* The Chicago Tribune…
An unprecedented amount of money — nearly $62 million — has poured into Chicago’s four most competitive Democratic congressional primaries in a combination of direct campaign contributions and outside spending.
The massive sum has made the races to represent Illinois’ 2nd, 7th, 8th and 9th congressional districts among the area’s most expensive Democratic primaries since the U.S. Supreme Court opened the floodgates to unlimited outside spending in elections, the Tribune found. […]
The nearly $62 million figure includes $30.4 million in contributions made directly to candidates’ campaign funds plus $31.4 million in expenditures from outside groups, mostly political action committees, to benefit or oppose candidates. […]
At least $19 million of the outside spending is directly or closely tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, a group that backs Democrats and Republicans who support pro-Israel policies. Another $5.8 million comes from groups that favor AI and cryptocurrency growth and oppose constrictive regulations on companies in those industries.
* Jewish Insider…
Broadly, a source close to AIPAC said, the group’s main goal in the primaries is to prevent six candidates — state Sen. Robert Peters in the 2nd District, activist Kina Collins in the 7th, activist Junaid Ahmed and Hanover Park Trustee Yasmeen Bankole in the 8th and influencer Kat Abughazaleh and Skokie School Board member Bushra Amiwala in the 9th — from being elected, as it believes those candidates would be aligned with the far-left ‘Squad’ on Israel policy issues if elected to Congress.
* The Hill…
While [Former Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. (CD2)] and [Melissa Bean (CD8)] point out their records advancing their districts and say they won’t come to the House as “freshmen,” their Democratic challengers say the moment requires a newer voice ready to take on the Trump administration. […]
Yet, many of their challengers — who are largely younger than 61-year-old Jackson and 64-year-old Bean — say their districts deserve something new.
“I don’t think that the baggage that comes with Mr. Jr. is what we need to do to move our district forward,” said Illinois state Sen. Willie Preston (D), 41, one of the many Democrats challenging Jackson.
Bean challenger Junaid Ahmed, who’s launched several tech companies, questioned the idea that she would return to Congress and do things differently. The 50-year-old candidate pointed out that Bean’s work, at firms like JPMorgan Chase and Mesirow Wealth Advisors, came after she served on the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees the banking system.
* An internal poll from 8th CD candidate Neil Khot puts Melissa Bean in the lead, but Ahmed is just five points behind…
* Meanwhile, the AIPAC-backed super PAC Chicago Progressive Partnership has spent more money against Ahmed…
* We told you about the new digital ad from Chicago Progressive Partnership supporting Bushra Amiwala over the weekend. The New York Times has some reaction from candidates…
Ms. Amiwala said that she was “very unsure” of the motive behind the new commercial, but that she saw it as driven by a desire to tarnish her reputation by linking her with an organization that is unpopular in the district. “It makes no sense,” she said, adding: “Even I’m having a hard time finding the logic.” […]
“The only candidate that they have left that they could possibly consider to be an ally is Daniel Biss,” Ms. Abughazaleh said of AIPAC. “And this is a two-way race between him and myself.”
Mr. Biss, for his part, said that he had no doubt that AIPAC was behind the ad, but that Ms. Abughazaleh’s analysis was “absurd.”
He portrayed Ms. Fine as AIPAC’s favored candidate and described himself as an “existential threat” to the group because of his deep ties to Israel and his critical position toward the country’s government. The ad was further evidence that AIPAC was trying to clear a path for Ms. Fine, Mr. Biss said.
“They would like to paint anybody who disagrees with them as anti-Israel or even antisemitic,” Mr. Biss said. “And they can’t do that with me.” […]
“Do the math, right?” [Sen. Mike Simmons], 43, said. “You’ve got this group that comes in at the last minute, and they are trying to all of a sudden elevate progressive candidates. It’s obvious. We’re not stupid.”
* Switching up on foreign policy one day before the election is certainly a choice…
This feels like a pattern for Abughazaleh’s campaign.
* Politico…
— IL-09: Democrat Kat Abughazaleh has been endorsed by fellow progressive Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan in her bid for the 9th District congressional seat.
— IL-07: State Rep. La Shawn Ford is being endorsed by a group of victims from the 2019 Boeing crash in Ethiopia that occurred due to a flawed automated flight‑control system, killing all 157 people on board. The group said, “It is another example of how Ford takes on corporate power and money.” […]
— In IL-08: County Commissioner Kevin Morrison has been endorsed by former state Sen. Dan Kotowski and the Illinois National Organization for Women Political Action Committee.
