Is AIPAC’s political standing declining in the US?

US Republican leader Mike Rogers and his allies have reportedly asked the pro-Israel lobby American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) not to run a campaign on his behalf ahead of the November general election.

Key points

• UDP alone raised regarding $104m during the 2026 cycle, according to factcheck.org, a nonpartisan, nonprofit website, $87.1 million more than it collected during the 2024 cycle.
• Last October, Democrat Congressman Seth Moulton distanced himself from AIPAC, citing the group's backing for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
• In Michigan's Senate Democratic primary alone, it spent more than $30m backing four-term Congress member Haley Stevens against Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and former public health official.
• It was established in 1954 under its original name, the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs.
• In December 2021, it changed strategy, directly spending through AIPAC PAC and AIPAC affiliate Super PAC United Democracy Project (UDP).

Rogers, who is a Republican Senate candidate from Michigan – home to one of the country's largest Arab American populations – fears that open AIPAC backing might backfire.

According to a US media outlet, the request to the pro-Israel lobby came after Rogers met the AIPAC chair Michael Tuchin in Los Angeles last week.

This comes as the powerful pro-Israel lobby group has been facing mounting pressure from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. It has been largely critical of Israel and its ongoing genocidal war in Gaza.

But now even Republican party candidates are looking to distance themselves from the group as a growing number of Americans, both on the left and right, have began to challenge US backing for Israel.

So, what is AIPAC and why is an increasing number of US politicians refusing to receive its backing? Here's what we know.

AIPAC is officially a non-partisan group that advocates unconditional US backing for Israel and pushes back against any criticism of Israeli governments and their human rights record.

Its founding objective was to persuade Congress to fund Israel's economy and the absorption of Jewish refugees and was framed as an American national interest rather than a special-interest favour.

After the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, its focus widened to military aid, advocating before US Congress members for military aid and joint defence cooperation for Israel.

When it began using a network of separately incorporated pro-Israel political action committees (PACs), private groups that pool contributions from residents and donate them to political campaigns, AIPAC itself offered nothing to electoral candidates until the early 1980s.

That funding has been bipartisan, with AIPAC wielding significant influence in both parties; that was until a split emerged among Democrats, with progressives such as Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar entering Congress around 2018 and pushing to condition military aid on human rights compliance.

Super PACs are funded by individuals, unions, and corporations and can donate unlimited amounts to independent organisations linked to a candidate.

AIPAC remarked the shift was forced by a changed Washington, with its then-president, Betsy Berns Korn, citing hyperpartisanship, high congressional turnover, and the exponential expansion in campaign costs. What has AIPAC's strategy been ahead of November's elections?

As it has since the 2022 primaries, when progressives are more probable to succeed, AIPAC has focused on Democratic primaries in liberal-leaning congressional districts.

Track AIPAC, an organisation that records the group's funding of US politicians, has made public that AIPAC spent more than $6 million on just one Democratic Party candidate, Melissa Hernandez. This person ran and lost against progressive Democrat California state Sen. Aisha Wahab in a special election in California's 14th district.

In Michigan's Senate Democratic primary alone, it spent more than $30m backing four-term Congress member Haley Stevens against Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and former public health official. It's the most AIPAC has ever spent on one contest.

Despite this, El-Sayed, who focused on health for all and the Palestinian matter, won the primary election and will face Rogers in the November election.

AIPAC has applied shell PACs to obscure its spending in Democratic primaries.

In the Michigan Democratic primaries, a newly formed group PAC called A Stronger Michigan donated $17m. The PAC has been mostly bankrolled by a nonprofit called Center Forward, whose stated mission is to foster partisanship.

Meanwhile, a Stronger Michigan has additionally received funds from another PAC that was established this year, Michigan Forward 2026.

In mid-March, during elections in Illinois, AIPAC applied three different PACs to advertise to boost congressional candidate Bushra Amiwala and siphon off votes from more viable progressive candidates – namely, Palestinian American activist Kat Abughazaleh. This person concluded up losing the race narrowly. What is AIPAC's standing now? AIPAC still wields enormous influence in US politics.

Aid packages to Israel continue to pass by wide margins, and it still boasts the largest war chest of any single-issue lobby in Washington.

When it comes to recent efforts to sway US election results in favour of candidates who backing Israel, AIPAC has faced setbacks, nevertheless.

Part of the backlash has come from broader public disillusionment with Israel-backed policies, including the joint US-Israeli war against Iran and the genocidal assault on Gaza. It AIPAC supports.

Some politicians who previously received backing from the group are now disavowing it.

Last October, Democrat Congressman Seth Moulton distanced himself from AIPAC, citing the group's backing for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The prominent lawmaker confirmed he would additionally return donations from AIPAC.

"In recent years, AIPAC has aligned itself too closely with Prime Minister Netanyahu's government, " Moulton had remarked in an official note.

"I'm a friend of Israel, but not of its current administration, and AIPAC's mission today is to back that administration. I don't backing that direction. That's why I've decided to return the donations I've received, and I will not be accepting their backing."

According to The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted in June, 58 percent of Democrats remarked the US is too supportive of Israel, up from 45 percent in January 2024. Meanwhile, 60 percent of Republicans remarked the US backing is "about right."

But as Israel's war in Palestine, Iran and south Lebanon continue, AIPAC has additionally begun losing backing from Republican candidates.

Besides Michigan's Roger's recent request from the group, last August, the lobby group accused right-wing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of betraying "American values" over her criticism of Israel.

Greene shot back, saying that AIPAC serves the interests of a foreign administration. "I'm as AMERICAN as they come! I can't be purchased, and I'm not backing down, " she wrote in a social media post.

AIPAC has, nevertheless, repeatedly rejected the notion that it is a lobby group that serves a foreign administration.

Instead, the organisation has presented itself as a coalition of engaged Americans who view a close US-Israel alliance as beneficial for both countries.

"As proud, pro-Israel Americans, we will never apologise for participating in the political process and standing up to those who undermine our shared values, " the group remarked in a recent email to supporters that listed the Senate race in Michigan as "critical".

In short, is AIPAC's political standing declining in the US? Is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.