Undaunted in Illinois

Standing up to dark money isn’t easy

In winning the Democratic nomination in the IL-9 House race, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss showed us how to stand up for democratic values and beat back dark money. Specifically, he overcame an avalanche of AIPAC money and debunked the argument that anyone who does not unconditionally support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government’s regional aggression and Palestinian policy is somehow “anti-Israeli.”

In an interview with me earlier this month, Biss defended his Israel bona fides:

I’m Jewish. My mother’s Israeli. My grandparents found a safe haven in Israel in 1948 after surviving the Holocaust. Most of my extended family on my mom’s side is still there, and I grew up visiting there every summer. So, Israel… means something to me, and its right to exist as a Jewish democratic state and to defend itself, also means something to me. This is not some box I checked on a questionnaire just to make somebody happy, this is personal.

He forthrightly called the conduct of this Israeli government “appalling,” and deplored the U.S. stance when the Netanyahu government violates international law in a way that amounts to: “Hey, we wish you wouldn’t, but also when you do, there will be no consequences.” That position, Biss argued, “has not worked, cannot work, will not work.”

Moreover, he called out AIPAC’s insistence that lawmakers “commit to oppose any conditions on military aid to Israel whatsoever.” That position is “absurd for anyone to take relative to any country,” he argued convincingly.

Biss called out AIPAC’s deceptive tactics, pointing out that it had concocted a new entity, “Elect Chicago Women,” to conceal its own name, which has become toxic in Democratic politics. Biss also emphasized that instead of challenging him on the merits of his Israel stance (which matches that of most Democrats), AIPAC launched personal attacks against him.

Following his victory Tuesday night, Biss thanked his mentor, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), the retiring incumbent, and his opponents. He reasserted his progressive values and denounced the privileged few who have a “stranglehold” on our politics.

Biss boldly reaffirmed his “core” beliefs on Israel, which include dignity for the Palestinian people and defense of democracy. “This district understands nuance,” he said. “AIPAC found out the hard way that my district is not for sale.” He asserted that his view represents the mainstream in both the Democratic Party and the Jewish community. It was a moment to savor beating back dark money without sacrificing one’s principles or wrongly assuming voters cannot think critically about a given race.

Biss had critical help from J Street (the center-left pro-democracy, pro-Israel group), which made a 6-figure third-party expenditure to put out a positive ad featuring his progressive record.

J Street president Jeremy Ben Ami and I have discussed the destructive turn AIPAC has made in recent years. It has become effectively a front for rightwing billionaires to clobber any candidate who will not sign onto its unqualified, extreme position on Israel.

After Biss’s race was called, J Street put out a statement touting the “win for democracy and a clear rejection of efforts to buy this primary”:

AIPAC and its affiliates poured more than $7 million into a Democratic primary to stamp out opposition to Netanyahu’s policies – using shell PACs to obscure their involvement — and the voters rejected that effort.

Tonight’s results should send a clear message to candidates across the country: you do not have to fear AIPAC’s spending or intimidation. Standing on principles and trusting voters matters more than outside money. . . .

We supported Biss because he represents the values we believe voters are looking for — a commitment to Israel’s security alongside support for Palestinian freedom, and the understanding that these goals are not in conflict, but inseparable.

Unfortunately, Tom Malinowski, running in the special election in New Jersey’s 11^th congressional district in February, was a victim of these sort of AIPAC tactics. However, J Street, Biss, and center-left Democrats learned the lessons from that race. In the 9^th, Biss swiftly called out dark money, exposed AIPAC’s election gamesmanship, and affirmed his bedrock principles. That strategy allowed Biss to prevail on Tuesday.

Critically, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (who won renomination for another term, helped Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton to victory in the Democratic Senate primary, and is in the top tier of 2028 contenders) has also bashed AIPAC’s tact to the right. “I abandoned AIPAC more than a dozen years ago,” he said in recent interview. “It was an organization that had at one time been bipartisan in nature and really all about preserving a strong relationship between the United States and Israel.” However, he recalled that “the organization began to lean much more to the right and much more pro-Trump, who had then become a candidate for president, and that disturbed me greatly.”

He could not support a group that got “involved in elections directly and [began] choosing to support candidates who were MAGA and right-wing and Trumpy.” In speaking out, Pritzker (as Biss did) carved out space for pro-Israel progressives and set AIPAC back on its heels.

Biss should be commended for his undaunted, unabashed defense of democratic values, his nuanced stance on Israel, and his rejection of deceitful dark money tactics. It is not easy in the face of millions of dollars of attack ads to stand up to those who advocate an extremist foreign policy (which ultimately is not in the interests of the U.S. or Israel). With a major assist from J Street, Schakowsky’s endorsement, and reinforcement from Pritzker, he nevertheless successfully defended his progressive agenda and weakened the grip of billionaires (whether they fund AIPAC, AI, or crypto interests) on our elections. The Jewish community, Democrats, and pro-democracy forces owe him a debt of gratitude.