Israel on the Ballot
Mapping AIPAC's Money in the Congressional Elections

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a U.S. lobbying organization that works to strengthen ties between Washington and Israel and to persuade the U.S. government to adopt policies that support that relationship, according to its official website.

The organization has two electoral arms that work in different ways. The first, AIPAC PAC, was founded in December 2021 and contributes to candidates' campaigns within legal limits, up to $5,000 per candidate per election. It also serves as a conduit for individual donations earmarked for specific campaigns; those are attributed to the original donors and are separate from contributions the committee makes from its own funds.

The second, the United Democracy Project, was set up in January 2022 as an independent-expenditure-only committee, known as a super PAC. It can raise and spend unlimited sums to support or oppose candidates, but it cannot donate directly to their campaigns. The committee says its goal is to elect members of Congress who support the U.S.-Israel relationship.

The super PAC spent $53.4 million to support congressional candidates between January 2025 and the end of August 2026, according to Federal Election Commission filings. This is money spent outside the campaigns; candidates do not receive it directly.

The committee also gave $13.1 million to other political committees, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Some $47.8 million reached candidates' campaigns through AIPAC PAC, according to calculations by Chamberlight, a platform that tracks congressional campaign finance. The figure includes the committee's own contributions as well as individual donations routed through it to specific campaigns.

Total disbursements by the two committees came to $134.1 million over the same period, including about $19.3 million in operating expenses. That total covers campaign funding, independent spending, transfers and refunds, so not all of it represents support that reached candidates. The figures run through the end of August, before spending on the November election is complete, according to official filings and the super PAC's disclosures.

About 346 candidates benefited from funding through AIPAC PAC and the super PAC during the 2026 cycle, according to calculations by Chamberlight based on filings through Aug. 31, as shown in its list of recipients.

Below are 15 prominent names, combining the top recipients of funding through AIPAC PAC with candidates the super PAC has backed.

Republicans received the larger share of the money channeled to campaigns through AIPAC PAC in the 2026 cycle. Most of the super PAC's independent spending, by contrast, went to contests between Democrats.

Funding through AIPAC PAC: a bigger share for Republicans

According to Chamberlight, Republican candidates received about 53% of the money distributed through AIPAC PAC through Aug. 31, compared with about 47% for Democrats. The site notes that the Republican share is up from 37% at the same point in the 2024 cycle. These percentages measure the value of the funding, not the number of candidates who received it.

Most of the money passing through AIPAC PAC consists of individual donations earmarked for specific candidates, according to a review of financial filings by Sludge.

Independent ads: a focus on Democratic contests

Democratic races accounted for about 92% of the super PAC's independent spending, compared with about 8% for the Republican contest between Ed Gallrein and Thomas Massie in Kentucky. These are approximate shares, calculated from the amounts spent supporting and opposing candidates in each race and excluding transfers to other committees, according to Chamberlight data.

That does not mean the money was backing the Democratic Party against Republicans; it also paid for ads against Democratic candidates. The most prominent example is the Michigan race, where The Washington Post tracked more than $31 million in spending to support Haley Stevens and oppose Abdul El-Sayed. Reports have also documented super PAC spending to support Adrian Boafo and Melissa Conyers-Ervin and to oppose Tom Malinowski.

Primaries accounted for most of the super PAC's spending

Through the end of August, most of the super PAC's spending was tied to primaries to choose party nominees, along with a special election in California to fill the remainder of a vacant seat's term.

For the money distributed through AIPAC PAC, the aggregate data available does not allow a precise split between primaries and the general election. According to the Federal Election Commission, a contribution designated for the general election can be made before the primary takes place. Separating the two phases therefore means reviewing the designation recorded for each contribution, rather than relying on the date it was made.

Total funding that reached campaigns through AIPAC PAC and the super PAC rose from $43.2 million in the 2022 cycle to $91.6 million in 2024, and stood at $101.2 million through the end of August 2026. These figures include campaign funding and independent ads, but exclude operating expenses and transfers to other committees, according to Chamberlight.

The number of candidates benefiting from the two committees rose from about 376 in the 2022 cycle to 398 in 2024, compared with about 346 through the end of August 2026, based on a cross-check of Chamberlight's lists in which each candidate is counted once even if they benefited from both committees.

The counts include recipients of funding through AIPAC PAC, net of refunds, and candidates the super PAC supported with ads; they exclude candidates it spent money opposing. Financial support in the current cycle has therefore already surpassed the 2024 total, even though the number of beneficiaries recorded so far is lower.

Campaigns for House and Senate candidates spent about $2.04 billion between January 2025 and the end of June 2026, after raising about $2.8 billion, according to the Federal Election Commission.

The spending figure covers only candidates' own campaign expenditures and does not include outside spending by political committees acting independently to support or oppose them. It also covers only the first 18 months of the cycle, leaving out campaign spending in the final months before the November vote.