{"id":24479,"date":"2026-08-01T19:48:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=24479"},"modified":"2026-08-01T19:48:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:48:27","slug":"aipacs-test-in-michigan-senate-primary-a-congress-member-they-helped-defeat-explains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=24479","title":{"rendered":"AIPAC\u2019s test in Michigan Senate primary: A Congress member they helped defeat explains"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"zephr-anchor\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">One of the most powerful forces in American politics is about to face a major test of its influence \u2014 and it may well come up short.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, has for decades spent heavily to ensure that US policy remains strongly supportive of the Israeli government. The group has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/orgs\/american-israel-public-affairs-cmte\/summary?toprecipcycle=2024&amp;contribcycle=2024&amp;lobcycle=2024&amp;outspendcycle=2024&amp;id=D000046963&amp;topnumcycle=A\">lobbying<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/aipac-israel-democratic-party-spending-dark-money-illinois-new-jersey-564cfdd46e0119501939452018be846a\">elections<\/a> to stock Congress with allies and keep them supportive of Israel\u2019s policy priorities once they\u2019re there. It also tries to defeat elected officials and candidates who, in its view, are too supportive of the Palestinian cause or too critical of Israel\u2019s Gaza war.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Next week\u2019s Democratic Senate primary in Michigan is AIPAC\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ap.org\/news-highlights\/elections\/2026\/aipac-has-spent-a-record-amount-on-michigans-senate-primary-the-biggest-test-of-its-influence-yet\/\">biggest-ever investment<\/a> in a single election: The group has spent more than $30 million to defeat staunch Israel critic Abdul El-Sayed and to try to ensure Rep. Haley Stevens wins the Democratic nomination instead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">In the past, AIPAC has very often gotten its way. But this time may be different. El-Sayed has been explicitly running against AIPAC, arguing that the group\u2019s heavy investment in the race discredits his opponent \u2014 and trying to capitalize on the Democratic base\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/495736\/israel-democrats-polling-gaza-genocide\">sharp turn against Israel<\/a> due to the devastation of the Gaza war. And if polling is any indication, it seems to be working. Several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/polls\/michigan-us-senate-election-polls-2026.html\">recent surveys<\/a> show El-Sayed with a double-digit lead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">If he wins, it would arguably be AIPAC\u2019s worst-ever defeat. It could also mean we\u2019re in a new chapter of politics, where the group\u2019s heavy spending is less and less effective \u2014 and even potentially toxic to voters in the Democratic base.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">What has changed, and how could these changes reshape politics?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">To understand the influence of AIPAC \u2014 what it\u2019s like to go up against the group, and also how its power may be ebbing \u2014 we spoke to a Michigan politician who ended up on their bad side, crossing the group on the Israel issue and then losing his seat. (In fact, he lost it to the very candidate AIPAC is boosting in next week\u2019s Senate contest: Haley Stevens.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Andy Levin was a two-term congressional incumbent and scion of a Michigan Jewish political dynasty \u2014 he succeeded his father, Sander Levin, who had served in the House for decades. Andy\u2019s uncle, Carl Levin, had served in the Senate for decades as well; both held high-profile committee chairships.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">But once in Congress, Andy Levin staked out positions on Israel that spurred furious pushback from AIPAC. A former president of the group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/ex-head-of-aipac-calls-jewish-michigan-congressman-corrosive-to-us-israel-ties\/\">declared<\/a> he was \u201carguably the most corrosive member of Congress to the US-Israel relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">And when, after redistricting, he and his colleague Rep. Stevens ended up running against each other in the same primary, AIPAC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2022-election\/only-one-house-democrats-will-survive-test-party-orthodoxy-michigan-rcna40662\">spent<\/a> more than $4 million to boost her chances, successfully knocking Levin out of Congress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Levin is an enthusiastic supporter of El-Sayed, and was in the car on his way to canvas for him when we spoke Thursday. Our conversation, which has been condensed and edited, follows.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p><h2 class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup\">How Rep. Andy Levin ran afoul of AIPAC<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _13j8zv41 _13j8zv40 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<div style=\"position:relative\">\n<div class=\"_10sa9omj\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<div style=\"background-image:none\" class=\"duet--media--content-warning _1wmfnm10\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--image-gallery-image _1hhpe710\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.503019\" id=\"dngyOmltYWdlOjQ5NzYxNw==\"><a class=\"_1hhpe711\" href=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" data-pswp-height=\"3147\" data-pswp-width=\"4730\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><img alt=\"Then-Rep. Andy Levin, in 2022\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ssnpw50\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\" sizes=\"(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=256 256w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=376 376w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=384 384w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=415 415w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=480 480w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=540 540w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=750 750w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=828 828w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=1080 1080w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=1200 1200w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=1440 1440w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=1920 1920w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=2400 2400w\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1238327151.