JStreetPAC, the political fundraising arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement, congratulated its endorsees Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff on their historic, politically pivotal victories in the Georgia Senate runoffs.
“JStreetPAC is extremely proud to have been one part of the massive in-state and nationwide coalition that mobilized to help elect these impressive candidates and to end Mitch McConnell’s disastrous tenure as Senate Majority Leader,” said J Street’s National Political Director Ilya Braverman. “These victories are just the latest sign that bad-faith smears and bigoted attacks against principled candidates, don’t just fail – they backfire. In particular, the Loeffler campaign’s disgraceful attempt to portray Rev. Warnock as ‘anti-Israel’ and even ‘antisemitic’ — while Loeffler herself rallied with white nationalist extremists — was rejected by voters as an obvious lie.”
JStreetPAC raised over $500K from its supporters for the runoffs — $381K contributed directly to the Ossoff and Warnock campaigns, and $118K contributed to the on-the-ground organizing efforts of Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight PAC. J Street leaders and student activists in Georgia and across the country also volunteered for phone banks and other important efforts to get out the vote.
Along with defeating President Trump and maintaining control of the House by a pro-Israel, pro-peace majority, shifting the balance of power in the Senate was one of JStreetPAC’s three major political goals in the 2020 cycle. Including the Georgia runoffs, the PAC raised over $7.5 million for congressional endorsees during the cycle, along with an additional $2.1 million for the Biden-Harris campaign. All four senate challengers to flip seats — Arizona’s Mark Kelly, Colorado’s John Hickenlooper and Georgia’s Ossoff and Warnock — were endorsed by JStreetPAC. JStreetPAC endorses a majority of the House Democratic Caucus and over 60% of Senate Democrats, and is the largest pro-Israel PAC in the country.
“While it’s been far from simple or easy, the 2020 elections have ultimately culminated in a rejection of Trumpism and a critical victory for the majority of Americans — and the overwhelming majority of American Jews — who believe in democratic institutions and values, in diversity and equality and in diplomacy-first foreign policy,” Braverman said. “Moving forward, we will now have a president and majorities in both chambers of Congress that are committed to American leadership rooted in diplomacy and multilateralism instead of belligerence and armed conflict. We will have champions for a peaceful and just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a return to compliance with the JCPOA agreement and the rebuilding of US credibility in the Middle East and beyond.”