{"id":93076,"date":"2026-07-02T20:37:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T01:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/?p=93076"},"modified":"2026-07-03T19:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T00:27:12","slug":"races-to-watch-as-staunch-israel-critics-notch-wins-these-candidates-could-be-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/races-to-watch-as-staunch-israel-critics-notch-wins-these-candidates-could-be-next\/","title":{"rendered":"Races to watch: As staunch Israel critics notch wins, these candidates could be next"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JOSEPH STRAUSS<\/p>\n

(JTA) \u2014 A wave of left-wing candidates with sharply critical Israel stances have won their Democratic primary this year and are set to head to Congress. Who else of like mind could join them in the coming months?<\/p>\n

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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) addresses a rally in Brooklyn on June 18, 2026. (Selcuk Acar\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Several candidates who fit the bill have benefited from the endorsement and vast volunteer infrastructure of the Democratic Socialists of America. Others are simply meeting the moment for the growing number of Democratic voters who think the U.S. government is too supportive of Israel. Meanwhile, some Jewish groups and other critics have been concerned that their campaign rhetoric in this election cycle has at times veered into antisemitism.<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s New York City results showed the power of Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s endorsement and alarmed some Jewish leaders who watched as two pro-Israel incumbents lost their seats. Some onlookers questioned whether those victories could be replicated in other parts of the country, but Melat Kiros\u2019 decisive win in Tuesday\u2019s Colorado Democratic congressional primary for a district representing Denver answered the question with a resounding yes.<\/p>\n

With just over two months left in the primaries, here are the upcoming races featuring left-wing insurgents whose results may hinge, at least in part, on sentiment toward Israel, Zionism and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbying group.<\/p>\n

Arizona: 4th Congressional District (July 21)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton is facing a primary challenge from activist Kai Newkirk in Arizona\u2019s 4th District, which covers parts of Phoenix and Maricopa County. <\/p>\n

Stanton, who took office in 2018, is pro-Israel and has picked up the endorsement of AIPAC \u2014 support that Newkirk, whose activism has largely focused on campaign-finance reform, has blasted.<\/p>\n

Newkirk\u2019s platform includes imposing a complete arms embargo on Israel and ending all military subsidies to the Jewish state, which he accuses of committing genocide. He identifies as a democratic socialist (though he\u2019s not endorsed by the DSA), and is backed by a number of progressive organizations, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders\u2019 group Our Revolution and Track AIPAC.<\/p>\n

\u201cKai is Israel Free and has fought to get money out of politics his whole life,\u201d wrote Cenk Uygur, the host of the Young Turks, who has spread conspiracy theories about Israel.<\/p>\n

Newkirk spoke out against last year\u2019s killing of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. \u201cI stand always with my beloved Jewish siblings against the scourge of antisemitism just as I will never stop in the nonviolent struggle to end the genocide in Gaza, release all hostages, and open the way to just, lasting peace,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Missouri: 1st Congressional District (Aug. 4)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Cori Bush, then a U.S. congresswoman, holds a press conference with other U.S. Representatives to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, Washington D.C., United States. Feb. 29, 2024. (Celal Gunes\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Former Missouri Rep. Cori Bush is running for Congress in St. Louis again, two years after AIPAC\u2019s super PAC poured millions into her race to oust the former \u201cSquad\u201d member from the House. Bush, who was first elected to Congress in 2020, will now take on Wesley Bell for the second time in the Democratic primary.<\/p>\n

Bush, who supports the movement to boycott Israel, has alarmed a number of Jewish leaders in St. Louis over her positions on Israel.<\/p>\n

She has expressed reluctance about calling Hamas a terrorist group, saying in a 2024 interview that racial justice protesters in Ferguson were also called terrorists. Bush was one of two members of Congress to vote against a measure to deny entry into the United States to Hamas terrorists who perpetrated the Oct. 7 massacre.<\/p>\n

Her opponent, Bell, a supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship, has the backing of a number of Jewish and pro-Israel groups, including AIPAC, the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) and the Jewish Democratic Council of America, as well as the Congressional Black Caucus.<\/p>\n

Bush, meanwhile, has been endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, former New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman \u2014 who was ousted the same year as Bush in a race with heavy spending by AIPAC \u2014 St. Louis\u2019 DSA chapter and the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace.<\/p>\n

Missouri: 4th Congressional District (Aug. 4)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tenant organizer and radio host Hartzell Gray is running with the DSA\u2019s backing in a Democratic primary in hopes of supplanting AIPAC-backed GOP congressman Mark Alford in the November general election in a solidly Republican district that includes some of Kansas City and its suburbs.<\/p>\n

