POLITICO
AIPAC attacks fall flat as Democrat Daniel Biss wins Illinois House primary
March 17, 2026

Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss won Tuesday’s Democratic primary to succeed Rep. Jan Schakowsky, dealing a blow to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in a race that had turned into a referendum on the group’s ability to influence the party. Biss, whose mother is Israeli and whose grandparents are Holocaust survivors, has sharply criticized Israel’s war in Gaza — and faced an onslaught of attack ads from a group aligned with AIPAC as a result. He defeated a crowded field that included social media influencer Kat Abughazaleh, a Palestinian American who is a more vocal critic, as well as AIPAC’s preferred candidate, state Sen. Laura Fine. READ MORE

WTTW AIPAC Claims Credit for Miller, Bean Victories and Abughazaleh, Amiwala Defeats AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying organization, claimed victory after Tuesday’s primary elections for boosting moderate candidates and helping to defeat progressive candidates in four Democratic House races. In all, groups affiliated with AIPAC spent more than $20 million to influence the outcome of four contests in Illinois’ 2nd, 7th, 8th and 9th Congressional districts, according to federal campaign finance reports. “A great night for the pro-Israel community and a terrible night for anti-Israel candidates,” AIPAC posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.  “Tonight’s results tell a critical story: centering campaigns on attacking Israel and demonizing pro-Israel Americans is a losing strategy.” Much of AIPAC’s spending came from two newly formed groups — Elect Chicago Women and Affordable Chicago Now — that did not mention the U.S.-Israeli relationship or foreign policy but focused on the need to elect more female candidates to office and reduce the cost of living.