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=2400\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup pn04iq2 _1dh7zmha\">Then-Rep. Andy Levin, in 2022<\/figcaption><cite class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup pn04iq2 _1dh7zmh5\">Bill Clark\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>Tell me about your history and how you\u2019ve thought about the Israeli-Palestinian issue over the years.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">I guess the thing to understand is, I\u2019m Jewish, right? You know what a mezuzah is? I had mezuzot on all my doors in Congress. I was the president of my synagogue until I won my primary, and then I felt I had to resign and turn that over.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">I am a long, long, longtime human rights activist. My human rights grounding comes from my values as a Jew. Everyone\u2019s created the image of God, you know, and all this. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.myjewishlearning.com\/article\/justice-justice-you-shall-pursue\/\">Justice, justice shall you pursue<\/a>.\u201d Not a lot of words are repeated twice in the Torah.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">So I was active on Tibetan human rights and Haitian human rights. I was in China during the Tiananmen massacre. I interviewed the Dalai Lama. In 1990, as a graduate student, I went to Israel and Palestine. We traveled all over Israel, and we could go in Gaza, there was no Hamas yet. We met the political leaders there and talked to everybody in the West Bank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">And I came home, and I wrote an article in the Detroit Jewish News that said, \u201cOh my God, 23 years of occupation, this is enough. It\u2019s totally toxic. It\u2019s bad for our soul as the Jewish people, and there\u2019s no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without fully realizing the political and human rights of the Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">My positions never really changed. But after a quarter century of Bibi [Netanyahu] being the Israeli government \u2014 he\u2019s always been against the two-state solution, no question, but he pussyfooted around; he played a lot of games about it. But his government\u2019s gotten more and more right-wing. And in this century, no president of either party has done anything significant to force the Israelis and the Palestinians into each other\u2019s arms, or just to, like, really negotiate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>So you get elected to Congress in 2018. How did you earn the enmity of AIPAC?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">I get to Congress. I get on the Foreign Affairs Committee. And the Gaza war before this one happens [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/22440330\/israel-palestine-gaza-airstrikes-hamas-updates-2021\">in 2021<\/a>]. It was like a pimple compared to this, but it was terrible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">In the House, there were eight more senior Democrats who worked on Israel and Palestine together. I was, like, the kid; they let me tag along. We were all J Street-aligned [J Street is a more progressive Israel advocacy group].<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">There were these meetings, and everyone was like, we have to do reconstruction of Gaza, we have to do aid. And I\u2019m like, okay, I\u2019m for all that. But this is just an endless cycle of violence. I want to focus on ending the cycle of violence and actually achieving peace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">So I wrote the <a href=\"https:\/\/gjia.georgetown.edu\/conflict-security\/the-potential-implications-of-the-two-state-solution-act\/\">Two-State Solution Act<\/a>. And, dude, it was quite a milquetoast piece of legislation, if I may say so. It was not adequate in any way. But the preamble said, \u201cwhereas\u201d \u2014 you know, all the \u201cwhereas\u201d-es [rhetorical throat-clearing at the beginning of legislation], which aren\u2019t an effective part of it \u2014 it said, whereas Gaza and the West Bank and East Jerusalem, under international law and United Nations resolutions, these are occupied territory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">The Democratic Majority for Israel pollster, Mark Mellman, attacked me, saying, Andy Levin says we shouldn\u2019t be able to pray on the Western Wall. Because of that preamble, which said East Jerusalem was occupied territory arguably \u2014 it\u2019s ridiculous.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">But with the Two-State Solution Act \u2014 this is the stranglehold that AIPAC had. Some people are sort of more intellectually serious in Congress, and some are less. Some are more like, they study things themselves, but some are more staff-driven.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Some of the more serious people came up to me and said they read the Two-State Solution Act, and they said really nice things about it. And then they said, \u201cBut of course I can\u2019t co-sponsor it, you understand.