How AIPAC's donors and affiliates are pouring millions into Chicago-area primaries

Donors and affiliates for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee have spent $24.5 million as of March 12 on the group’s preferred candidates in four Chicago-area Congressional races, a WBEZ analysis of federal campaign disclosures found. Big campaign spending isn’t new for AIPAC, which has been around for 72 years. But the group is operating more covertly than ever, Democratic strategists say, by working through newly formed political action committees that are hard to trace. Several Democrats in four local congressional primaries have met with AIPAC and learned the group has drawn a hard line on one thing: unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel. The topic has become a flashpoint for candidates and voters as more Democrats call for improving human rights in Gaza. WBEZ surveyed the 46 candidates in those March 17 primaries about whether there should be strict U.S. conditions on military aid to Israel, whether that country has committed genocide in Gaza, and whether AIPAC funding should be off-limits in these races. Most of the respondents said yes to those questions, but the four AIPAC-aligned candidates would not answer yes or no. Read more at wbez.org. Story: Mariah Woelfel, Mawa Iqbal and Chip Mitchell/WBEZ Video: Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times