JTA — A Democratic congressional candidate heavily backed by pro-Israel spending has lost her spot in a California swing district’s runoff, after a progressive critic of Israel overtook her in the ballot count a week after the primary election.
State Assembly member Jasmeet Bains, a moderate, received around $500,000 in ad buys from the Democratic Majority for Israel group, according to a Sacramento Bee review of Federal Election Commission filings, in her bid to represent California’s 22nd district, in the state’s Central Valley.
In the days after California’s June 2 primary, Bains appeared on track to come in second, meaning that she would face off in November against Republican incumbent Rep. David Valadao — who has the backiing of AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby.
But late Tuesday, the Associated Press formally called the race for school board member Randy Villegas over Bains. As of press time, Villegas held 32 percent of the vote to Bains’ 27%, with 90% of total votes tallied. Valadao was in first place with 40% of the vote.
The result sets up another front line in the Democratic Party’s effort to gain control of Congress amid rapidly shifting voter sentiment about Israel. Democrats are hoping to flip the 22nd district, where most residents are Latino, after statewide redistricting this year.
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Villegas, who is backed by Jewish progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, called for a ceasefire in Gaza in January 2024, a few months after the Hamas-led October 7 attack, and has called Israel a “genocidal regime.”
According to FEC filings, he received support from American Priorities PAC, a pro-Palestinian super PAC; multiple media outlets also noted that Villegas had backing from a Republican PAC, indicating that he was seen as a preferable opponent for Valadao.
US Rep. David Valadao, Republican-California, poses for a photo in Washington, January 6, 2015. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
During the campaign, DMFI president Brian Romick told Jewish Insider that Villegas “consistently has an anti-Israel record.” But most of the group’s spending in the race did not mention Israel. Instead, the group bought ads insinuating that Villegas had been complicit in covering up abuse of minors at his local school district. The ads were misleading, local media reported.
In a sign of how pervasive anti-Israel sentiment has grown among Democrats, Bains, too, said Israel committed genocide in Gaza prior to DMFI’s entry into the race. After receiving its backing, the candidate walked back her stance.
“While we’re disappointed at the outcome of this race, we remain enthusiastic about our record so far this primary cycle,” Romick told JTA in a statement. He pointed to DMFI’s backing of Texas Democrat Johnny Garcia against Maureen Galindo, who made antisemitic statements, and the success of another DMFI-backed candidate elsewhere in California.
Yet for DMFI, the loss adds to a mixed record in a primary season that has seen Democrats turn sharply against pro-Israel spending, especially from AIPAC. Other candidates endorsed by pro-Israel groups in Illinois, New Jersey, and elsewhere have lost to critics of Israel.
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