* Starting off with the unofficial results from the 2nd, 7th, 8th and 9th congressional districts…

* The Sun-Times…

There were at least five PACs related to AIPAC that tried to influence five congressional races — and the group saw two victories: Donna Miller in the 2nd and Melissa Bean in the 8th. The groups fared worse in the 9th District, spending money to harm Kat Abughazaleh’s chances and trying to boost State Sen. Laura Fine. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss won instead.

One AIPAC-affiliated group spent big dollars to help Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin in the 7th and to oppose real estate executive Jason Friedman. State Rep. La Shawn Ford instead won the race.

Here’s a rundown of the groups: Affordable Chicago Now! spent nearly $4.4 million supporting Miller in the 2nd District. Chicago Progressive Partnership spent $266,000 in opposition of Abughazaleh in the 9th District. Elect Democratic Women Action Fund spent more than $500,000 supporting Fine in the 9th District. Elect Chicago Women (ECW) spent $5.8 million supporting Fine and opposing Biss in the 9th, plus $3.9 million supporting Bean in the 8th District. United Democracy Project (UDP) spent $5 million in the 7th District race, mostly in support of Conyears-Ervin, but also about $60,000 against Friedman.

AIPAC claimed it as a net win, declaring in a statement “these results further demonstrate that campaigns defined largely by opposition to AIPAC, our members, and the values we represent continue to fall short on election night.”

* AIPAC also claimed they helped defeat progressive Bushra Amiwala…

While disappointed Laura Fine didn’t prevail, the pro-Israel community is proud to have helped defeat would-be Squad members Kat Abughazaleh and Bushra Amiwala, who centered their campaigns on attacking Israel and demonizing pro-Israel Americans. https://t.co/7HL0DbCLkP

— AIPAC ???? (@AIPAC) March 18, 2026

An APIAC-affiliated group, Chicago Progressive Partnership, spent $1.2 million to support Amiwala in an attempt to further divide the progressive vote.

* Fortune…

State Rep. La Shawn Ford, who had supported state legislation regulating the AI and crypto industries, won the Democratic primary to succeed U.S. Rep. Danny Davis. Fairshake spent nearly $2.5 million opposing Ford’s candidacy in a race that featured at least four other political groups spending against the progressive lawmaker or for his opponents.

Meanwhile, Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller prevailed in the Democratic primary to succeed Kelly after Fairshake spent more than $800,000 against state Rep. Robert Peters, another progressive who supported legislation to regulate the crypto industry.

The AI-backed Think Big PAC invested more than $1 million to boost the candidacy of Jesse Jackson Jr., a former congressman who pleaded guilty in a fraud scandal in 2013. But Jackson also faced about $1 million in negative campaign spending from the Jobs and Democracy PAC, another AI-backed group.

* The Tribune…

Pumping his fist as he walked in, Ford informed a room full of supporters at the National Association of Letter Carriers headquarters on the South Side that Chicago city treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin had called him to concede. Then he turned to address Davis, who had endorsed Ford after holding the seat for nearly 30 years. […]

Conyears-Ervin’s campaign had released a statement about 8:40 p.m. saying she congratulated Ford on clinching the nomination. The Associated Press called the race for Ford a short time later.

“While this is not the outcome we were hoping for, I am comforted by the words of Scripture: ‘I have fought the good fight, I have run the race, I have kept the faith,’” she wrote.

* Politico…

Former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. fell short in his attempt to return to Congress on Tuesday, after resigning more than a decade ago amid a federal corruption investigation.
Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller defeated him and a host of other candidates to win the Democratic primary for Illinois’ 2nd district, a seat currently held by Rep. Robin Kelly, who left to run for the Senate. […]

Meanwhile, Miller consolidated support across key parts of the district and benefited from spending by a group aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which funneled more than $4 million into ads promoting her campaign. The contest drew national attention in part because the group, Affordable Chicago Now, gave Miller’s campaign substantial airtime in the Chicago media market and funded mail pieces highlighting her record.

The spending helped elevate Miller’s profile even as a separate political action committee, the Leading the Future PAC, which is funded by OpenAI stakeholders, spent more than $1 million to promote Jackson after he signaled support for the industry with op-eds and ads.

…Adding… Drop Sight News reporter Ryan Grim…

Huge miss here by American Priorities, the new anti-genocide PAC with deep pockets. They believed Junaid Ahmed couldn’t win and resisted pressure to support him. Results show they could’ve made a decisive difference. AIPAC almost never holds back, and didn’t here, and so notched… pic.twitter.com/HCIF0RqOHO

— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) March 18, 2026

* More…

* NYT | Centrist Melissa Bean Wins 8th District Democratic Primary: In the final days of the campaign, Ms. Bean received a rush of financial support from a group tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the hard-line pro-Israel lobbying organization, as she fended off a progressive rival, the tech entrepreneur Junaid Ahmed. Ms. Bean campaigned on a promise to offer a check on President Trump and to help revive a more functional version of Congress. The race drew attention from national figures and interest groups.

* NYT | La Shawn K. Ford Wins Nomination for House Seat Long Held by Danny Davis: A victory by Mr. Ford in November would preserve Black representation of the Seventh District, which has been served by a Black member of Congress since the 1970s. A plurality of Seventh District residents are Black, though the district is also home to large numbers of white, Hispanic and Asian residents. The leading Democrats in the race criticized President Trump and pledged to serve as a check on his priorities in Washington. United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, invested millions of dollars in the race and supported Ms. Conyears-Ervin.

* Politico | AIPAC, AI money propels Melissa Bean to comeback victory in Illinois: Her win was heavily boosted by outside spending: A group called Elect Chicago Women, aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, poured nearly $4 million into the race to support Bean, and another AI-focused committee ran ads in favor of her. Bean, who had lost her seat during the 2010 Tea Party wave, built her campaign around a message of pragmatism — an approach she argued voters were seeking amid a hyper-partisan national political climate.

* WaPo | Crypto’s bet against Stratton doesn’t pay off: Fairshake also spent nearly $2.5 million attacking Ford, who defeated Conyears-Ervin. The super PAC fared better in the race Miller won, where it spent more than $800,000 opposing state Sen. Robert Peters. Ford and Peters both voted for the legislation that Pritzker signed last year that the crypto industry opposed.

* The 19th | Kat Abughazaleh loses primary election bid for Illinois U.S. House seat: Speaking to a room full of supporters, Abughazaleh said, “The work isn’t over. There are progressives all over the country who are taking a chance just like we did and we have to help them win, no matter how hard it is. We have to send a message to this administration and anyone who enables them, and I’m talking to them right now: You and your jobs are not safe. This is the start and not the end. We are not tolerating the status quo. You cannot kidnap and kill us and our neighbors. You cannot start illegal wars. You cannot trample on our rights and see our lives as a means for profit. We will continue to come back and every single loss like this one just makes the path easier for the next person who takes the same chance.”