{"id":19147,"date":"2026-02-19T11:01:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T11:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/pro-israel-group-wades-into-democratic-house-primaries\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T11:01:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T11:01:38","slug":"pro-israel-group-wades-into-democratic-house-primaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/pro-israel-group-wades-into-democratic-house-primaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-Israel group wades into Democratic House primaries"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A pro-Israel group is wading into nearly a dozen contentious House primaries as it tries to shape the Democratic Party\u2019s approach to the controversial issue.<\/p>\n

The Democratic Majority for Israel PAC, which backs pro-Israel Democrats, is endorsing 11 House candidates, including several in expensive and crowded primaries the party must win in order to retake the House. The group\u2019s initial endorsement list was shared first with Blue Light News.<\/p>\n

DMFI, first launched in 2019, is one of several groups across the political spectrum looking to influence the party\u2019s views on Israel, even as its military operations in Gaza have divided the Democratic Party and become an early litmus test for both 2026 congressional candidates and 2028 presidential hopefuls.<\/a><\/p>\n

The endorsements include candidates in six battleground races and five more in safe-blue, but crowded, Democratic primaries. They are backing moderate state Rep. Shannon Bird over progressive state Rep. Manny Rutinel for the right to face Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) in a swingy Colorado district.<\/p>\n

In New York, the group is backing Cait Conley, who has entered a crowded primary<\/a> to take on Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) in a district which Kamala Harris won by a one-point margin in 2024. In Texas, DMFI has endorsed police officer Johnny Garcia in a wide-open primary for the newly drawn, red-leaning seat.<\/p>\n

DMFI is backing a pair of candidates in two of the four most competitive seats in Pennsylvania \u2014 Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, who will face off against Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.), and former TV anchor Janelle Stelson, who is also on track to run against Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.). And in Virginia, former Rep. Elaine Luria picked up the group\u2019s support as she vies to take on her former opponent, Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.).<\/p>\n

The other candidates who are receiving DMFI\u2019s endorsement are all running in crowded primaries in safe blue seats: Maryland state Del. Adrian Boafo, who is running to replace retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.); Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss, who is running to replace Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), who is running for Senate; and former Obama administration official Maura Sullivan, who is running to replace Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), who is running for the Senate.<\/p>\n

“The vast majority of Americans support the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state and understand the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship,\u201d said former Rep. Kathy Manning, who serves on the DMFI PAC board. \u201cIf you’re running in a competitive district, you need Democrats, you need independents, you need Republicans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several groups, including DMFI and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC, are boosting pro-Israel candidates with significant outside spending. The two groups have often<\/a> overlapped<\/a> in their endorsements, but AIPAC supports Democrats and Republicans \u2014 and has drawn the ire of progressives. DMFI, for its part, is focused on regaining a Democratic congressional majority.<\/p>\n

AIPAC\u2019s super PAC, United Democracy Project, dropped more than $38 million on independent expenditures in 2024, while DMFI spent about $4.3 million. DMFI President Brian Romick said the group expects to be spending \u201ccomfortably\u201d in the \u201cseven-figures again\u201d in 2026 but declined to elaborate further on the plans.<\/p>\n

In Illinois, among the first primaries next month, DMFI and AIPAC appear aligned in their preferred candidates. DMFI announced it is backing former Rep. Melissa Bean, who is running to replace Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who is running for the Senate, and Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, who is vying to replace Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), another Senate candidate.<\/p>\n

Bean and Miller have also attracted attention for their connections to AIPAC. Their primary opponents in both races have accused them of benefiting from AIPAC\u2019s spending<\/a>, concealed by shell super PACs that are boosting them with hundreds of thousands of dollars in positive TV spending. But DMFI has not yet endorsed in Illinois\u2019 9th District, another contentious primary to replace retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky that AIPAC appears to have waded into.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, AIPAC triggered a wave of criticism and frustration, even from its own allies,<\/a> for spending $2 million to sink former Rep. Tom Malinowski in a congressional special election in New Jersey. The group\u2019s spending backfired, eliminating Malinowski, but failing to lift up its preferred candidate. Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer who has said Israel committed genocide in Gaza<\/a>, ultimately won.<\/p>\n

Romick and Manning declined to comment on AIPAC\u2019s strategy, with the former congresswoman noting DMFI is \u201ca distinctly different and separate organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2024, DMFI and AIPAC targeted former Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) in 2024, both of whom lost their primaries to pro-Israel candidates. Romick demurred on whether DMFI planned to target any Democratic incumbents in 2026, adding that it is going \u201cto take these primaries as they come and see if things develop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessica Piper contributed reporting.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A pro-Israel group is wading into nearly a dozen contentious House primaries as it tries to shape the Democratic Party\u2019s approach to the controversial issue. The Democratic Majority for Israel PAC, which backs pro-Israel Democrats, is endorsing 11 House candidates, including several in expensive and crowded primaries the party must win in order to retake […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19147\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}