Down Two Squad Members, Progressives Come for an AIPAC Democrat

The progressive group that helped elect the Squad is looking to rebuild after two members were taken out by $30 million in spending from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.

On Monday, Justice Democrats endorsed Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney in the 2026 Democratic primary against Detroit’s Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich. — the group’s first primary challenge since AIPAC’s onslaught. 

Thanedar, first elected to Congress in 2022, is a multimillionaire with support from two of the biggest sources of outside spending on U.S. elections: pro-Israel lobby groups and the cryptocurrency industry. 

Three political action committees linked to the AIPAC spent $2.3 million against Thanedar’s challenger in the Democratic primary last year. AIPAC previously opposed Thanedar in 2022, but their relationship grew closer after he went on one of the group’s congressional junkets to Israel. 

As part of his campaign launch, McKinney has said he is running on bringing working-class representation to Congress, criticizing Thanedar for using taxpayer money to fund his campaign expenses and neglecting his constituents.

“I’m not running for Congress because I’m a millionaire or a billionaire. I’m running because I’m not,” the 32-year-old McKinney said in a press release announcing his campaign launch. “I’m running because our community deserves to have someone fighting back against the Trump-Musk administration who knows our struggles.”

In a campaign video accompanying the launch, McKinney said constituents in the 13th Congressional District deserved a Democratic Party that leads the fight against billionaire elites and corporate PACs. McKinney attacked Thanedar for buying his seat in Congress and “having more in common with Donald Trump and Elon Musk than people like us.” (Thanedar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

The primary campaign is the first primary challenge against a party incumbent launched by Justice Democrats since 2021, and its first efforts since losing Reps. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and Cori Bush, D-Mo., after AIPAC and other outside groups spent close to $50 million against the Squad members in last year’s election.

In a statement, Justice Democrats noted that support for Democrats in Congress is lagging while voters are looking for candidates who will fight harder than the people they see in office. 

“Last election cycle, Justice Democrats focused their resources on protecting our incumbents against the threat of AIPAC and other right-wing lobbies promising — and delivering — on spending $100 million in our elections,” spokesperson Usamah Andrabi said in the Monday press release. 

“As a result of their outsized spending, we lost two of the most working class members of Congress in the most expensive Democratic primaries ever, but out-organized and beat them in every other Squad seat,” he said. “Those losses have only fueled our mission to expand our bloc in Congress and elect more working class champions to Washington.”

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