In today’s edition … New York’s special election tests Democrats and Republicans’ abortion strategy … Wisconsin GOP leader Robin Voss stands by Trump despite attacks and major challenge… Where to eat and drink at 13 of the busiest US airports, from our Post colleagues… but first…
Why the Nadler-Maloney primary hasn’t turned into a super PAC showdown
A new super PAC was started in January by American Israel Public Affairs Committee has reshaped this year’s Democratic primaries, spending more than $24 million in nine House races in an effort to defeat Democrats whom AIPAC sees as too critical of Israel.
Super PAC, United Democracy Projecthas raised nearly $30 million, including $1 million last month from The Kraft Groupthe conglomerate that owns New England Patriotsaccording to a new campaign finance disclosure.
The UDP has faced off in several races against another new super PAC, J Street Action Fund, which backs candidates who support Israel but are more willing to criticize its government. J Street Action disclosed in a campaign finance disclosure Saturday that it had received $1 million — the most money raised this year — from a super PAC funded by the Democratic megadonor George Soros.
The two sides have gone head-to-head in some increasingly fierce contests. UDP helped Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) survived his primary against a progressive challenger, and Rap Andy Levin (D-Mich.) told Early that the super PAC’s spending was “having a defining effect” on the Democratic primary just days after he lost a race in which the UDP ran $4.2 million in ads against him.
The clash between the two parties has underscored tensions in the Democratic Party over Israel and tested how much room it has under its tent for lawmakers critical of the Israeli government’s actions toward the Palestinians. (Republicans have, for the most part, aligned themselves with the most hard-line politicians in Israel.)
But tomorrow’s Democratic primary in New York shows that when it comes to opposing sides of the Israel lobby, what will trigger a primary showdown is more complicated than it seems.
Nadler-Maloney Elementary
J Street Action is running digital ad support Rap Jerry Nadler (DN.Y.) in his three-way primary battle with Rep. Carolyn Maloney (DN.Y.) and Suraj Patel, a lawyer and former Obama White House aide, in what may be the most Jewish district in the country. (Manhattan-centered districts of Nadler and Maloney were suddenly combined with redistricting; Patel is trying to oust both.)
Nadler is a long-time advocate for a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street said in an interview. He also supported the 2015 Iran nuclear deal — which Maloney opposed — which angered Israel.
“A Congress with Jerry Nadler in it and Carolyn Maloney versus a Congress with Carolyn Maloney and no Jerry Nadler is a very different Congress for us,” Ben-Ami said. “It’s a really significant difference.”
Such a shift has led to battles between J Street and AIPAC in several other Democratic primaries — but not in New York’s 12th District, where Nadler and Maloney — both longtime lawmakers and incumbents committees – are fighting it.
AIPAC has backed Nadler in the past, calling him “a staunch defender of US-Israel relations,” and is not taking sides in the primary. Nor is it Democratic Majority for Israel‘s super PAC, which has supported some of the same candidates as the UDP in this year’s Democratic primaries.
Nadler is not the first Democrat to have managed to compile a record on Israel that is conservative enough for AIPAC but liberal enough for J Street. like Forward noted in June, the two groups have endorsed dozens of the same candidates, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosieven as they have fought in other races.
J Street Action is also spending $100,000 on digital advertising support Rep. Jamaal Bowman (DN.Y.) in its infancy in a test of how critical of Israel Democrats it can be and still win the group’s support. (The UDP is also present in this New York primary.)
Bowman supports a two-state solution and the Iron Dome missile defense system, and he opposes the move to boycott, divest and sanction Israel. He is the only member of the Squad – the progressive faction that also includes Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.), Cory Bush (D-Moon), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) — which J Street has endorsed.
“He’s a very, very important voice as we try to show where the edge of the pro-Israel, pro-peace camp is in the progressive movement,” Ben-Ami said. “There is a bridge to be built. So, symbolically, he is a very important member of Congress.”
Neither the UDP nor the DFMI have targeted Bowman or any other member of the Squad – even though Omar came close to losing her primary earlier this month to a more moderate challenger. Mark Mellmanpresident of DMFI, said he thought spending money against Omar might have backfired by giving her a “rallying call” and prompting her to devote more resources to her campaign.
