The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC has launched its first ads attacking Rep. Jamaal Bowman in the Democratic primary in New York’s 16th Congressional District. The ads claim that Bowman “has his own agenda” and refuses to work with President Joe Biden.

United Democracy Project, the AIPAC super PAC, bought its first set of ads this week for $1.9 million, disclosing that it planned to spend the money in a week, to oppose Bowman in the race against Westchester County executive George Latimer. The primary election takes place June 25.

Latimer, who was recruited to run by AIPAC and has received huge contributions directly from the group, has had nearly a million dollars of support from outside groups before AIPAC weighed in. Bowman also has outside support, but it’s a fraction of AIPAC’s spending so far for Latimer. Known as “independent expenditures,” outside groups can weigh in on elections but not in coordination with campaigns.

With the new AIPAC money to attack Bowman, outside groups in the race are spending nearly 10 times more in Latimer’s favor — with roughly $3 million total for Latimer and against Bowman, and Bowman supporters spending only about $285,000.

    • anticolonialist@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      6 months ago

      If it were any other country sinking this kind of money into politics, there would be hearings, investigations, sanctions, etc.

    • ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      6 months ago

      Thanks 2010 SCOTUS for determining unrestricted SuperPAC money is 100% okay and unrestricted donations to a SuperPAC is 100% okay.

      Citizens United and SpeechNow solidified how fucked American elections are.

      • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        6 months ago

        While I think that the supreme Court is slanted shite, isn’t every ruling they make just a “that’s not what we think the law currently says” meaning we should instead be blaming Congress for not writing an updated law that clarifies what we want?

  • dhork@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    16
    ·
    6 months ago

    At least we know that when bad stuff is happening, Bowman won’t hesitate to sound the alarm.

  • MikhailBoho@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    14
    ·
    6 months ago

    Can we get campaign finance reform or are we just going to ignore the blatant power imbalance of lobbying and political action committees in the political process.

    Fair elections shouldn’t be judged based on their dollar amounts, but looky here, that’s what this whole article is about. More money on my side wins, yay! Good thing my great grandparents exploited more people when I was young and I have all the money in the world to manipulate people!

    🤮

  • bartolomeo@suppo.fi
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    12
    ·
    6 months ago

    Israel is like the panicking drowning person and the US is the person that gets drowned trying to save them.

  • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    6 months ago

    So, the party’s going to do what it did for Coathanger Cuellar and protect the incumbent, right?