AIPAC’s planned ad campaign could jeopardize Republican Mike Rogers’s bid for Michigan’s Senate seat.
Campaign Tensions Over AIPAC Involvement
Rogers met with AIPAC chairman Michael Tuchin in Los Angeles last week, and the organization shelved a completed advertisement attacking Democratic nominee Abdul El‑Sayed the following day, Axios reported.
The dispute centers not on whether AIPAC should aid Rogers, a known Israel supporter, but on how visibly it should do so. Rogers’s allies urged AIPAC donors to fund a pro‑Rogers super PAC or a joint campaign fundraising operation and suggested bringing AIPAC strategists into the broader effort.
AIPAC officials insisted on a public role to defeat El‑Sayed, arguing the Democrat would tie Rogers to the group regardless, according to Axios. Direct talks have stalled, leaving Republican donors linked to both sides working to repair the relationship.
The group and its affiliates spent more than $30 million during Michigan’s Democratic primary in an unsuccessful bid to stop El‑Sayed, a socialist and vocal Israel critic. Much of that spending helped Rep. Haley Stevens (D‑MI), whom El‑Sayed narrowly defeated on August 4.
El‑Sayed made AIPAC’s involvement a central theme, presenting the group’s massive spending as evidence of wealthy interests trying to buy the nomination. Days before his primary win, he taunted the organization: “AIPAC, if you’re listening, come back and burn it again.”
El‑Sayed’s record extends beyond criticism of Israeli policy. The devout Muslim has called Israel a “rogue state,” accused it of genocide and apartheid, and refused to affirm its right to exist as a Jewish state. In a 2022 CAIR speech, he likened a proposal to ban Sharia law in Oklahoma courts to the Trail of Tears, the Tulsa race massacre, and the Oklahoma City bombing, linking them to white supremacy. He has also campaigned with communist streamer Hasan Piker, who declared America “deserved 9/11” and defended Hamas and Hezbollah.
After his victory, AIPAC vowed to continue opposing El‑Sayed and his “radical anti‑Israel agenda,” but Michigan’s large Arab‑American population and an August 13 Fox News poll showing 55% of voters oppose further U.S. aid to Israel make the campaign especially delicate.
The Senate race is expected to be one of the most consequential in the nation. Rogers, a former congressman who lost Michigan’s other Senate contest in 2024, seeks to flip the seat vacated by retiring Democrat Gary Peters.
“I welcome any and all support from the pro‑Israel community,” Rogers told Axios, adding that he was proud to have their involvement.
