The pro-Israel group passed the $100 million spending mark in July, according to new FEC information.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has spent more than $100 million on federal elections so far this cycle, according to a review of the latest FEC data.

AIPAC's PAC has spent $44.8 million as of the end of July, according to the FEC, with $42 million given to the campaigns of members of Congress and other candidates, as well as to party groups and leadership PACs.

The vast majority of AIPAC PAC's spending has come in the form of earmarked donations made by individuals in the United States who support the pro-Israel group.

AIPAC's super PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP), has spent about $55.4 million so far this election cycle, according to the FEC. More than $35 million of that spending has been on independent expenditures for things like television ads and mailers designed to influence voters, while the rest has been for operating expenses and contributions to other political groups.

The super PAC has spent money on more than a dozen U.S. House races this year, but its spending totals were particularly large in a pair of Democratic primaries, where it backed candidates who unseated progressive incumbents who have criticized Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza.

In Missouri's First Congressional District, AIPAC's PAC gave more than $3.1 million to Wesley Bell's campaign through July 31, the dominant share of the nearly $4.8 million it had reported raising in its most recent filing through July 17. In addition, UDP spent $8.6 million in the race, the majority of that amount opposing incumbent Rep. Cori Bush.

In New York's Sixteenth Congressional District, AIPAC's PAC gave more than $2.8 million to George Latimer's campaign through the end of last month. Earmarked donations from AIPAC made up a sizable chunk of the $6.4 million Latimer had brought in through the end of June, the most recent FEC filing. UDP spent a whopping $14.6 million in the contest, two-thirds of that amount opposing Rep. Jamaal Bowman. The UDP spending backing Latimer set a record for spending by an outside group on a House election, and its total spent backing Bell in Missouri puts it fourth all-time among House races, Sludge calculated.

As of its latest spending disclosures, covering expenditures made as recently as August 5, AIPACs PACs have spent $100,321,705. Combined, that makes it the fifth-highest PAC spender on federal elections so far this cycle, behind groups like the pro-Trump MAGA Inc. super PAC and the cryptocurrency industry-funded Fairshake super PAC.

Late last year, AIPAC set a goal of spending $100 million on this year's Democratic primaries, according to a report by Slate. Earlier this year, Politico reported that AIPAC was planning to spend $100 million on 2024 elections, "taking aim at candidates they deem insufficiently supportive of Israel."

An additional bucket of spending that is related to AIPAC, largely in Democratic primaries, has been $2.8 million in independent expenditures made by Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), a closely allied super PAC.

For decades, AIPAC did not have a PAC and did not directly spend money on elections to avoid a perceived conflict of interest with its lobbying for billions of dollars annually in foreign aid — and more recently, packages of tens of billions in military aid.

AIPAC's massive increase in spending on American politics comes as Israel has been engaged in a military assault on Gaza, conducted in large part with funding and weapons approved and supplied by the U.S.. In its quarterly lobbying disclosures, it has reported working this year to influence Congress on supplemental appropriations bills, legislation addressing anti-tunnel defense capabilities, sanctions on Iran, and resolutions proposed by members of Congress that would call for a deescalation and cease-fire, among many other topics.

Yesterday, the Israeli Ministry of Defense announced it had received its 500th shipment of weapons from the U.S. by air since the conflict started following Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack, and that it has received an additional 107 shipments from the U.S. by sea.

Republican donor Bernard Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot, has donated $3 million this cycle to AIPAC's UDP, most recently a $1 million donation made on July 25, about two weeks before the Democratic primary in Missouri. Another billionaire Republican megadonor, hedge fund founder Paul Singer, has given $2 million to UDP this cycle, including $1 million on June 17, just over a week before the Democratic primary in New York.

The super PAC's largest donor is billionaire g who was among the top donors to Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley's super PAC. Other UDP donors in recent months have included the following: David Messer, CEO of Freepoint Commodities, who gave another $250,000 on July 1; Martin Geller, CEO of financial firm Geller & Company, who gave an additional $268,000 on June 25; and Frank Blair, equity portfolio manager at Capital Group, who gave an additional $200,000 in May.

AIPAC's PAC finished July with more than $2.2 million cash on hand, and its super PAC arm with nearly $8.6 million cash on hand.

Update: AIPAC's spending total was revised upwards by less than $100,000 after publication. As originally published, the article calculated spending up to July 31, the most recent date covered in monthly filings. The updated figure reflects spending reported in August by UDP.
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