This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org

By Jake Johnson

A campaign finance report filed on Friday revealed that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project, has resumed spending on Michigan’s US Senate race, dropping $95,000 on mailers opposing Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed in a bid to help Republican Mike Rogers weeks ahead of the key midterm contest.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) report came a day after Rogers and El-Sayed clashed on the debate stage over healthcare, drug prices, military assistance to Israel, and other issues. Asked during the debate whether he would accept AIPAC’s support in the race, Rogers said, “Anybody that wants to help my campaign stop [El-Sayed]... I’ll take all of that help.”

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In August, Axios reported that Rogers’ allies asked AIPAC not to advertise on behalf of the Republican candidate, an apparent acknowledgment of the group’s political toxicity amid Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza. Rogers himself spoke with AIPAC’s chair in August, according to Axios, and the group subsequently “shelved an already-cut video ad targeting” El-Sayed.

In response to the FEC report, El-Sayed wrote on social media that “you know Mike Rogers is in trouble when he begs AIPAC to start spending against me.”

“Why do they hate me?” he added. “Because I want to keep your tax money here to spend on your kids rather than spend it to kill kids somewhere else.”

AIPAC’s United Democracy Project (UDP), which has spent aggressively against progressive Democrats across the country in recent elections, poured tens of millions of dollars into El-Sayed’s Democratic primary contest against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.). The group signaled after El-Sayed’s victory that it was prepared to spend heavily on Rogers’ behalf.

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While the new spending on mailers marks UDP’s first financial intervention in the Senate race’s general election, Rogers has attended several fundraising events hosted by AIPAC.

Speaking to reporters at a campaign stop on Friday, Rogers downplayed UDP’s mailer spending and falsely attacked El-Sayed as antisemitic.

“He is so anti-Jewish that one mail piece sends him into orbit,” said Rogers.

The American Prospect’s David Dayen wrote Friday that Rogers “was right when he dissuaded this the first time,” referring to AIPAC campaign spending.

“But he’s desperate now,” Dayen added.

[Wc/VP]

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