AIPAC-linked super PAC backs Stevens in Michigan Senate primary

The main super PAC tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has entered Michigan’s open Senate race with its first ads backing Haley Stevens, a move that puts Israel policy at the center of a three-way Democratic primary already shaped by labor, ideology and millions in outside money.

United Democracy Project reserved about $2.33 million in airtime for ads supporting Stevens, with the buy set to run from June 10 through June 15 across Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Traverse City, along with cable placements on CNN and MSNOW. The spending marks the group’s first major ad push in the Michigan contest and signals how aggressively pro-Israel donors are trying to influence a race that could help decide Senate control.

The contest opened when Democratic Sen. Gary Peters said on January 28, 2025, that he would not seek reelection in 2026, creating an open seat in a state Donald Trump carried in 2024. Stevens now faces state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed in a primary scheduled for August 4, 2026, with the general election set for November 3, 2026. What might once have been a standard succession battle has become a referendum on how Democratic voters want the party to talk about Israel, Gaza and allied spending in a battleground state.

Stevens has described herself as a Zionist and a proud pro-Israel Democrat, a profile that makes her a natural target for, and beneficiary of, the party’s escalating foreign-policy crosscurrents. The latest spending follows a separate pro-Israel-linked campaign that put more than $5 million behind Stevens in May, underscoring how outside groups are trying to shape the field before voters fully lock in.

The counterweight has come from labor. On June 6, the United Auto Workers endorsed El-Sayed, giving him a powerful institutional boost as he competes with Stevens and McMorrow for the party’s activist base. Chuck Schumer has remained officially neutral, but he has privately signaled support for Stevens in conversations with donors, a reminder that national Democrats see the Michigan race as far more than a state contest.

With the Democratic path to a Senate majority running through Michigan, the campaign is now testing a larger question inside the party: whether outside money can sway moderates, harden ideological lines, or make Israel policy the defining proxy fight of 2026.