tuesday night with cries of “Free Palestine” and “Ceasefire now.”
Together, the results in California underscore the limits of pro-Israel campaign finance, which often gets outsize attention in elections.
Schiff’s win is a boost for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s affiliated political action committee, AIPAC PAC, and other mainstream pro-Israel boosters.
Schiff — who is running for the seat held by Dianne Feinstein, the state’s longtime Jewish senator who died last year — is a star among Democrats for his lead role in impeaching former President Donald Trump, and he had the backing of much of the party’s California establishment, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker who continues to wield influence.
He will now face Steve Garvey, a Republican and onetime baseball star, in the November election in California’s “jungle primary” system, which requires all candidates regardless of party to compete in a single primary and advances the two top winners to the general election.
But the win for AIPAC was dampened by a loss in California’s 47th District, where a Democratic state senator, Dave Min, who attracted a barrage of negative campaigning funded by another PAC affiliated with AIPAC, will advance to face a Republican in the general election.
Schiff hewed closely to President Joe Biden’s robust support of Israel in its war with Hamas, not using the term “ceasefire” until recently, when he said he endorsed Biden’s plan for a six-week pause in the fighting.
His top two Democratic rivals were tougher on Israel: Rep. Katie Porter called for a “bilateral” ceasefire contingent on the release of hostages still held by Hamas, but excoriated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for hindering humanitarian assistance to Gaza Palestinians. Rep. Barbara Lee called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire with no preconditions.
Min, a Korean American, was seen as a must-win among Asian-American Democrats. That constituency, which often aligns closely with the mainstream pro-Israel community, was baffled by the vehemence of AIPAC’s opposition to Min, who has barely mentioned Israel in his career, and lobbied unsuccessfully to get the pro-Israel powerhouse to back off, according to a Politico report.
Some speculated that Min’s position papers, which candidates routinely submit to pro-Israel lobbies, were not robust enough. Politico reported that J Street, the liberal Jewish Middle East policy lobby reviled by AIPAC, had backed Min in the past but a number of candidates, including Schiff, have accepted J Street’s endorsement without alienating AIPAC.
The AIPAC-affiliated Super PAC, United Democracy Project, focused its negative ads on a DUI charge Min got last year. Super PACs may spend unlimited amounts of money, and UDP spent more than $4 million trying to end Min’s bid.
Mainstream pro-Israel funding went to his Democratic rival, Joanna Weiss, a community organizer in the Orange County area District. She did not meet the threshold and Min will face Republican Scott Baugh in November.
The 47th District is open because its current congresswoman, Porter, mounted a Senate bid that effectively ended Tuesday night.
Pro-Israel PACs scored a victory in Texas’ Houston area 7th District on Tuesday, where incumbent Rep. Lizzie Fletcher trounced Pervez Agwan, who called for cutting off defense assistance to Israel.
In Texas’ Fort Worth area 12th District, Craig Goldman, a Jewish Republican in the Texas House, advanced to a runoff against another Republican, John O’Shea. Goldman got 44% of the vote to O’Shea’s 26.5% but needed a majority of the vote to win. The District is solidly Republican, and if Goldman, a real estate businessman with longstanding involvement in the Republican Jewish Coalition, wins he will likely be the third Jewish Republican in Congress.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
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