Washington, DC – J Street Action Fund, the independent expenditure arm of the leading pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy group J Street, announced today an ad campaign in support of Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss in the competitive IL-09 primary to succeed J Street Champion Rep. Jan Schakowsky.
This new advertisement was produced to help counter the millions of dollars in dark money flooding in to support Laura Fine.
The ad focuses on Daniel Biss’ record of fighting for his community and against the Trump administration’s increasing authoritarianism. It can be viewed on J Street’s YouTube channel here.
In the weeks leading up to the March 17th primary, it has been widely reported that AIPAC has set up shell super PACs and bundled millions of direct dollars to support Laura Fine’s campaign, while hiding their involvement.
“The future of American Jewish political engagement cannot look like AIPAC’s disturbing obfuscation of their involvement in IL-9. AIPAC’s public support is toxic to candidates because the positions they represent are toxic,” said J Street’s Vice President of Political and Digital Strategy, Tali deGroot. “Our community must publicly stand behind our beliefs and the candidates who share them. There are nearly 3,000 J Street members in Illinois’ 9th district, and Daniel Biss is a perfect pro-peace voice to represent them in Congress.”
This investment from the J Street Action Fund, combined with efforts from Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Medicare for All PAC, and 3.14 Action Fund, brings the total independent expenditure spending in support of Daniel Biss to over $1 million.
The J Street Action Fund was created in 2022 to help counter harmful right-wing efforts to use Republican billionaire money to drive a wedge in Democratic primaries. JSAF is part of the organization’s larger effort to demonstrate that candidates who adopt principled positions on Israel/Palestine that line up with the views of the majority of American Jews can expect significant support.