Voters in Illinois Head to the Polls for Primary Elections

Voters in Illinois head to the polls today for primary elections that could determine the balance of power in the next Congress. Ahead of the election, AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, poured nearly $22 million into Illinois congressional races. Among AIPAC’s targets is Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive running for Illinois’s 9th District, covering parts of Chicago and its northern suburbs. Abughazaleh has condemned the war in Gaza as a genocide and has made cutting U.S. military aid to Israel a top campaign priority. She says AIPAC poured $7 million through two shell PACs to defeat her — even as a dark money group was caught paying social media influencers $1,500 each for scripted attack posts. Meanwhile, several candidates are competing for the Senate seat of retiring Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, with a flood of super PAC spending also influencing that race.