Written by Caroline Kness
Israel’s role in the Middle East has long been a focus of U.S. politics, but following the October 7th Hamas attacks, political ad spending surrounding Israel has accelerated among American candidates and issue groups. United Democracy Project (UDP), Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund (RJC Victory Fund), and Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI PAC) are three pro-Israel groups that have spent millions across House primaries since the Israel-Hamas war began. Notable targets these groups opposed included progressive members of “The Squad”, Jamaal Bowman, Summer Lee, Cori Bush, and Rashida Tlaib, and Republicans such as Brandon Herrera. As primaries continue across the country, UDP has already spent $6.6M more on this year’s primaries than they did in 2022.
UDP spent $14.9 million in the NY-16 primary opposing incumbent Jamaal Bowman (D) and supporting George Latimer (D). This massive expenditure (59% of the election’s total), contributed to NY-16 becoming the most expensive House primary in history. Bowman drew the group’s ire with his opposition to funding Israel’s military campaigns in Palestine and repeated calls for a ceasefire. Playing into this, some of UDP’s ads attacked Bowman by emphasizing that he “denied the atrocities of October 7th”. Additional attacks by UDP against Bowman contrasted the Congressman with President Biden, with one ad claiming Bowman “had his own agenda.” The group also aired ads supporting Latimer, saying he’s delivering “progressive results.” In their attempt to primary another member of “The Squad,” UDP is using the same strategy in MO-01. So far, the group has spent $3.6M attacking Cori Bush and supporting her primary opponent, Wesley Bell. In an incredibly similar ad to their spot against Bowman in New York, UDP criticized Bush Bush for not supporting Biden’s legislation and accused her of having her own agenda. As of now, UDP makes up over 79% of the primary’s total ad spending.
UDP has also sought to influence open seats. The group placed ads in the open CA-47 ($4M) and MD-03 ($3.7M) primaries. In CA-47, UDP ran attack ads against Dave Min (D). These ads focused on his drunk driving arrest. In MD-03, UDP ran ads supporting Sarah Elfreth (D), emphasizing her work on education and gun safety. When attacking incumbents such as Bowman and Bush, UDP ads highlight key votes those incumbents placed against President Biden’s agenda. Across broadcast TV ads, UDP’s top aired issues in the 2024 primaries have been abortion, character, education, and gun control.
Pro-Israel groups also placed ads in Republican House primaries this cycle. UDP spent $1.2M attacking Brandon Herrera (TX-23) and $1.8M attacking John Hostettler (IN-08). One of their attack ads against Hostettler mentioned that he did not condemn terrorism against Israel. Another ad criticized that he voted with Nancy Pelosi. This ad is in stark contrast to other UDP ads from Democratic primaries where they promoted Democratic party positions. The RJC Victory Fund spent $1.2M supporting Mark Messmer (IN-08) and $350K in opposition to Brandon Herrera (TX-23). The ads supporting Messmer focused on his conservative stance on immigration and law enforcement while their airings in TX-23 criticized Brandon Herrera's character.
DMFI has spent $118K in attack ads against members of “The Squad.” Over $50K of this spending has been on digital ads, which they have run primarily on Facebook. These ads encourage fundraising to keep pro-Israel Democrats in Congress.
UDP, RJC Victory Fund, and DMFI PAC have spent $30.7M on House primary ads this year, a 23% increase from what the groups spent on House primaries in 2022. Based on their current ad rotations, Cori Bush is the next major target for UDP. With the Missouri primary on August 6th, there is a good chance UDP will continue to place significant ad buys targeting the incumbent Representative. In 2022, UDP, RJC, and DMFI PAC spent a combined total of $4.7M on House general elections. It remains to be seen if they will exceed that number this fall.
For a deeper dive on this year's NY-16 primary, the most expensive House primary in history, read our blog here:
