Pro-Israel group funding PAC to take down Susheela Jayapal: Report

The Intercept cites sources to say American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) funding a “pro-science” PAC to target Jayapal

A pro-Israel group is funding a “pro-science” PAC to defeat Indian American Democratic candidate Susheela Jayapal in Portland, Oregon, congressional race, a media report suggested citing two unnamed Democratic members of Congress.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, is targeting Susheela Jayapal, former Multnomah County Commissioner and the sister of Rep. Pramila Jayapal, by secretly funneling money into the race by washing it through 314 Action Fund, The Intercept reported.

314 Action Fund, which is not known for spending big in congressional primaries, has spent $1.7 million in support of a single candidate in the 3rd Congressional District’s open Democratic primary, it said citing federal filings. That sum is equal to what the political action committee spent on independent expenditures supporting or opposing candidates during the entire 2022 election cycle.

READ: Susheela Jayapal running for Congress from Oregon (November 6, 2023)

314 Action Fund, which describes itself as helping to elect “Democrats with a background in science to public office,” is throwing its weight behind Maxine Dexter, a state representative and local doctor, according to the Intercept.

The Jewish Insider floated Dexter as a potentially pro-Israel candidate before she entered the race. By waiting until April to launch its spending blitz, 314 Action is able to delay disclosure of its donors until May 20, the independent online news outlet said.

“The election is scheduled for May 21, but ballots have already begun arriving to voters by mail. In other words, the identity of the donor or donors won’t be documented in campaign finance reports until it’s too late,” it said. What is publicly known, however, is that Jayapal was considered the candidate to beat before the sudden influx of money last month, according to the Intercept.

READ: Susheela Jayapal first Indian American woman to hold Oregon county office (January 4, 2019)

“The pro-Israel community telegraphed its intent to target Jayapal early on, primarily for suspicion that her politics on Israel–Palestine may align with her younger sister’s, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who called for a ceasefire early in the current war on Gaza,” it said.

On Dec 5, a story landed in Jewish Insider, which closely tracks congressional primaries, headlined “Jayapal sister’s congressional candidacy alarming Portland Jewish leaders.”

READ: Indian American Bhavini Patel fails to unseat Squad member Summer Lee in PA 12th district race (April 24, 2024)

“The last-minute spending in the race is enormous: on track to climb north of $3 million in a short period of time in an inexpensive media market,” the Intercept reported. “On Friday, a brand-new super PAC got involved with nearly $1 million worth of negative ads against Jayapal.”

Some of the money directed to 314 Action — close to a million dollars by early April — had come from a single Los Angeles-based AIPAC donor, it said citing members of Congress, who asked for anonymity to preserve professional and political relationships.

The plan was openly discussed at a recent AIPAC fundraiser in Los Angeles, as well as a fundraiser in the Pacific Northwest, unnamed members of Congress, who learned about it from colleagues in attendance or were themselves in attendance, were quoted as saying.

READ: Susheela Jayapal elected as Oregon’s Multnomah County Commissioner (May 16, 2018)

AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, has not spent any money on the race, according to the Intercept. AIPAC, it said, did not respond to its requests for comment.

Jayapal and Eddy Morales, another candidate in the race, held a joint press conference Thursday to decry the lack of transparency and call on Dexter and 314 Action to open up about the identity of the donors.

Morales and Jayapal issued a joint statement following the press event, saying, “Maxine Dexter claims to be for transparency in politics, but she and 314 Action are engaged in a dishonest and cynical ploy to obscure the donors propping up her campaign until just one day before the primary. At a time when MAGA Republican mega-donors are interfering in Democratic primaries across the country, particularly against qualified candidates of color, voters deserve to know who is trying to buy this seat for a centrist candidate who doesn’t even live in the district.”

Jayapal Launched her campaign in early November after Rep. Earl Blumenauer announced his retirement. As of December, pro-Israel groups had yet to coalesce behind a single candidate to oppose her, giving Jayapal a significant advantage, Jewish Insider warned at the time.

“While the elder Jayapal, 61, had no discernible history of public engagement on Middle East policy until recently, her approach to the war between Israel and Hamas suggests there is little distance between the two siblings on such matters,” reported JI.

“A pro-Israel leader in Portland, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his privacy, said there is growing concern among other like-minded local activists that Jayapal’s Middle East policy positions ‘will not differ that much from her sister.’”

The same article elevated Dexter as an alternative for pro-Israel voters to coalesce around, though she had yet to formally announce a bid. JI reported that Dexter “has been characterized as a pragmatic progressive but does not appear to have issued any statements on Middle East policy” and that she had told JI that “she has received ‘strong encouragement’ to run.”

On Friday, a new PAC called “Voters for Responsive Government” launched with two negative ads targeting Jayapal, according to the Intercept. Neither ad mentions Israel or Gaza; one of them literally accuses Jayapal of abusing and starving cats and dogs, with a heartrending image of a suffering puppy and kitty.

The attack ads set the new PAC’s strategy apart from 314 Action, which has so far spent only on positive ads boosting Dexter, apparently unwilling to be the vehicle for attack ads against a popular Democrat, it noted.

Pramila Jayapal, meanwhile, has a week to learn whether AIPAC will be successful in recruiting a challenger to her, according to the Intercept. Multiple local elected officials already turned down such entreaties, relaying the recruitment effort to Jayapal’s campaign or its allies, it said citing a campaign spokesperson.

A recent field poll in Seattle, where Jayapal is an incumbent, tested Jayapal’s popularity as well as potential messages that could be used against her, such as the claim that she is “too extreme” or “out of touch.”

According to local Democrats in Washington’s 46th District, one tested message in the poll asked if it bothered voters that Jayapal opposed President Joe Biden sometimes on principle from a progressive direction.

After learning of the recruitment drive, the Jayapal campaign put its own poll in the field. The survey found her with a 69-19 percent favorability rating. When told Jayapal supported a ceasefire in Gaza, 40% of Democrats said they were much more likely to support her, and another 29% said they’d be more likely. Just 7% said that calling for a ceasefire made them less likely to support her.

It is not the first time that pro-Israeli groups have become involved in a congressional race featuring an Indian American candidate during this election cycle. Earlier this year, these groups backed Indian American Democrat Bhavini Patel, who ran a primary campaign against ‘Squad’ member Rep. Summer Lee in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District. However, Patel ultimately lost the race.