J Street: 98% of Our Candidates Won in US Midterm Elections

J Street, the left-wing Jewish-American lobby that describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-Democratic, is declaring a major victory in the US midterm elections, with roughly 98% of the candidates it endorsed winning their races for Congress.

The results cap what the organisation calls the largest and most expensive political campaign in its history. J Street backed more than 200 candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives in this election cycle, raising over $13 million to support them.

Of that sum, approximately $10 million went directly to candidates through the organisation's fundraising apparatus, while more than $3 million was spent through its independent Super PAC, the J Street Action Fund.

With most votes now counted, the majority of Democratic lawmakers in both the House and Senate in the incoming Congress will be candidates who received J Street's backing, the group says. That figure, the organisation argues, cements J Street's position at the centre of the Democratic Party's consensus on Middle East policy.

One of the campaign's notable achievements came in direct confrontation with AIPAC. The J Street Action Fund chose to target five AIPAC-backed candidates running in particularly tight races, spending $3 million in support of their Democratic opponents. All five J Street-backed candidates won. The organisation said the outcome proves that candidates with clear positions and a strong message can prevail even against AIPAC's political and financial machine.

In addition, 60% of Jewish voters supported far-left candidates such as Abdul El-Sayed.

J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami hailed the results as a historic turning point. "These election results are a resounding victory for the politics J Street has promoted since its founding," he said. "In an election where so much was at stake for American democracy, we are proud to have supported a record number of candidates who share our commitment to Israel's future, to democracy, and to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through peaceful means."

Ben-Ami also addressed the international situation and criticism of the administration in Washington. "Voters expressed a clear rejection of the Trump administration's reckless policies at home and abroad, including the destructive war it chose to open with Iran," he said. "They made clear they want a different direction for America and a different approach in the Middle East, an approach that has too often failed Americans, Israelis and Palestinians alike."

As an example of the deep shift in voter sentiment, Ben-Ami pointed to the defeat of prominent Republican lawmakers. "Candidates like Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Representative Mike Lawler of New York were among the most vocal supporters of the old approach to Israel policy," he said. "AIPAC and its allies spent large sums trying to protect them, but voters chose instead the candidates backed by J Street."

With the swearing-in of the new Congress, candidates who received J Street's support will hold a majority among Democratic legislators in both chambers. The organisation emphasises that this figure establishes J Street at the heart of the Democratic Party's position on all matters relating to Middle East policy.

"This is a remarkable sign of how much the politics have changed," Ben-Ami concluded. "J Street is now at the centre of the Democratic Party on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Our task now is to turn this new political reality into new American policy, policy based on diplomacy, democracy, and ensuring the backing and rights of both Israelis and Palestinians."