During a recent interview with Hasan Piker, Gray said that American elected officials, including Alford, are \u201ccatering to Israel, not to our folks here at home,\u201d and broke down his views on the issue that he called \u201cvery much at the core of who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very honest. Listen, Israel\u2019s apartheid ethnostate has been committing genocide to Palestinian people since before the Nakba,\u201d Gray said. \u201cThey\u2019re committing ethnic cleansing in Lebanon as we speak. We should be ending all ties \u2014 all diplomatic ties \u2014 with Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gray had raised close to $170,000 as of March 31, according to FEC filings, by far the most of the seven Democrats in the running (none of whom are elected officials).<\/p>\n

Michigan: U.S. Senate (Aug. 4)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The race for an open U.S. Senate seat between former county health executive Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Rep. Haley Stevens and the trailing State Sen. Mallory McMorrow has been one of the country\u2019s most closely watched primaries, with Israel and AIPAC at its center.<\/p>\n

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Abdul El-Sayed speaks during Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Fight Oligarchy” tour, at Mumford High School, Detroit, Michigan, May 3, 2026. (Sarah Rice\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A physician and former public health official, El-Sayed, who led Stevens by 5 percentage points in the latest poll, has made Medicare for all a core plank of his campaign. <\/p>\n

He is also a staunchly pro-Palestinian candidate who\u2019s campaigned alongside fellow hardline Israel critic Hasan Piker. A number of major left-wing figures are backing El-Sayed, including Sanders and a handful of Congress\u2019 most outspoken pro-Palestinian members, such as Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib and California Rep. Ro Khanna. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez added her endorsement on Thursday.<\/p>\n

AIPAC\u2019s super PAC, United Democracy Project, has spent more than $2 million on ads boosting Stevens, who describes herself as a \u201cproud pro-Israel Democrat.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with Semafor, El-Sayed called Stevens \u201ca suit with a large AIPAC bank account,\u201d adding that he hopes AIPAC finds \u201csome way to teach her how to string together two coherent sentences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the attempted attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, earlier this year, El-Sayed drew criticism from some Jewish leaders \u2014 including the synagogue\u2019s rabbi \u2014 for releasing lengthy remarks that discussed Israel\u2019s war in Lebanon, after initially condemning antisemitism in a statement.<\/p>\n

Michigan: 13th Congressional District (Aug. 4)<\/strong><\/p>\n

State Rep. Donavan McKinney could be the next to join the wave of DSA-backed insurgents heading to Congress. He has the backing of major democratic socialists Sanders and Tlaib, as well as Metro Detroit DSA.<\/p>\n

Unlike many DSA congressional candidates, McKinney has not made Israel or Gaza a primary focus of his campaign. On his campaign website, AIPAC is not mentioned by name in the section on \u201cgetting big money out of politics,\u201d and Israel is not cited in the foreign policy section.<\/p>\n

PAL PAC, an anti-AIPAC pro-Palestinian organization, endorsed McKinney. He thanked the group and said that his policies \u201creflect the growing majority of Americans who want to end US tax funding of weapons to Israel to destroy Palestinian communities, and instead invest resources back into American working families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Shri Thanedar, the incumbent looking to stave off McKinney, is backed by pro-Israel groups AIPAC and DMFl, and has supported military aid to Israel since joining Congress in 2023.<\/p>\n

AIPAC mobilized against Thanedar when he ran in 2022 because of legislation he once co-sponsored in the Michigan House that described Israel as an \u201capartheid state\u201d and urged Congress to end U.S. aid to Israel. Thanedar later walked back his legislation, telling Jewish Insider that it had been an \u201cemotional reaction\u201d to the 2021 conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and that he would support Israel in Congress.<\/p>\n

Michigan: 7th Congressional District (Aug. 4)<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Democratic primary between three major candidates is unfolding in a swing district in Michigan, with its winner hoping to unseat Republican Rep. Tom Barrett in November.  <\/p>\n

William Lawrence, 35, is occupying the race\u2019s left lane, with endorsements from Sanders, Khanna and Tlaib. He co-founded Sunrise Movement, a climate advocacy organization, in 2015. (The group, which he left in 2020, has since become increasingly vocal in advocating for Palestinians.) <\/p>\n

Lawrence is facing off against retired Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, who\u2019s said she resigned because Trump \u201ckept siding\u201d with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine.<\/p>\n