\u201d One colleague came and co-sponsored, but because AIPAC said \u201cdude, no,\u201d he withdrew.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p><h2 class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup\">How Levin lost to Haley Stevens \u2014 who was aided by AIPAC\u2019s spending \u2014 in 2022<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _13j8zv41 _13j8zv40 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<div style=\"position:relative\">\n<div class=\"_10sa9omj\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<div style=\"background-image:none\" class=\"duet--media--content-warning _1wmfnm10\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--image-gallery-image _1hhpe710\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.5\" id=\"dngyOmltYWdlOjQ5NzYyMQ==\"><a class=\"_1hhpe711\" href=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" data-pswp-height=\"4000\" data-pswp-width=\"6000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><img alt=\"Stevens speaks into a microphone\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ssnpw50\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\" sizes=\"(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=256 256w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=376 376w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=384 384w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=415 415w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=480 480w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=540 540w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=750 750w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=828 828w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=1080 1080w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=1200 1200w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=1440 1440w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=1920 1920w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=2400 2400w\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1244567212.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=2400\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup pn04iq2 _1dh7zmha\">Rep. Haley Stevens, on the campaign trail in 2022<\/figcaption><cite class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup pn04iq2 _1dh7zmh5\">GSarah Rice\/Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>So then, in the 2022 cycle, there was redistricting, and you and your colleague Haley Stevens ended up running in the same district, and that\u2019s when AIPAC tries to defeat you.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">After the Census, Michigan went from 14 to 13 seats. Haley and I were mushed in together now. You could have argued that either of us should\u2019ve run in the new, current, 10th district. Haley lived in the 10th district; she was more moderate, and that\u2019s a more Republican or mixed district. I never represented any of that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">My case was, I lived in the center of the new 11th district; I still live there. My kids are the fifth generation of my family to live in the new 11th district. The whole Jewish community is almost all in the new 11th district, overwhelmingly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">But the former national president of AIPAC wrote this fundraising appeal for Haley and said, Andy Levin is the most corrosive member of Congress for the US-Israel relationship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">So the level of threat they saw in me \u2014 if you get a Rashida [Tlaib] or even if you get an Abdul [El-Sayed], they\u2019ll fight against them. But I\u2019m the Jewish guy, right? I\u2019m the son of Sander Levin, the nephew of Carl Levin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">They were these two Jewish kids from Detroit, grandsons of immigrants, who rose to be, at the same time, the chair of the [House] Ways and Means Committee \u2014 my dad \u2014 and the chair of the [Senate] Armed Services Committee. So this is super threatening to AIPAC, right? So they targeted me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">So I got trounced by Haley. And I wondered afterward; I told Celinda [pollster Celinda Lake], I should have run in the new 10th district because this intramural fight was so horrible, so unpleasant. She said, I admit it would\u2019ve been better \u2014 but I don\u2019t admit you would\u2019ve won in the 10th. Because AIPAC would have backed [Republican nominee] John James, and they would have spent any amount of money to beat you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p><h2 class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup\">Why the politics of Israel changed \u2014 and why he thinks Abdul El-Sayed has a better shot at winning, including in the fall<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _13j8zv41 _13j8zv40 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<div style=\"position:relative\">\n<div class=\"_10sa9omj\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<div style=\"background-image:none\" class=\"duet--media--content-warning _1wmfnm10\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--image-gallery-image _1hhpe710\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49925\" id=\"dngyOmltYWdlOjQ5NzYyMg==\"><a class=\"_1hhpe711\" href=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" data-pswp-height=\"2001\" data-pswp-width=\"3000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><img alt=\"El-Sayed on speaks into a mic\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ssnpw50\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\" sizes=\"(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=256 256w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=376 376w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=384 384w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=415 415w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=480 480w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=540 540w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=750 750w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=828 828w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=1080 1080w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=1200 1200w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=1440 1440w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=1920 1920w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=2400 2400w\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286977411.