False Media Reports Claim that AIPAC Contributed $600k
Westchester County Executive George Latimer, left, and Congressman Jamaal Bowman, right
73% of Latimer’s Contributions come from The Bronx & Westchester
More than 80% of Bowman’s contributions come from outside the Bronx and Westchester
By Dan Murphy
The latest fund-raising reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, (FEC), show George Latimer raising $1.4 Million compared to $631,00 for Congressman Jamaal Bowman, during the same period.
Latimer raised $1.395 million for his Congressional campaign starting from his kickoff announcement on De ember 6 through the close of the filing period on December 31.
A large majority of Latimer’s donations – over 73% – come from donors living in the Bronx or Westchester County indicating overwhelming grassroots support for his candidacy. In comparison, Latimer’s opponent has raised less than 20% of his donations from Bronx and Westchester donors in his filings to date, instead relying on a network of outside money to fund his campaigns.
“I’m honored and humbled with the depth of grassroots energy that is powering this campaign. But I’m running against an incumbent with a national fundraising network, and we know he’ll be able to rely on outside money for his campaign. That’s why I’ll continue to do what I do – talk to every voter, listen to every voice, and deliver real results,” said Latimer. “Whether it’s defending abortion rights, getting dangerous guns off our streets, or protecting our democracy, I’ve done the work and delivered results, and I’m ready to stand up against MAGA extremism to fight for our nation,” he added.
Rep. Bowman’s stance on Israel and the Gaza war has been one of the major factors in many Westchester democrats backing Latimer. But what has been falsely claimed by many in the media is that
“AIPAC IS THE LARGEST DONOR” to Latimer’s campaign, and “AIPAC has given more than $600,000 in total to Latimer’s campaign.” Both are untrue.
What AIPAC did do in support of Latimer is to help visitors to the AIPAC website make a personal contribution to Latimer’s congressional campaign. And while it does make it easier for supporters of AIPAC to contribute to Latimer, the individual contributor still has to take additional steps to make the contribution. This practice is legal and is done in many political campaigns. It is the modern way of getting your supporters to make a contribution.
When we viewed Latimer’s latest FEC filing, there are 340 entries listed as a donation from AIPAC, but the reason for that ID is because those individual contributions came from the AIPAC portal. All of the AIPAC identified contributions came from individual contributors who made their contributions through the AIPAC portal, according to Latimer’s campaign.
More than 400 individuals made contributions to Latimer for Congress of $3,300. Some made two donations of $3,300, maxing out their contribution for the Primary at $6,600. A total of 1,750 contributions were made to Latimer for Congress over a three-week period last December.
After expenditures of $108,000, Latimer has $1.32 Million on hand.
Bowman’s campaign raised $657,000 from individuals during the same period and has $630,000 cash on hand.
The contributions to Latimer underscores one of his campaign themes; that he is more locally connected to Westchester democrats, who are supporting his campaign. “I’m out there, every single day, talking to voters and listening to voters so when I go to Washington I can deliver real results for them,” said Latimer. “The nearly $1.4 million raised to date is from local donors, at the grassroots level who believe in my vision for the district, this Country, and our future. This is more than showtime, this is a real movement for significant change.”