At a candidates\u2019 forum in June, Lawrence was the only participant to refer to Israel\u2019s military campaign in Gaza as genocide. Lawrence opposes weapons sales and American military aid to Israel. Though not endorsed by the DSA, Lawrence is a member of the left-wing group.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin: Governor (Aug. 11)<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the crowded Democratic primary for Wisconsin\u2019s open gubernatorial seat \u2014 a seat that is seen as winnable by either party in November \u2014 state Rep. Francesca Hong has established herself as the left-wing candidate, with backing from two DSA chapters in the state.<\/p>\n

She introduced statewide legislation earlier this year that would repeal a 2018 law banning state contracts with businesses that boycott Israel. In March, Hong criticized outgoing Gov. Tom Evers after he signed into law the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance\u2019s definition of antisemitism. Progressives have criticized the definition for characterizing some criticism of Israel as antisemitism. Hong wrote that adopting it \u201cwill compromise free speech across the state and academic freedom at our universities.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recently appeared on both Hasan Piker\u2019s show and on the stream hosted by Michael Beyer, an influencer known as \u201cMike from PA\u201d who came under fire after saying that Jewish identity is \u201ca constructed ethnicity, this demonic ethnicity, wholly invented.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Wisconsin is going to be a state that actually values human rights, then we have to ensure that we\u2019re supporting, we\u2019re fighting for the pro-Palestine movement,\u201d Hong said on Beyer\u2019s show.<\/p>\n

The race\u2019s most recent polling, conducted in March, had Hong leading with 14% of votes ahead of former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, at 11%. Sixty-five percent of voters were undecided.<\/p>\n

Florida: 25th Congressional District (Aug. 18)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oliver Larkin, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, has made an effort to compare himself to Zohran Mamdani. <\/p>\n

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Oliver Larkin speaks during an emergency town hall that he held to address Florida Republicans\u2019 newly approved congressional redistricting map, in Coral Springs, Florida, May 4, 2026. (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Larkin is up against the staunchly pro-Israel, AIPAC-backed Rep. Jared Moskowitz in the district that includes Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. Larkin is being backed by DSA and advocates for the suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel, which he accuses of committing genocide. His platform also includes the right of return for Palestinian refugees.<\/p>\n

Now, some of the energy generated by the Mamdani-backed candidates\u2019 success in New York appears to be lifting Larkin\u2019s candidacy: His campaign reportedly raised $115,000 in the week after the New York primaries.<\/p>\n

In an appearance on Piker\u2019s show, Larkin differentiated his policies on Israel from those of Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback, the anti-Israel, fringe GOP candidate who has courted the online far right.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key difference is that when we talk about banning U.S. military aid to Israel, banning U.S. colleges and government from investing in Israel bonds, we\u2019re talking about universal economic benefits,\u201d Larkin said, meaning those tax dollars would go toward domestic programs for all.<\/p>\n

November\u2019s general election for the recently redistricted seat is seen as a toss-up. Should Larkin win the primary, his candidacy could serve as a test of how left-wing candidates fare in swing seats as opposed to moderate Democrats.<\/p>\n

A recent poll showed Moskowitz with a 32-point lead; 72% of voters were unfamiliar or had no opinion of Larkin.<\/p>\n

Massachusetts: 4th Congressional District (Sept. 1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rep. Jake Auchincloss, another staunchly pro-Israel Democrat, is facing a primary challenge from AI and policy researcher Jason Poulos.<\/p>\n

Poulos\u2019 platform calls to end U.S. support for Israel by signing onto legislation like the Block the Bombs Act and Tlaib\u2019s bill stating that Israel is committing genocide. He also calls for AIPAC and DMFI to register as foreign lobbying groups.<\/p>\n

Poulos told the Newton Beacon that Israel was an animating force in his entrance into politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat really was radicalizing for me was watching the United States send tens of billions of dollars in military arms to Israel and watch them participate actively in the genocide of the Palestinian people,\u201d Poulos said. He also said that he sided with the campus pro-Palestinian encampments in 2024 and their aim of lobbying the schools to divest from Israel.<\/p>\n

Poulos has slammed Auchincloss for his endorsement from AIPAC. At a recent town hall, Auchincloss said it \u201cconcerns\u201d him that there are numerous lobbying groups influencing politics, but only \u201cone group of people get pummeled above all others.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next day, Poulos called Auchincloss \u201ccomically out-of-touch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason why AIPAC is singled out is because it has already poured nearly $50m into congressional races nationwide, is bankrolled by MAGA mega-donors, and is in lockstep with the foreign policy interests of a foreign gov\u2019t,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

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