Progressives in Congress spoke up for a cease-fire in Gaza. Now they're breaking fundraising records.
A group of progressive lawmakers are fighting back against a multimillion-dollar campaign to push them out of Congress for their opposition to Israel's deadly bombardment of Gaza.
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Progressives in Congress spoke up for a cease-fire in Gaza. Now they’re breaking fundraising records.
1 of 4 | FILE - Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., cries while speaking alongside state legislators and faith leaders currently on hunger strike outside the White House to demand that President Joe Biden call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza on Nov. 29, 2023. A group of progressive lawmakers are fighting back against a multi-million dollar campaign to push them out of Congress for their vocal opposition to Israel’s deadly bombardment of Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)
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2 of 4 | FILE - Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., speaks as Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., listens during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza near the Capitol in Washington, Oct. 18, 2023. A group of progressive lawmakers are fighting back against a multi-million dollar campaign to push them out of Congress for their vocal opposition to Israel’s deadly bombardment of Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)
3 of 4 | FILE - Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., the only Palestinian-American in Congress, is joined at left by Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., as she speaks at an event to call for a cease fire by Israel in Gaza, at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 14, 2023. A group of progressive lawmakers are fighting back against a multi-million dollar campaign to push them out of Congress for their vocal opposition to Israel’s deadly bombardment of Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
4 of 4 | FILE - Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., arrives for Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Inauguration, Jan. 17, 2023, at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa. A group of progressive lawmakers are fighting back against a multi-million dollar campaign to push them out of Congress for their vocal opposition to Israel’s deadly bombardment of Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
While there has been an active effort to recruit an opponent against her this cycle, no candidate has accepted the appeals from various groups to take her on. Nonetheless, Tlaib has raised nearly $3.7 million since the start of the war in Gaza, record fundraising for the third-term congresswoman who has faced constant attacks from both sides for her criticism of Israel. She was censured by the House in November for her remarks about the war.
Tlaib’s massive fundraising haul can largely be attributed to a grassroots effort, with the campaign saying that donations in the three months came from 32,600 people. More than 20,000 of those people were first-time donors and the average donation was less than $75, according to the campaign.
“We are proud of our grassroots campaign that is bringing people together to fight for justice for all, no matter where you live or who you are,” said Carolina Toro-Román, Tlaib’s co-campaign manager.
Tlaib has easily defeated primary opponents in the past, in part because her district includes parts of Dearborn and one of the largest Arab American communities in the nation.
Hussein Dabajeh, a Dearborn resident and Democratic consultant, said there’s been an active effort in the community to financially support not only Tlaib, but any lawmakers who have called for a cease-fire in Gaza.
“Whether it be chats on WhatsApp, Facebook groups, coordinated emails from different organizations, text message campaigns, calls, or town halls: There are efforts that are coming in from the community,” Dabajeh said. “Not only in Dearborn or in Detroit, but from across the country.”
MESSAGE TO VOTERS AND DEMOCRATIC ESTABLISHMENT
Before November, progressive members and the outside groups supporting them are looking beyond fundraising tactics to challenge AIPAC’s standing with the Democratic Party.Candidates being targeted by the group are trying to raise awareness for what they say is AIPAC’s toxic role in Democratic primaries. In recent years, several major Republican donors have helped fund the group’s effort to target candidates critical of Israel. In the 2022 Democratic primary between then-Rep. Andy Levin and Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan, Levin and his supporters focused their criticism of AIPAC on its super PAC, United Democracy Project, which they alleged received significant donations from prominent Republican donors and spent it in Democratic primaries like his.
After the last Israel-Hamas war in 2021, Levin, a self-proclaimed Zionist and former synagogue president, renewed his calls for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. That, in addition to redistricting in Michigan, resulted in a perfect storm against Levin, who faced an organized campaign by AIPAC that would funnel an unprecedented amount of money — over $4 million — to Stevens, a centrist, pro-Israel member. Stevens won the primary, helping push Levin and his vocal criticism of Israel out of Congress.
“I think this is really a structural issue for democracy in general and an existential issue for the Democratic Party,” Levin told the AP last month. “What kind of a party are we, if we allow Republicans to come in and determine who we pick in a Democratic primary to run against the other side?”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Progressive Caucus who is also a target of AIPAC this year, said she has been talking with Democrats who still receive money from the group about the damage it could do to the party and their efforts to regain the House.
“This is hurting the Democratic Party to challenge our incumbents,” Japayal said. “Our goal as a unified Democratic Party is to make sure that Joe Biden stays in the White House, and that we take back the House and make Hakeem Jeffries our speaker and that we expand our ranks in the Senate.”
And AIPAC, she says, has become a major obstacle to that goal.
___ Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.
