AIPAC and aligned groups are funding a surge in last-minute spending behind incumbent California Rep. Doris Matsui in an attempt to save the 82-year-old Democrat from being unseated by her progressive challenger Mai Vang.
AIPAC itself is funneling the money through Pro-Choice Majority Action. Pro-Choice Majority Action does not publicly associate with AIPAC, but it is legally affiliated directly with EDW Action, which has been established by Drop Site and others as a known AIPAC passthrough PAC. EDW Action has used Pro-Choice Majority in elections across the country, including the hotly contested primary to succeed Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco and against Melat Kiros before her landmark victory against 30-year incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette in Denver.
The Pro-Choice Majority ad against Mai Vang says the Sacramento city councilwoman is “all for herself” and accuses her of missing 40% of regional transit board meetings, saying, “When she showed up, she slashed public funds for affordable housing and homelessness”—a confusing accusation given Vang’s record. The Sacramento Regional Transit Board itself formally commended Vang in January 2025. Vang has also voted to redirect city resources allocated for the police department to its homelessness response efforts, and she has proposed both a $200 billion national affordable housing trust fund and expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, which incentivizes private investors to subsidize the construction of affordable housing across the country.
The practice of using passthroughs to obscure its support has become common as AIPAC grapples with how toxic its pro-Israel bribery has turned with voters. This week, AIPAC announced it was ending endorsements and direct contributions to candidates after the midterms, opting to use its super PAC United Democracy Project and obfuscating passthrough PACs instead.
Pro-Choice Majority reserved $300,000 of negative ads against Vang on October 5, comprising roughly 40% of the total $785,000 being spent on Matsui’s behalf in the home stretch.
The remaining $485,000 is coming from Affordable California, which lists a Dallas address and one donor. The American Foundation for Good Government dumped $500,000 into it on October 7. The PAC reserved its ads against Vang that same day. The American Foundation for Good Government, established in March, is a 501(c)(4), which means its donors do not need to be disclosed. Notably, it spent in Michigan this cycle, helping to bankroll Michigan Forward 2026, which in turn donated to A Stronger Michigan. Both organizations were key spenders among a network of AIPAC-aligned PACs that bled more than $17 million attacking Abdul El-Sayed and boosting Haley Stevens in the state’s Democratic Senate primary.
Affordable California’s ad hits Vang for earning support from Hasan Piker and the Democratic Socialists of America. It also includes a clip of Vang facing away from the American flag as the pledge of allegiance is recited while her peers on the city council face toward it. Elsewhere in California, in another Democrat-against-Democrat general election that features a strong critic of Israel, Jimmy Gomez is similarly urging super PACs to run ads on Piker.
Neither Matsui nor her campaign could be reached for comment. An AIPAC spokesperson pointed to a public statement the organization released regarding Matsui spending, saying, “Despite conspiracy theories, not every dollar spent to defeat extremist candidates comes from AIPAC.”
Matsui’s position on Israel and Gaza has evolved to some extent since AIPAC included her on its list of endorsees in 2024. The congresswoman has begun referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “war criminal” and said she opposes sending “offensive dollars” to Israel. Matsui has not signed on as a co-sponsor to the Block the Bombs Act, the most basic legislative vehicle to restricting the transfer of these “offensive dollars,” a distinction without any functional meaning given that money is fungible, to Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. She declines to call Israel’s actions a “genocide” and backs a two-state solution.
Aside from the large sum of money Matsui’s campaign has received from AIPAC-aligned special interest groups, the congresswoman has also loaned herself a total of $6.9 million, most recently in installments of $2.59 million and $1.52 million on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Vang defeated Matsui in the June primary election by a margin of 31.2% to 29.2%, but because California has a “jungle primary” the top two vote receivers advance to the general election irrespective of party affiliation. Zacharia Wooden, the Republican candidate in the primary who came in third place, received 45,994 votes. The only available public polling in the race, conducted by Data for Progress in mid-August, shows Vang widening her lead from 2 points to 4, boasting a 32% to 28% lead with 40% of voters either undecided or planning to sit out.
