AIPAC Donors Back Real Estate Tycoon Who Opposed Gaza Ceasefire For Deep Blue Chicago Seat

Pro-Israel donors have picked a candidate to replace Rep Danny Davis in Chicago Jason Friedman one of candidates vying to replace Davis in the March Democratic primary next year has pulled ahead of the pack in fundraising His campaign published donations totaling over million in its October filing with the Federal Referendum Commission About of that money comes from major funders of pro-Israel groups including the American Israel Populace Affairs Committee PAC and its super PAC United Democracy Project The two groups spent more than million on elections last year and ousted two leading critics of Israel from Congress The pro-Israel donors patronage this year is an early sign that Friedman s race is on AIPAC s radar A former Chicago real estate mogul Friedman launched his campaign in April before Davis communicated his retirement From to he was chair of administration affairs for the Jewish United Fund a charitable organization that promotes pro-Israel narratives noting on its website that Israel does not intentionally target civilians Israel does not occupy Gaza and There is no Israeli apartheid Friedman has not made Israel a part of his campaign platform but last month the Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs a pro-Israel PAC held an event for its members to meet him AIPAC has not announced publicly whether it s backing a candidate in the race but more than of its donors have given money to Friedman s campaign Among them have donated to the United Democracy Project and eight have donated to both Together the Friedman donors have contributed just under million to AIPAC and UDP since That includes more than million to UDP and more than to AIPAC with several donors giving six or five-figure contributions to the PACs Friedman s donors have also given to DMFI PAC the political action committee for the AIPAC offshoot Democratic Majority for Israel and another to the pro-Israel group To Protect Our Heritage PAC which endorsed another candidate in the race Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin The Conyears-Ervin campaign and To Protect Our Heritage PAC did not respond to a request for comment Friedman is running largely on taking on President Donald Trump on issues from physical condition care to teaching and the market His campaign website says he supports strong unions access to guidance reducing gun violence and job training and backing Prior to his tenure leading his family real estate empire Friedman worked in politics under former President Bill Clinton and for Sen Dick Durbin on the Senate Judiciary Committee Reached by phone the pro-Israel donor Larry Hochberg communicated The Intercept that he was supporting Friedman because he thought he d be a good candidate I ll leave it at that Hochberg announced Related U S Nonprofits Funnel Millions to Israeli Army Supporters A former AIPAC national director Hochberg sits on the board of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces and co-founded the pro-Israel advocacy group ELNET which has described itself as the AIPAC of Europe Hochberg has given to AIPAC to DMFI PAC and just under to To Protect Our Heritage PAC In September he gave to Friedman s campaign Required about his sponsorship for AIPAC and DMFI he notified The Intercept I don t think I want to say any more than that Former Rep Marie Newman a former target of pro-Israel donors who represented Illinois s nearby rd District and was ousted from Congress in criticized Friedman for the influx in cash If you receive money from AIPAC donors who believe in genocide and are funding genocide then in fact you believe in genocide Newman described The Intercept She s backing another candidate in the race gun violence activist Kina Collins who ran against Davis three times and came within percentage points of unseating him in Friedman is running against other Democratic candidates including Collins and Conyears-Ervin During Collins s third run against Davis last year United Democracy Project spent just under half a million dollars against her Davis who received help from a dark-money group aligned with Democratic leaders in his race has endorsed state Rep La Shawn Ford to replace him Other candidates include former Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin former Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins immigrant advocate Anabel Mendoza organizer Anthony Driver Jr urgency room professional Thomas Fisher and former antitrust attorney Reed Showalter who has pledged not to accept money from AIPAC Friedman s campaign did not respond to a request for comment The genocide in Gaza has aggravated fault lines among Democrats in Chicago Last year the Chicago City Council narrowly passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with Mayor Brandon Johnson casting the tie-breaking vote As chair of ruling body affairs for the Jewish United Fund Friedman signed a letter to Johnson last year from the group and leaders of Chicago s Jewish region saying they were appalled at the upshot Friedman s campaign did not respond to questions about his position on U S military funding for Israel or the war on Gaza At least Friedman donors have given to the United Democracy Project with contributions totaling over million That includes nine people who gave six-figure contributions to UDP and seven who gave five-figures Twenty-nine Friedman donors have given to AIPAC PAC including eight of the same UDP donors Related Even Former AIPAC Democrats Are Signing On to Block Arms Sales to Israel Among those supporters are gaming executive Greg Carlin who has given to UDP and gave to Friedman s campaign in April investor Tony Davis who has given to UDP and also gave to Friedman s campaign in April and attorney Steven Lavin who has given to UDP and gave to Friedman s campaign in June Carlin Davis and Lavin did not respond to a request for comment Attorneys Douglas Gessner and Sanford Perl who work at Friedman s previous law firm Kirkland Ellis have given and to UDP Both have also given to AIPAC PAC Gessner over and Perl over Gessner gave to Friedman s campaign in September and Perl gave in April Gessner and Perl did not respond to requests for comment If you re taking money from people who are supporting a far right-wing executive that is executing a genocide what does that say about you Three other donors who have each given million to UDP have given to Friedman s campaign Miami Beach biotech executive Jeff Aronin Chicago marketing founder Ilan Shalit and Jerry Bednyak a co-founder of Vivid Seats who runs a private equity company focused on e-commerce You could be the nicest person in the world mentioned Newman the former Illinois congresswoman But if you re taking money from people who are supporting a far right-wing establishment that believes in genocide and is executing a genocide what does that say about you Friedman s campaign coffers saw six-figure boosts on three days in June and September vast outliers compared to the majority days in his first quarter Those kinds of fundraising boosts are often associated with a blast email from a supportive political group to its infrastructure of donors according to a Democratic strategist with knowledge of the race AIPAC did not respond to a request for comment about whether the group had sent such an email encouraging supporters to contribute to Friedman s campaign Friedman s fundraising boost has also come largely from the finance and real estate industries where just under a quarter of his donors work He has also given of his own money to his campaign The post AIPAC Donors Back Real Estate Tycoon Who Opposed Gaza Ceasefire For Deep Blue Chicago Seat appeared first on The Intercept