JB Pritzker criticizes AIPAC’s spending in Illinois primaries

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) on Wednesday criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for spending millions in various Democratic primaries in the state.

AIPAC and affiliated shell committees reportedly spent more than $21 million in multiple Democratic races in the Prairie State, with mixed results. During an interview with The Associated Press (AP), Pritzker called the spending “interference” and accused the lobbying group of straying from its initial goal to support peace in the Middle East.

“It became an organization that was supporting Donald Trump and people who follow Donald Trump,” the governor, who is Jewish, continued. “AIPAC really is not an organization that I think today I would want any part of.”

The AP reported that Pritzker previously donated to AIPAC before stopping his financial support of the group more than a decade ago.

The Democrat, who is up for reelection himself against former state Rep. Darren Bailey (R), spent at least $5 million in support of Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton (D). That investment paid off, as Stratton defeated Prairie State Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly in the Democratic primary and now heads to November looking to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

In Illinois’s 9th Congressional District, Elect Chicago Women, a super PAC connected to AIPAC, backed state Sen. Laura Fine (D) and slammed Daniel Biss, the Democratic mayor of Evanston, Ill. But Biss won the Democratic primary, with Fine finishing third behind him and progressive activist Kat Abughazaleh. 

Also Wednesday, Pritzker slammed President Trump for, in his view, abandoning a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine and “following” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into war with Iran.

“I do not know why the United States has walked away from [a two-state solution], except, of course, that Donald Trump doesn’t seem to understand how to create Middle East peace and instead wants to go to war, as he has now done in Iran, simply following Netanyahu into that war,” the governor said.