AIPAC Is Secretly Intervening in Portland’s Congressional Race

In April, a super PAC ostensibly committed to supporting “pro-science” candidates began dropping eye-popping sums of money on a Portland, Oregon, congressional race. 314 Action Fund, which is not known for spending big in congressional primaries, has spent $1.7 million in support of a single candidate in the 3rd Congressional District’s open Democratic primary, according to federal filings. That sum is equal to what the political action committee spent on independent expenditures supporting or opposing candidates during the entire 2022 election cycle.

314 Action Fund, which describes itself as helping to elect “Democrats with a background in science to public office,” is throwing its weight behind Maxine Dexter, a state representative and local doctor. The news outlet Jewish Insider floated Dexter as a potentially pro-Israel candidate before she entered the race.

By waiting until April to launch its spending blitz, 314 Action is able to delay disclosure of its donors until May 20. The election is scheduled for May 21, but ballots have already begun arriving to voters by mail. In other words, the identity of the donor or donors won’t be documented in campaign finance reports until it’s too late.

What is publicly known, however, is that former Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal, the sister of Rep. Pramila Jayapal, was considered the candidate to beat before the sudden influx of money last month.

And what The Intercept can reveal is that Susheela Jayapal is being targeted by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, which is secretly funneling money into the race by washing it through 314 Action, according to two Democratic members of Congress familiar with the arrangement.

The pro-Israel community telegraphed its intent to target Jayapal early on, primarily for suspicion that her politics on Israel–Palestine may align with her younger sister’s, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who called for a ceasefire early in the current war on Gaza.

On December 5, a story landed in Jewish Insider, which closely tracks congressional primaries, headlined “Jayapal sister’s congressional candidacy alarming Portland Jewish leaders.” The article noted that “local pro-Israel advocates … have yet to coalesce behind a viable candidate,” and it named Dexter as a possibility. Given the politics of Portland and the surrounding area, the pro-Israel community had little chance of nominating a candidate unapologetically and unconditionally supportive of Israel’s war effort, but Dexter had potential. Dexter launched her campaign later that same day.

The last-minute spending in the race is enormous: on track to climb north of $3 million in a short period of time in an inexpensive media market. On Friday, a brand-new super PAC got involved with nearly $1 million worth of negative ads against Jayapal.

Some of the money directed to 314 Action — close to a million dollars by early April — had come from a single Los Angeles-based AIPAC donor, according to the members of Congress, who asked for anonymity to preserve professional and political relationships. The plan was openly discussed at a recent AIPAC fundraiser in Los Angeles, as well as a fundraiser in the Pacific Northwest, said the members of Congress, who learned about it from colleagues in attendance or were themselves in attendance.

AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, has not spent any money on the race. AIPAC did not respond to requests for comment.

Jayapal and Eddy Morales, another candidate in the race, held a joint press conference Thursday to decry the lack of transparency and call on Dexter and 314 Action to open up about the identity of the donors. News cameras that were expected to attend, however, were instead covering a police crackdown at Portland State University, where students have been protesting against the war in Gaza and occupying the library.

Morales and Jayapal issued a joint statement following the press event, saying, “Maxine Dexter claims to be for transparency in politics, but she and 314 Action are engaged in a dishonest and cynical ploy to obscure the donors propping up her campaign until just one day before the primary. At a time when MAGA Republican mega-donors are interfering in Democratic primaries across the country, particularly against qualified candidates of color, voters deserve to know who is trying to buy this seat for a centrist candidate who doesn’t even live in the district.”

Dexter’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement posted online, Dexter said she was “deeply disappointed to see a new dark money group enter this race to disparage one of my opponents.”

314 Action’s website states that it is “committed to transparency: although not required by law, we voluntarily disclose all our donors over $250 in a two year election cycle.” 314 Action did not respond to multiple requests to disclose its recent donors.

Jayapal launched her campaign in early November after Rep. Earl Blumenauer announced his retirement. As of December, pro-Israel groups had yet to coalesce behind a single candidate to oppose her, giving Jayapal a significant advantage, Jewish Insider warned at the time. “While the elder Jayapal, 61, had no discernible history of public engagement on Middle East policy until recently, her approach to the war between Israel and Hamas suggests there is little distance between the two siblings on such matters,” reported JI.