In North Carolina, Nida Allam, the Sanders-backed candidate, lost to Valerie Foushee, a state legislator, in an open congressional race. Foushee’s campaign was supported by nearly $3.5 million in spending from two pro-Israel groups and a super PAC linked to a cryptocurrency billionaire. Super PAC expenses for Ms. Allam were $370,000.
Maya Handa, Ms. Allam’s campaign manager, said Mr. Sanders’ megaphone – he made robocalls, sent an email to raise money to his giant list and held a virtual event – invaluable to the money brought in from outside. flowed into the race.
The message broke through among some voters. In Hillsborough, Elese Stutts, 44, a bookseller, planned to vote for Mrs. Foushee. However, on Election Day, Ms Stutts said she was knocked out after learning about the origin of the super PAC money that helped Ms Foushee’s campaign.
Ms. Foushee eventually won the Democratic primary for a district that includes several major universities, including Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where Mr. Sanders was 83 percent in the Democratic primary in the Allam polls. -campaign.
Mr. Sanders has talked to pro-Israel groups over the years, including during his 2020 presidential run, when a group called the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC spent money to attack him when he was the frontrunner in early in the primary season. came forward.
And when one of Mr. Sanders’ national co-chairs, Nina Turner, ran for Congress in a special election in 2021 and again in 2022, that group and the AIPAC-aligned super PAC both spent a lot of money trying to defeat her. .
Understand the 2022 midterm elections
Why are these midterms so important? This year’s races could tip the balance of power in Congress to Republicans, shattering President Biden’s agenda for the second half of his term. They will also test former President Donald J. Trump’s role as GOP kingmaker. Here’s what you need to know:
“I understand Senator Sanders’ grudge against us,” said Mark Mellman, the chairman of the Democratic Majority PAC for Israel. “We helped prevent him from winning Iowa and the presidential nomination. Then we helped prevent his campaign chairman from winning a House race in Cleveland. Frankly, I wouldn’t be happy with us either if I were him.”
