Why is a moderate Democrat’s primary loss being called an AIPAC backfire?

Al JazeeraCenterEN 4 min read 100% complete by Joseph StepanskyFebruary 10, 2026 at 08:32 PM

AI Summary

long article 4 min

Tom Malinowski, a moderate Democrat, conceded to progressive Analilia Mejia in a New Jersey primary race for the US House of Representatives in February 2026. Malinowski's loss is being viewed as a setback for AIPAC, which funded attack ads against him through the United Democracy Project (UDP) due to his mild criticism of unconditional US support for Israel. Critics argue AIPAC's strategy of targeting any criticism of Israel backfired, potentially boosting Mejia, who is more critical of US-Israel policy. Despite Malinowski's previous support from AIPAC and self-described "pro-Israel" stance, UDP's spending appeared to contribute to Mejia's victory by a narrow margin. Malinowski acknowledged AIPAC's role in the election outcome.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Tahesha Way 40% Bernie Sanders 40% United States House of Representatives 50% New Jersey ×360% Israel ×470% United States ×470% United Democracy Project (UDP) ×370% Analilia Mejia ×480% Tom Malinowski ×790% American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) ×790%

Keywords

aipac 100% us-israel policy 80% primary race 70% attack ads 70% analilia mejia 60% tom malinowski 60% united democracy project 50% democratic primary 50% pro-israel 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.20

Source Transparency

Source

Al Jazeera

Political Lean

Center (0.00)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

United States

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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aipac us-israel policy primary race attack ads analilia mejia tom malinowski united democracy project democratic primary pro-israel

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