Bulwark Takes AIPAC Spent $7 Million to Stop Daniel Biss. He Won Anyway.
Mar 25, 2026
Daniel Biss, former Evanston mayor and recent Democratic primary winner for Illinois’ 9th District, discusses being targeted by a $7 million AIPAC campaign and why he thinks those attacks backfired. He describes the personal toll given his family background. He explains campaign strategy: preemptive messaging, tracing outside funding, and turning heavy spending into a liability for opponents.
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AIPAC Spent Millions To Target One Candidate
- Daniel Biss described a 15-candidate primary where AIPAC created a shell super PAC called Elect Chicago Women and spent over $7 million to back another candidate and attack him.
- He said their spending dwarfed others, but his team made the foreign-money narrative the central issue and his preferred opponent finished a distant third.
Personal Hurt From Being Framed As Anti‑Jewish
- Biss said AIPAC's attacks felt personal and implied he was unsupportive of Jews despite his Israeli family roots and Holocaust-survivor grandparents.
- He found their zero-nuance, hard-line approach alienating and at odds with what he sees as core Jewish values.
Weaponizing Identity To Silence Nuance
- Biss argued AIPAC weaponized his Jewish identity to make his criticisms harder to dismiss and therefore treated him as a greater threat.
- He said their strategy was to prevent nuance and silence dissent by painting critics as dangerous despite substantive arguments.