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=2400\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup pn04iq2 _1dh7zmha\">Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks during a campaign event at the Loving Touch on July 25, 2026, in Ferndale, Michigan<\/figcaption><cite class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup pn04iq2 _1dh7zmh5\">Emily Elconin\/Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>You lost your race, but it certainly seems like, four years on, your views are winning inside the Democratic Party. The party base increasingly seems to be siding with you and against AIPAC now. Take me through what changed since then. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Horrifying things caused the change. Genocide caused the change. Seventy thousand-plus Palestinians killed in Gaza caused the change. Most houses of worship, university buildings, hospitals, residential buildings being destroyed, and the US either providing the weapons for or even paying for a lot of this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">These huge bombs, which US military leadership said, we don\u2019t use those in populated areas \u2014 we\u2019re providing them to Israel, and not only was Israel using them like on apartment blocks, they were using them on places they told people to flee. Any parent seeing all these maimed and killed children \u2014 and, what\u2019s happening on the West Bank is horrifying, right? That\u2019s part of it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">But the other part is, it gets mixed in with the larger, horrifying phenomenon of dark money, and corporate money, and special interest money in our politics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">I mean, the idea that AIPAC is using mostly dollars from Republican centimillionaires and billionaires to be the biggest spender in Democratic primaries \u2014 that\u2019s so gross, and it\u2019s a huge problem for the Democratic Party and also for our democracy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Most people don\u2019t vote on Israel and Palestine at all; they vote on their pocketbook, on their kids, on their neighborhood, on inflation, on jobs. We\u2019re at a really huge gathering crisis about income and wealth inequality in America.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">So we need three things, really, in candidates this year: authenticity, boldness about policy proposals, and truth-telling. I think this year, people are so fed up with politics as usual. And can you imagine? Honestly, can you imagine Abdul could win when they\u2019re spending $80 million to beat him?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>Why do you think he\u2019s able to pull that off \u2014 if he is? The election isn\u2019t over, of course, but it\u2019s on Tuesday, and the latest polling has shown him with a double-digit lead. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Sometimes the amount of money, it does become a little bit of a story in itself. Of the money being spent on Haley Stevens\u2019s behalf, what percentage is going to be money she raised outside of AIPAC, and what percent is going to be dark money of one kind or another?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">But one of my biggest things about this election is this notion about how to win in November, which drives me out of my mind. The idea is, the liberals are gonna vote for the Democrat. The MAGA people are going to vote for the Republicans. Therefore, it\u2019s all about the independents. It\u2019s all about the people in the middle. Therefore, we must run to the mushy middle to win.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">It\u2019s a static idea of the electorate, right? They call Michigan a swing state. What is a swing? The whole beauty of the swing \u2014 when you\u2019re a kid, you go so high, you go all the way to the back, and you feel like you\u2019re weightless for a second, and you go all the way to the front. That\u2019s swinging.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">That\u2019s what Michigan does. [In presidential primaries], this state <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1972\/05\/17\/archives\/wallace-off-the-critical-list-sweeps-primary-in-michigan-and-wins.html\">voted to nominate George Wallace<\/a> in 1972. We voted to nominate Jesse Jackson in 1988. And Bernie Sanders in 2016.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Abdul can attract voters across the political spectrum who hate the system. He\u2019s so different than Trump, but they look at him and are like, well, nobody\u2019s going to fuck with him. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to kowtow to anybody or just do what anybody says. I think he\u2019s gonna do his own thing, and it will be entertaining to watch this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">I think that actually Abdul can expand the electorate, and he\u2019s the better candidate. We must win this seat in November. Abdul\u2019s the better choice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most powerful forces in American politics is about to face a major test of its influence \u2014 and it may well come up short. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, has for decades spent heavily to ensure that US policy remains strongly supportive of the Israeli government. The group has&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1242187415.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C10.732984293194%2C100%2C78.534031413613&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}