The leading pro-Israel lobbying group has kept quiet on the race for an open Senate seat in Illinois while pouring its largest investments this cycle into the state’s high-profile House primaries, leaving observers to wonder whether it would really sit out the Senate contest.

But for the top of the ticket in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, more than two dozen donors to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee are quietly backing Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, The Intercept has found. 

At least 27 AIPAC donors have given to Stratton’s campaign to replace retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., according to an analysis of federal campaign data. A former AIPAC president, Lee Rosenberg, is on her finance committee.

While public opinion sours on AIPAC’s brand, the group is backing a multimillion-dollar ad campaign run through other committees with palatable names like “Elect Chicago Women” in at least four Democratic House primaries. Its donors, meanwhile, have been funneling money to its preferred Illinois House candidates. The group has kept an even lower profile in the Senate race, where it’s been less clear how, if at all, the pro-Israel lobby is engaging.

Neither of the top contenders for the safe Democratic seat have suggested they would champion the Palestinian cause if elected to the Senate. Both Stratton and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, her leading opponent, have declined to call Israel’s destruction in Gaza a genocide or commit to stopping U.S. weapons transfers to Israel, and at least one of Stratton’s pro-Israel donors also gave to Krishnamoorthi’s campaign. AIPAC endorsed Krishnamoorthi, who has received more than $250,000 from the pro-Israel lobby during his decade in Congress, for his 2024 reelection.

Both are running to the right of Rep. Robin Kelly, a relatively progressive Illinois congresswoman currently in a distant third, but even she staked out a more critical position on Israel upon entering the race and has taken some pro-Israel money while in office, much of it from the centrist group J Street.

AIPAC donors have given more than $70,000 to Stratton’s campaign since August, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission — out of just over $4 million she’s raised in total. The 27 donors have collectively given just under $5 million to AIPAC, its super PAC United Democracy Project, and the group Democratic Majority for Israel, which has close ties to AIPAC. Only two of them live in Illinois.

Rosenberg, the former AIPAC president on Stratton’s finance committee, is a leading Democratic strategist in Illinois, longtime adviser to Gov. JB Pritzker, and former adviser to Barack Obama.

In response to questions from The Intercept, a Stratton campaign spokesperson said that AIPAC had not endorsed the lieutenant governor and was not spending in the Senate race. The spokesperson said Stratton has more than 28,000 individual donors and supports a two-state solution for peace between Israel and Palestine.

In the final days ahead of Tuesday’s primary, Stratton has begun to catch up in the polls to Krishnamoorthi, who has largely outperformed his Democratic opponents in fundraising and public opinion surveys. The two candidates’ allies and critics have pointed fingers over fundraising, accusing the other of drawing support from corporate donors.

Krishnamoorthi’s $30 million fundraising haul is supplied in part by a crypto PAC, donors to President Donald Trump, and Palantir’s chief technology officer, among others, the Chicago Tribune reported on Tuesday. Stratton, meanwhile, has said she’s not taking corporate PAC money and hit Krishnamoorthi’s campaign for accepting support from a “MAGA-backed crypto PAC,” but her opponents have also criticized her Senate campaign for still benefiting from corporate donors that fund PACs backing her.

Democrats in Illinois have criticized AIPAC’s efforts to elect pro-Israel Democrats in deep-blue seats in and around Chicago. Pritzker, one of Stratton’s top surrogates and funders (and her boss), is a former AIPAC donor who cut ties with the group and has since denounced it as a “pro-Trump organization” and “significantly MAGA-influenced.”

Pro-Israel spending “is a moral issue,” said former Rep. Marie Newman, an Illinois Democrat who was ousted from Congress in 2022 after pro-Israel groups spent against her. “AIPAC must be stopped if you believe in democracy.” 

Stratton, who took a trip to Israel in 2019 to meet with an opposition leader, as Politico reported, has been critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s destruction in Gaza. She has not said whether she would support legislation blocking U.S. weapons to Israel. 

Criticizing Netanyahu is at odds with taking support from AIPAC and its donors, Newman said.

