AIPAC and Allied PAC Spent $120 Million in 2026 Midterms; Several Top Targets Won Anyway

AIPAC and its affiliated super PAC, United Democracy Project, spent a combined $120 million during the 2026 US midterm cycle, according to an analysis published by The Intercept on October 29. AIPAC accounted for $53.3 million of that total and UDP for $66.7 million, a roughly 26 percent increase over the $95.1 million the two groups spent in 2024.

The spending was aimed, in large part, at defeating candidates who criticized US military assistance to Israel or rejected pro-Israel lobbying money outright. In most races, it worked. Data from Who Funds My Rep found that 169 of 185 AIPAC-tracked candidates won their races.

But several of the lobby's most heavily funded fights ended in defeat, and a cluster of Palestinian-rights-aligned candidates won seats up and down the ballot.

The largest single-race investment AIPAC and its allies made this cycle, close to $30 million, went into Michigan's Senate primary and general election, backing Haley Stevens against Abdul El-Sayed or opposing El-Sayed directly. Stevens lost the primary. El-Sayed went on to defeat Republican Mike Rogers in the general, becoming the first Muslim elected to the US Senate. He had also faced attacks from Republicans attempting to link him to extremist organizations without evidence.

In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson, who has criticized Israel's war on Gaza and opposed unconditional US military aid to the country, defeated longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins, a recipient of substantial pro-Israel group support. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico, who has also criticized Israel's Gaza campaign and the influence of pro-Israel lobbying in American politics, defeated Republican Ken Paxton for a seat Republicans had held for decades.

A cluster of wins below the Senate level

The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action, a national Palestinian rights advocacy group, said the majority of candidates it endorsed won their races.

"Eleven federal and local candidates endorsed by USCPR Action have won their races so far, as confirmed by the Associated Press election results race calls," a USCPR Action spokesperson told The New Arab. "There is one race still outstanding for Justin Pearson in Tennessee, whose race the AP has not called yet."

Other winners included New York's Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, both DSA-aligned and campaigning on Palestinian rights; Colorado's Melat Kiros; New York's Brad Lander, a Jewish progressive critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians; California's Randy Villegas, who campaigned against US military assistance to Israel; and Michigan's William Lawrence, a Sunrise Movement co-founder who rejected AIPAC funding outright.

The results also produced two firsts outside Congress's upper chamber: Aber Kawas became the first hijab-wearing Palestinian-American woman elected to the New York State Legislature, and Adam Hamawy, an Egyptian-American surgeon who volunteered treating wounded Palestinians in Gaza, became the first Muslim and first Arab-American elected to the US House from New Jersey.

AIPAC had announced weeks before the election that it would stop issuing formal endorsements, making direct PAC contributions, or earmarking funds for candidates, even as its spending through UDP and affiliated channels remained central to the cycle's most expensive races.