Rogers team asks AIPAC to avoid ads targeting El-Sayed ahead of Michigan Senate race

Aipac told to stay away from pro-Israel Mike Rogers' campaign, report says Allies of Mike Rogers, a Republican Senate nominee in Michigan, have asked the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) not to run ads on his behalf, according to Axios. The request came after Rogers spoke with Aipac chair Michael Tuchin in Los Angeles last week. The next day, Aipac shelved an already-prepared video ad targeting Rogers' Democratic rival, Abdul El-Sayed, an outspoken critic of Israel. Axios said the tension underscores how far Aipac’s political standing “has fallen amid voters' anger over the war in Gaza” that even Rogers, a staunchly pro-Israel Republican, “fears the group's public support could be a liability” in the 3 November election. Aipac had spent more than $30m trying to defeat El-Sayed in the Democratic primary and was preparing to spend millions more to help elect Rogers in November, according to people familiar with the talks cited by Axios. El-Sayed narrowly won his primary against Haley Stevens on 4 August. Axios reports that Rogers' team had warned Aipac beforehand that it expected El-Sayed to win, even as the group held out hope for Stevens. During the primary, El-Sayed made Aipac 's spending a central target, arguing it showed Stevens was beholden to the pro-Israel lobby. Rogers' campaign believes the strategy backfired by giving El-Sayed a foil he was keen to use again in the general election. Michigan is home to one of the largest Arab American populations in the US, and a Fox News poll cited by Axios found that 55 percent of Michigan voters oppose continued US aid to Israel.  

Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers asked AIPAC not to air ads targeting Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, Axios reported Saturday.