“AIPAC vigorously supports Netanyahu, a right-wing dictator, best friend to Trump and his authoritarian inhumane government,” Newman told The Intercept. “Israel’s right-wing government has dragged us into multiple unnecessary wars, helped ruin the US’ reputation in the world and is committing genocide.”

While Krishnamoorthi holds the advantage in polling and fundraising, it’s not clear who will win on Tuesday as dueling PACs fight it out in the final days of the race. Another group that has run ads in support of Krishnamoorthi recently launched ads backing Kelly in an apparent effort to peel votes away from Stratton. Kelly, who has raised $3 million, has struggled to keep pace in the polls with Krishnamoorthi and Stratton, and their backers have labeled her a spoiler.

Kelly’s campaign argues that she’s the most principled of the three candidates, particularly on Israel and Gaza.

“Robin pledged not to accept contributions from AIPAC after deciding to sign onto the Block the Bombs bill and meeting with doctors who volunteered on the front lines in Gaza,” her campaign spokesperson Joe Bowen told The Intercept. “She is the only candidate who has pledged not to take their money, the only candidate to support Block the Bombs and the only candidate to call the genocide in Gaza what it is.”

Kelly, who has hit both Krishnamoorthi and Stratton for stopping short of calling Israel’s destruction in Gaza a genocide, adopted that stance shortly before she launched her Senate campaign. Previously endorsed by J Street, she received $14,000 from AIPAC in 2025 and took an AIPAC trip to Israel in 2016. Kelly, now the only major candidate in the race to reject AIPAC support, has said the contributions were from individual donors who gave through AIPAC’s portal. 

A missing Illinois father was found dead more than three months after a car crash in which he refused medical treatment and was later dropped off at work by police before disappearing.

The body of Daniel “Dan” Davis was discovered at around 3 p.m. on Monday in a wooded area next to train tracks along the border of the Chicago suburbs of Blue Island, the Chicago Police Department confirmed.

The 59-year-old’s cause of death is still under investigation.

His daughter, Wendy Davis, confirmed her family received word that her father’s remains had been found after “three and a half months of agony” searching for the beloved patriarch

“It’s an eerie feeling – thank god this terrible chapter of constant unknown is finally over,” she wrote in a heartbreaking Facebook post Tuesday.

Witnesses last spotted Davis wandering around the entertainment complex where he worked at a bar at about 1:15 a.m. on Nov. 25. He had been involved in a car crash hours earlier, but refused medical attention, People reported.

“Daniel Davis was evaluated by paramedics and refused medical treatment. Sheriff’s police did not detect any observable signs of impairment or injury,” a Cook County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told the outlet.

Police feared Davis may have suffered a head injury in the wreck, which left his car totaled.

“Davis was given a ride to his workplace at approximately 12:30 a.m. due to the fact that his vehicle was undrivable,” the department said.

Home security footage later captured Davis appearing disoriented as he walked through the Chicago suburbs and exited a local church at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 26.

“Since his disappearance, sheriff’s police K9 units have assisted in the search at the request of Merrionette Park Police and will continue to assist in any way possible,” the Cook County Sheriff’s Office added.

Wendy said the footage appeared to show her father’s face drooping, noting that he also tripped over a curb and had his sweatshirt on inside out.

“We’re watching that footage and we noticed some symptoms that are not normal to Dan,” his daughter told People in December.

She said footage from before the crash showed Davis trying to enter homes in his neighbors’ apartment complex, sparking fears he had a medical episode before the accident.

“The accident definitely didn’t make it better,” she told People. “He probably got a concussion in the accident, too. We don’t know for sure.”

In the wake of her father’s body being found, Wendy thanked law enforcement and the community for helping in the search and said she is now starting a “new terrible chapter without my smarter, goofier, and relentlessly selfless other half.”

“This is the news we’ve all been expecting in a way, but nothing really prepares you for it. I’ve never laughed harder with anybody than I have with my dad. And I can’t wait to do it again someday,” she wrote in her post.

“Not a single gesture went unnoticed. I am so glad dad is so loved,” she concluded.

Our team coverage of last nights severe storms continues. We’re speaking with a hail expert.
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