{"id":7217,"date":"2026-08-06T20:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T20:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=7217"},"modified":"2026-08-06T20:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T20:00:08","slug":"aipac-linked-super-pacs-spend-millions-in-california-to-thwart-progressive-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/2026\/08\/06\/aipac-linked-super-pacs-spend-millions-in-california-to-thwart-progressive-candidate\/","title":{"rendered":"Aipac-linked Super Pacs spend millions in California to thwart progressive candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-14sl0e4\">\n<div class=\"dcr-17l77cs\">\n<figure id=\"ea0eab7d-8f3c-4514-96fb-d360f31e661d\" class=\"dcr-191xnya\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t7hdmw\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"two women side by side \" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/fde2ad8ed6676dc1c586f68d0eb20c5f21659ef2\/0_0_5000_4000\/master\/5000.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"372\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-up96pv\"><span class=\"dcr-kogzpx\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-18mnkpm\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1294qmb\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-4sl2vt\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1mfxiaj\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Aisha Wahab and Melissa Hernandez.<\/span> Photograph: AP,Melissa Hernandez for Congress<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-zwabc0\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"ea0eab7d-8f3c-4514-96fb-d360f31e661d\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-1bitgpn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-1shbixy\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-qda0hp\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1e9iiy9\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Aisha Wahab and Melissa Hernandez.<\/span> Photograph: AP,Melissa Hernandez for Congress<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-ql9l8l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6mja0y\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-l0wuod\">Aipac-linked Super Pacs spend millions in California to thwart progressive candidate<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1xpojbf\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1gm5ptv\">\n<p>More than $5m in recent weeks have been spent in ads targeting Aisha Wahab and in support of Melissa Hernandez<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-x1al2c\">\n<div class=\"dcr-11gq2tx\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-1w2vkyc\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-ogvvui\">\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Super Pacs tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) have spent millions in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/california\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">California<\/a> congressional race to keep a progressive Democrat from winning Eric Swalwell\u2019s former seat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Aisha Wahab, a state senator who has been endorsed by the California Democratic party, is widely considered the frontrunner in the special election for the district covering a swathe of the East Bay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Swalwell had been in office for more than a decade when he resigned earlier this year following multiple allegations of sexual assault.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Wahab outpaced her closest competitor, Melissa Hernandez, a former Dublin mayor, in a June primary as well as a special election to complete the remainder of Swalwell\u2019s term, by more than 20 points. They are set to face off against each other in a runoff election later this month, and then again in November.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"10ee56ab-06b4-476e-8e9f-e4ccd9fe7dc9\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-1oq85qr\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-4 | 4\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1rx5ky9\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-uyoh2p\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/aug\/06\/ohio-voters-reconsider-republican-max-miller\" class=\"dcr-f35c0u\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-vvxpdt\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6z6e7\">\n<div class=\"dcr-zh9rih\">\u2018He should resign\u2019: unease in Republican Max Miller\u2019s Ohio district amid domestic abuse allegations<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-oj13vq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-ef9nua\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Super Pacs are pouring money into the race, dropping more than $5m in recent weeks and supporting pro-Hernandez ads and Wahab attack ads, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/california-playbook\/2026\/08\/06\/aisha-wahab-aipacs-latest-target-01026765\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Politico reported<\/a> on Thursday. The spending includes $1.2m from United Democracy Project, which is backed by Aipac, and $2.1m from Bold America Pac, which has received significant financial backing from the United Democracy Project, according to the outlet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Track Aipac, which tracks the group\u2019s funding of US politicians, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trackaipac.com\/states\/israel-first-candidates?rq=Melissa%20Hernandez\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">reported<\/a> that the lobby has spent more than $4.4m to support Hernandez in the race.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Aipac, which is one of the largest Super Pacs and the most powerful pro-Israel lobby organization in the US, has significantly expanded its political spending in recent years. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2026\/08\/04\/us\/politics\/aipac-israel-funds-spending.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">New York Times<\/a> reported earlier this week that Aipac has doubled its spending, largely in Democratic primaries, to $67.2m.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The organization spent millions to support moderate Haley Stevens in Michigan\u2019s Democratic Senate primary. The progressive Abdul El-Sayed ultimately won the primary race in what has been described as a defining contest for the party.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Wahab recently spoke about the negative advertisements against her, telling voters to come to her with questions about her record. She criticized Hernandez for allegedly dodging debates while \u201crelying on dark money\u201d to support her campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cWe\u2019re not going to let this race be bought by outside interests,\u201d Wahab said in a video posted on social media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The Guardian has contacted Aipac, as well as the campaigns of Wahab and Hernandez for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-swayiu\"><span class=\"dcr-1xhbmzr\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-2c03t5\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-p7nd18\">\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-midterm-elections-2026\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">US midterm elections 2026<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/california\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">California<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/west-coast\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">West Coast<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-313bdz\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Aipac-linked%20Super%20Pacs%20spend%20millions%20in%20California%20to%20thwart%20progressive%20candidate&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/aug\/06\/aipac-super-pacs-spend-millions-california?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-ncybeu\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-19bkree\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Faug%2F06%2Faipac-super-pacs-spend-millions-california&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/aug\/06\/aipac-super-pacs-spend-millions-california\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-1c41onw\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1kq7f60\"><span class=\"dcr-1ryr20k\"><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aisha Wahab and Melissa Hernandez. Photograph: AP,Melissa Hernandez for Congress View image in fullscreen Aisha Wahab and Melissa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7220,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7217\/revisions\/7220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}