Is AIPAC Testing the Waters to Primary Rep. Summer Lee?
A survey sent earlier this month to people living in Pittsburgh and its suburbs asked for respondents' opinion on two possible candidates to challenge Lee. The survey included a question on people's opinions about the candidates being backed by 'a right-wing organization that supports Trump and is funded by MAGA millionaires and billionaires.'
The survey question appears set up to test whether voters would oppose one of the candidates because of backing from groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — which is funded by billionaire donors to Donald Trump and, in 2020, endorsed more than 100 Republican members of Congress who voted to overturn the results of that year's presidential election.
The wording was identical to another survey sent in May to constituents in the district of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., The Intercept reported. That survey was the first this year to indicate that AIPAC was considering a primary challenge against Omar.
With the latest poll, it appears that AIPAC and possibly other pro-Israel groups are setting their sights on another challenge against Lee.
'As usual, AIPAC sees the Democratic electorate begging for more progressive leadership that takes on the corporate elite, and they are desperate to force corporate shills down our throats instead,' said Usamah Andrabi, the communications director for Justice Democrats, a group backing Lee. (AIPAC did not respond to a request for comment.)
The survey in Lee's district also said both potential candidates, Pittsburgh City Controller Rachael Heisler and former Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, were backed by 'pro-Israel groups that lobby Congress to provide billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars in aid and weapons to Israel each year.'
Lee and Omar are two of a handful of progressive members of Congress who have drawn the ire of AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups for calling to end U.S. military funding to Israel and criticizing Israel's genocide in Gaza. AIPAC spent more than $100 million on primaries last cycle, including more than $25 million to unseat Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y.
Lee, Omar, and other progressives have also been vocal critics of AIPAC. Lee introduced a bill earlier this year to ban super PACs like AIPAC's United Democracy Project, which spent millions of dollars against her when she first ran for Congress in 2022.
Lee won reelection last year against another Republican-backed pro-Israel primary challenger. In that race, The Intercept reported. AIPAC tried and failed to recruit two candidates to run against her.
'Every cycle, corporate lobbies, special interest groups and Trump megadonors look to buy this Congressional seat,' Lee said in a statement. 'My constituents want leaders who fight for their interests against the wealthy & well-connected, not politicians that can be bought with a corporate PAC check.'
The survey asked a series of questions about positions taken by candidates that aligned more closely with Republicans than liberal Democrats.
'It's no mistake that they're polling the viability of candidates that evidently oppose the Affordable Care Act, Medicare for All, same-sex marriage, the Green New Deal, abortion rights, Medicare, and Social Security,' said Andrabi. 'AIPAC's favorite type of Democrat is one you can most easily mistake for a Republican and most easily.'
The survey in Pittsburgh asked people to rate their level of concern in response to pro-Israel groups supporting both Heisler and DePasquale, and whether they would support either candidate in a Democratic primary election against Lee.
'Rachael Heisler is supported by pro-Israel groups that lobby Congress to provide billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars in aid and weapons to Israel each year,' the survey said. 'Please indicate whether it raises very serious concerns, serious concerns, minor concerns, or no real concerns for you about Rachael Heisler.' The survey posed the same question about DePasquale.
The poll also asked respondents to rate their level of concern about potential criticisms of Lee, DePasquale, and Heisler. Criticisms of Lee included her vote against former President Joe Biden's debt deal, her support for the Uncommitted movement in 2024, and the claim that 'Lee is more interested in dividing Democrats' than fighting Trump's agenda.
'Summer Lee is too extreme,' read another prompt. 'She has long associated herself with the Democratic Socialists of America which supports defunding the police, eliminating prisons and releasing all criminals, opening our borders, getting rid of individually-owned cars, abolishing U-S-A-I-D, and withdrawing from NATO. Summer Lee's radical positions do not reflect our community.' (Lee is no longer a member of DSA.)
Respondents were asked to rate their concerns about the statement.
In a section asking about possible criticism of DePasquale, the survey asked respondents how they felt about him taking corporate PAC money and opposing progressive policy efforts like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.
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'While progressive Democrats have called for getting corporate money out of politics, Eugene DePasquale has taken tens of thousands of dollars from corporate PACs, including from major corporations like AT&T, Comcast, Pfizer and PNC Bank,' the survey said.
It added that DePasquale 'calls himself a progressive' but opposed Medicare for All, rejected the Green New Deal, opposed same sex marriage, praised parts of Trump's agenda, and supported expanding the state's natural gas industry. (DePasquale did not respond to a request for comment.)
DePasquale has supported gay marriage publicly since at least 2012. In 2020, He said he did not support the Green New Deal or Medicare for All, and favored a public option and improvements to the Affordable Care Act. On the environment, DePasquale has a mixed record. During a race for Pennsylvania attorney general and as state auditor, he came down on the side with energy interests and climate activists, respectively.
Posing potential criticisms of Heisler, the survey asked respondents how concerned they were about the claim that Heisler had 'a record of standing with the wealthy and powerful' and worked with groups advancing policies to benefit billionaires, including gutting Social Security and Medicare.
The survey also asked respondents how they felt about Heisler donating to the 2018 campaign of anti-abortion Democrat Dan Lipinski in Illinois. It also asked them to rate their concerns about Heisler working for former Rep. Jason Altmire, a Pennsylvania Democrat who voted against the ACA in 2010. (Heisler did not respond to a request for comment.)
Respondents were also asked to rate their opinion of other officials and groups including Altmire; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Democratic Socialists of America; Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato; Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro; and Sen. John Fetterman.
Both Heisler and DePasquale have expressed support for Israel and efforts by pro-Israel groups to influence policy in Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania. DePasquale was endorsed last year by two groups that also backed Lee's primary challenger, Bhavini Patel.
Earlier this year, Heisler fought a referendum petition organized by anti-genocide activists to push Pittsburgh to divest from governments engaged in genocide — namely Israel. (Not On Our Dime did not respond to a request for comment.)
Last year, Heisler went on a $15,000 trip paid for by AIPAC's educational arm, which it uses to send politicians to Israel, a typical step in the group's efforts to recruit a candidate. George Latimer, the AIPAC-funded candidate who unseated Bowman, the New York representative, took a trip to Israel shortly before he announced his primary challenge.
'My constituents want leaders who fight for their interests against the wealthy and well-connected, not politicians that can be bought with a corporate PAC check,' Lee said. 'They can keep polling and we're going to keep fighting back against the Trump administration to protect and deliver for our constituents.'
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