AIPAC-linked super PAC launches $2.33 million ad blitz for Stevens

United Democracy Project, the super PAC tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, launched its first ad buy backing Haley Stevens with roughly $2.33 million in reserved air time across Michigan and national cable. The spots began Tuesday, June 9, and were set to run through June 15 in the Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Traverse City markets, as well as on CNN and MSNBC/MS NOW.

The spending marks the first major United Democracy Project push in Michigan’s Senate race this cycle and lands about eight weeks before the Aug. 4 Democratic primary. Stevens, a four-term congresswoman from Birmingham, is locked in a three-way contest with state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed in a race that could help decide control of the Senate.

The ad blitz underscores how much the contest has become a referendum on Israel policy as much as a local Democratic primary. Stevens has been closely identified with pro-Israel politics, while her rivals have tried to tap the anger of Democratic voters who want a sharper break with the party’s traditional alignment. In a year when the Senate majority may turn on a handful of battleground states, the Michigan race has become one of the clearest examples of foreign-policy questions reshaping down-ballot politics.

The new buy also follows earlier outside spending that has already poured more than $5 million into ads boosting Stevens from a mysterious pro-Israel-linked group. That wave of money has intensified scrutiny of the race and raised the stakes for a contest that is drawing attention far beyond Michigan. For supporters of Stevens, the heavy investment reinforces the argument that she is the strongest general-election candidate. For her critics, it is evidence that the primary is being pulled into a larger fight over the Democratic Party’s stance on Israel and Gaza.

Democratic leaders have been watching closely. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has stayed publicly neutral, but in private conversations with donors he has made clear he favors Stevens. With the primary still weeks away, the race is increasingly being defined by the influence of outside spending and by the broader party struggle over whether loyalty on Israel is becoming a litmus test in contests voters once viewed as mostly local.