Pro-Israel group spent millions in tight race for southern California House seat – and lost

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), the most powerful pro-Israel lobby group in the US, poured more than $4.5m into an Orange county congressional race in hopes of keeping Dave Min from advancing to the November election.

But on Tuesday, the California state senator did exactly that – outpacing his Democratic competitor Joanna Weiss to come in second in the primary for the seat of Congresswoman Katie Porter.

The seat is crucial to Democrats hoping to wrestle control of the House of Representatives from Republicans. Come November, Min will face off with Republican Scott Baugh to represent the southern California district in the House.

But Aipac’s massive spending in Orange county has perplexed analysts and Min himself.

“Why the hell did you come in against me? We’re trying to understand why,” Min said in an interview with Semafor.

“Maybe AIPAC wants a rubber stamp. I’m not going to be a rubber stamp,” he said.

Aipac has spent millions of dollars against progressive candidates who have been critical of Israel this year and in recent election cycles.

But the conflict in the Middle East was not a major issue in the primary race. Min’s positions regarding Israel aren’t particularly radical – he has criticized the country’s move to expand settlements in the West Bank and blamed the Israeli prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu, for “security failures” around the 7 October 2023 attacks, but has not publicly called for a ceasefire.

Still, he was hit with a barrage of attack ads. The ads from United Democracy Project, Aipac’s Pac, didn’t mention Min’s position on Israel but instead highlighted his arrest for drunk-driving last spring. “Dave Min wants your trust, but Min was arrested for drunk-driving – putting us all at risk,”