* More…
* Evanston RoundTable | Analysis: Who votes the most in the 9th Congressional District?: Among these areas, Evanston turned in the largest share of ballots in both cycles, though it benefits from being entirely within the 9th District as well as its largest suburb. The three following areas of Chicago’s 48th and 49th Wards and Niles Township are similarly parked almost entirely in the district, and together with Evanston delivered just under half of all Democratic primary ballots in 2022 and 2024. These areas connect to form an anchor vote base along the district’s lakefront communities and suburbs to the west like Skokie, Niles and Morton Grove.
* Patch | Congressional Candidate’s Message In ‘Provocative’ Video Misfires: Ruzevich’s provocative International Women’s Day video drew a rebuke from the high school. In an email to parents dated March 10 shared with Patch, McAuley president Carey Templeton Harrington said Ruzevich’s video was filmed without the school’s knowledge or permission, alleging that he encroached on campus property in an “unauthorized entry.” “We have chosen not to engage publicly with the candidate [Ruzevich] to avoid giving this stunt the attention it was designed to seek.”
* WCIA | Two Republican candidates pushing for spot in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District: Both Wilson and Loyd said they want to tighten immigration policies and support the United States’ current involvement in the conflict in the Middle East. […] The winner between Loyd and Wilson will go on to face Tuesday’s winner on the Democratic ballot in November. That will either be incumbent Nikki Budzinski or Dylan Blaha.
* The Guardian | Aipac: toxicity of pro-Israel Super Pac’s money to be tested in US primaries: The progressive candidates in the race have been the most direct about what they believe is at stake. “This is the Aipac playbook on how to control Congress,” Junaid Ahmed, who is running against Bean in the eighth district, said in a statement to the American Prospect. “They’ll spend big money now and then expect my opponent to send billions in aid and weapons to Israel when she’s in Congress.”
* CNN | As the politics around Israel shift, many Democrats are seeking distance from AIPAC: Several people familiar with AIPAC’s decision-making disputed that, arguing that Biss wouldn’t be the threat to them he imagines. But Biss is making such a big issue of AIPAC that he is running an ad about how much connected money has gone to support one of his opponents — Laura Fine — the favored AIPAC candidate who has publicly distanced herself from the group. Through at least three shell PACs including the United Democracy Project, AIPAC is set to top $20 million just in the Chicago-area House races ahead of Tuesday’s primaries.
* NPR | A race for a safe blue seat tests how far left Democrats want new leaders to go: “People listen to those who they know and who they trust,” Amiwala said, touting roughly 20 visits to nursing homes and senior living facilities, as well as to nearly every high school, college and university in the district. “Trust can only be earned with time,” she added. “There is nothing you can do to overcompensate that piece, and trust is what is most lost among the Democrats today.”
- 47th Ward - Monday, Mar 16, 26 @ 12:18 pm:
===An unprecedented amount of money — nearly $62 million — has poured into Chicago’s four most competitive Democratic congressional primaries in a combination of direct campaign contributions and outside spending.===
The finest Congress money can buy. I, for one, welcome our new corporate overlords.
On the plus side, this trend makes my $250 donation ridiculous, saving me the trouble of writing another check. Why bother?
- Charles Edward Cheese - Monday, Mar 16, 26 @ 12:25 pm:
A Kat can’t change her stripes. She hasn’t been doing a great job bucking the influencer carpetbagger label; changing positions, crying poor while being the child of a millionaire, and more. I’ll be relieved when this race is over.
- AlabamaShake - Monday, Mar 16, 26 @ 12:38 pm:
**the group’s main goal in the primaries is to prevent six candidates — state Sen. Robert Peters in the 2nd District, activist Kina Collins in the 7th, activist Junaid Ahmed and Hanover Park Trustee Yasmeen Bankole in the 8th and influencer Kat Abughazaleh and Skokie School Board member Bushra Amiwala in the 9th**
LOL, sure. AIPAC spent the most money trying to take down Biss, but now that Biss seems likely to win, they’re pretending he wasn’t one of their main targets?
*eyeroll*
- Give Us Barabbas - Monday, Mar 16, 26 @ 12:40 pm:
Citizens United is a cancer on our electoral system; warping every campaign with dark money, and the same dark money lobbies to protect it from ever being reformed, by burying any reformer under a mountain of advertising. The gift that keeps on giving.
- Proud Jew - Monday, Mar 16, 26 @ 12:54 pm:
AIPAC’s strategy is bizarre. When your organization becomes the political third rail in numerous races, your losing in the long run even if your candidate wins. The 7th is beyond me. Melissa CE is ethically compromised and had no resources but theirs. Her voters are not the same as Kina voters. They’ve actively opposed supporters of Israel as not supportive enough. Many members of the local Jewish community are incredibly angry at how AIPAC has conducted itself. JB’s comments to the NYT this weekend sums it up nicely.