“I’m not sure our spending money there would have made a difference,” Mellman said. “Certainly we would have liked to be in a situation where she did not re-elect. But she was.”
What it means for the upcoming primaries
J Street Action has raised just a fraction of the millions of dollars the UDP has brought in this year, and Ben-Ami has vowed to stop running ads in the Democratic primary if the UDP and its allies agree to a truce.
“We have called on the party leadership to call those groups and cancel them and not do it again in 2024,” he said.
But AIPAC and its allies argue that it is J Street and its progressive allies in Congress that have helped weaken traditional support for Israel in the Democratic Party, forcing them to respond. “We wanted to protect our friends and send a message to detractors that there is a group of individuals who will oppose them.” Howard KohrAIPAC’s longtime chief executive told The Post earlier this month.
Neither the DMFI nor the UDP have plans to stop spending in Democratic primaries.
“We plan to be active beyond this cycle,” Patrick Dorton, a UDP spokesperson told Early. “We will look at any election, including the Democratic and Republican primaries, where this is a contrast between a pro-Israel candidate and an anti-Israel candidate.”
New York’s special election tests Democrats’ and Republicans’ abortion strategy
New campaign strategy, alert: “When the conservative majority of the Supreme Court was overturned Roe v. Wadedemocrats [in Monticello, N.Y.] we quickly mobilized to make the August 23 special election for the United States House a referendum on abortion rights,” our colleague David Weigel write.
- “After the decision, Democratic candidate Pat Ryan unveiled the campaign’s new white-on-pink billboards, which read ‘THE ELECTION IS ON THE BALLOT.’ The state Democratic Party’s own billboards show a red line over ‘Roe v. Wade’ with the message: ‘This happens when YOU don’t vote! Vote blue on ’22!’”
- “When Republican Marc Molinaro heard about the court’s decision — just three weeks after becoming his party’s nominee in the 19th Congressional District — he said he was surprised. “I had thought, like most Americans, that this was settled,” Molinaro, 46, told Weigel. “Now, he’s campaigning on other issues he says are more pressing, like inflation and crime.”
- “Tuesday’s special election in a swing district — coming on a busy day of primaries or runoffs in several states — will be a close look at both major parties’ midterm policy strategies on abortion. in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling overturning the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. It is shaping up to be the last major electoral test before the November midterms of Democrats’ efforts to channel anger over the decision — and subsequent state abortion bans — into votes for their candidates and Republican efforts to keep the focus on different issues. “
After the attacks and primary challenge, the Wisconsin GOP leader still stands by Trump
Still standing (at Trump’s side): “For the past 15 months, the speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly has sought to appease Donald Trump as the former president bombarded him with phone calls about the 2020 election, accused him of covering up corruption, labeled him a Republican in name only, and endorsed his little-known primary opponent,” our colleague. Patrick Marley write. “After winning his election by just 260 votes this month, Robin Voss did not express regret and stood by Trump”.
- “I think Donald Trump has done a lot of good things for our country, and if he runs again, he can do a lot more.” Vos said in an interview in his state Capitol office. “But I’m not going to say that just because Donald Trump believes something, that I’m going to change what I believe — if I’m not convinced.”
- “After the 2020 election, Republican leaders fell largely into two camps: One that embraces Trump’s lies about his loss and the other that resists his demands to change the results. Vos tried to forge a middle ground, launching an extensive and expensive review of the election but refusing to take the legally impossible step of decertifying the election. His efforts were not enough to escape Trump’s retaliation.”
- “Unlike many of the others who challenged the former president, Vos has survived until now. After holding on to the slimmest of leads, Vos could be thrust back into battles over election results in a battleground state where presidential and gubernatorial elections are often decided by a percentage point or less.
You’re trying to squeeze in one last family vacation before school starts; you are returning home from a business conference; you’re wrapping up #HotGirlSummer with your loved ones. Either way: you’re stuck in an airport with time to kill (and doomscrolling it is not an option).
So what can you do to pass the time? Eat.
Check out the best restaurants at America’s busiest airports, from our colleagues at the Post Office. I have my eyes on Versailles coffee IN Miami International Airport. I’m a stickler for a good Cuban sandwich.
Thanks for reading. You can also follow us on Twitter: @theodoricmeyer AND @LACaldwellDC.
