What are Super PACs, and why are they reshaping primary elections?
In Texas's 35th Congressional District this spring, a Super PAC with suspected ties to Republican donors spent nearly $1 million boosting a Democratic candidate widely condemned by her own party for antisemitic statements. The apparent goal was not to help Democrats win, but to advance a nominee viewed as easier to defeat in the general election.
The tactic is not unique to one party. In 2022, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent money to boost Republican John Gibbs in his primary challenge against Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.), a Republican viewed as more competitive in a general election. In recent years, Democratic- and Republican-aligned groups alike have sought to influence opposing-party primaries by backing candidates they believe will be easier to defeat in November.
These races reflect a broader shift in American politics: outside groups are increasingly trying to shape who appears on the ballot before voters ever reach the general election, raising questions about representation, accountability, and who ultimately holds power in a democratic system.
What is a Super PAC?
A Super PAC, formally known as an independent-expenditure-only committee, is a type of political organization that can raise and spend unlimited sums of money from individuals, corporations, unions and other groups to influence elections. The one legal restriction is that they may not donate directly to a candidate's campaign or coordinate strategy with the candidates they support.
Super PACs emerged after a series of court rulings in 2010 that allowed outside groups to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money independently of campaigns.
What does this have to do with primary elections?
In many parts of the country, the primary is effectively the general election. In districts dominated by one party — as many as 80% of U.S. voting districts — the nominee chosen in a low-turnout primary may ultimately represent hundreds of thousands of people.
When voters believe the outcome of the general election is largely predetermined, many choose not to participate until November—or not at all. As a result, primary electorates tend to be smaller, more politically engaged, and often more ideologically extreme than the broader public, while candidates are often less well known. In this environment, a well-timed infusion of outside money can have an outsized impact on who advances and ultimately holds office.
Why are we talking about this now?
The 2026 midterm primary cycle has produced an unprecedented wave of Super PAC activity across nearly every region of the country. From Georgia, where the Senate Leadership Fund alone committed more than $44 million to target the Senate race before most voters had seen a single ad, to Fairshake, backed by Coinbase, Andreessen Horowitz, and Ripple, raising $193 million to elect crypto-friendly candidates across both parties. American Bridge, a major Democratic Super PAC, recently launched a $50 million campaign targeting Republicans in House and Senate races across the country.
Among the many entities participating in this system, none has generated more debate within Jewish communities this cycle than the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC. Founded in 1954, AIPAC is one of Washington's most established and historically bipartisan pro-Israel advocacy organizations. In 2022, it launched the United Democracy Project, a Super PAC that has since spent heavily in congressional primaries to support candidates aligned with a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.
Why does this matter for democracy?
Representative democracy depends on voters choosing their representatives – not the groups with the deepest pockets. When outside groups can spend unlimited sums on elections, a small number of wealthy donors and organizations can gain disproportionate influence over who reaches elected office.
While Super PACs are legally required to disclose their donors, those disclosures frequently arrive after voting ends. The result is that voters often make decisions without fully understanding who is funding the messages reaching them.
That gap in transparency is not unique to any party, industry, or ideological movement; it is a structural feature of how Super PACs operate across the board. Polls have consistently shown that voters across party lines view unlimited outside spending as a threat to democratic accountability, a rare point of bipartisan agreement in an otherwise divided political landscape.
Why does this matter for Jewish communities?
Healthy democracies depend on both majority rule and the protection of minority rights. For Jewish communities, those principles are not abstract. As a small minority in the United States, Jews have long relied on democratic institutions that protect equal representation, political participation, and the rights of all citizens.
Organizations like AIPAC and its Super PAC, United Democracy Project, have become prominent participants in debates over money and influence in politics, bringing Jewish institutions into the center of public conversations about democracy and representation, and fueling antisemitic narratives on both sides of the aisle.
What can be done?
Learn →
Understand which Super PACs are active in your state and congressional district. Resources like OpenSecrets, FollowTheMoney.org, and FEC filings can help you track who is funding the messages you see.
Speak →
Talk with friends, family, and community members about how outside spending affects representation and accountability.
Ask candidates where they stand on campaign finance transparency, and encourage others to do the same.
Act →
Vote in your primaries, where outside spending often has the greatest impact. More than half the country still has primaries ahead. If yours has already passed, look at who won — and who funded them.
Contact your members of Congress to support campaign finance transparency legislation, and advocate for small-dollar matching programs that amplify the voices of grassroots donors and reduce the influence of big money in politics.
A More Perfect Union mobilizes the American Jewish community to protect and strengthen democracy. We’re committed to inspiring more American Jews to champion democracy through thoughtful, nonpartisan reflections on the challenges and choices facing our nation today. Never miss an update, subscribe today.
