Unknown First-Time Donors Are Powering the New Left
They were spurred by AIPAC's heavy spending and are writing checks of up to $1 million each.
WSJ What's News · Will Trump’s Russian Diesel Deal Lower Prices?The donors behind the new left's surge are people you have never heard of. With the midterms a few weeks away, a Journal analysis found that a group of little-known contributors, many of whom had never given to politics before, is funding Democratic socialists and other progressives.
They look different from past givers. Politics reporter Maggie Severns says the new donors tend to be younger and from more varied backgrounds, and tend to work in technology and health care.
What moved them, Severns says, was watching AIPAC, the pro-Israel group that spends heavily to support candidates who back Israel, shape elections. In response, they started giving to what Severns describes as "a super PAC that actually is there to be a counterweight to AIPAC." Their checks run up to $1 million each. That is small next to the tens or even hundreds of millions that Elon Musk is expected to give in the midterms, but it is still far more than most Americans ever give to politics.
Questions people ask
What does a super PAC do?
A super PAC is an independent political committee that can raise and spend unlimited sums to support or oppose candidates, as long as it does not coordinate directly with their campaigns. In practice, super PACs pay for ads, mail, and organizing in competitive races. The counterweight group described here exists to back candidates who oppose AIPAC-backed candidates.
What is AIPAC?
AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is a pro-Israel advocacy group, and its affiliated super PAC spends heavily in congressional primaries and general elections. It supports candidates who back a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, regardless of party. Its large primary spending in recent cycles made it a major factor in several Democratic races.