Ohio Senate Race Becomes Proxy Fight Between AIPAC and J Street Over Israel Policy

A tight Ohio race may help decide which party controls the U.S. Senate, and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that the two campaigns are serving as a proxy battleground for two Israel-focused lobbying groups with different views. Republican Sen. Jon Husted is the incumbent in formal terms, while Democrat Sherrod Brown is, in the eyes of many voters, also an incumbent. Husted was appointed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to fill the seat JD Vance vacated when he became vice president in January 2025, and he is running to complete the remaining two years of that term. Brown served three Senate terms before losing Ohio’s other Senate seat to Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) supports Husted, and the liberal J Street, which the report describes as a frequent critic of the Israeli government, backs Brown. According to FEC filings, Husted has received more than $544,000 in individual contributions earmarked for him through AIPAC for this general election cycle, and more than $306,000 in such contributions during the May special primary. Husted also received a direct $5,000 contribution from AIPAC’s political action committee in April, according to FEC filings and a federal lobby disclosure. A $5,000 donation in February was earmarked through AIPAC, meaning the lobby forwarded a third party’s contribution to the campaign. He also received $5,000 from the Republican Jewish Coalition PAC. Asked why Husted received AIPAC’s backing, Deryn Sousa, an AIPAC spokesperson, wrote that “Husted is endorsed because of his support of the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

The report describes Husted’s record in the Senate. He voted against measures to block arms sales to Israel and joined efforts to combat antisemitism. In April, he voted against advancing two resolutions proposed by Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders that sought to restrict sales of certain military equipment, including 1,000-pound bombs and bulldozers, to Israel. That same month he joined the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism. A year earlier, he questioned university leaders about the safety of Jewish students on campus.

Brown, according to the report, has also been a strong supporter of Israel and of Jewish Americans. He voted against advancing a 2024 resolution proposed by Sanders to restrict arms sales. In 2018, he sponsored the United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act, which would have authorized military assistance for Israel through fiscal year 2028. He spoke out on behalf of Jewish students amid 2024 campus protests and warned of the dangers of antisemitism after a 13-year-old was charged with allegedly planning a mass shooting at an Ohio synagogue in 2023.

J Street’s spokesperson, Jordan Steinberg, said Brown has been “one of the biggest recipients of J Street bundled funds for this cycle.” Steinberg told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Brown has received more than $800,000 from supporters of J Street in this race. He said most of that money came through JStreetPAC, which acts as a conduit for individual donors who contribute to candidates through J Street’s website; those contributions are reported to the FEC as individual donations. Steinberg said the group also has a super PAC, J Street Action Fund, but that most donations come through the traditional PAC. The report notes that J Street announced in September that it would step up lobbying efforts and invest $3 million to defeat certain Republican candidates backed by AIPAC. Steinberg added that Brown “has been a longtime champion of pro-peace, pro-democracy values.”

The campaigns also differ over financing, and each accuses the other of links to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Brown has run ads criticizing Husted for accepting more than $116,000 from Ohio billionaire Les Wexner, described in the report as a financial client of Epstein. According to the Federal Election Commission, the most recent of those gifts, $3,500, was made in July 2025 (Proverbs 18:17).

Source: Read the original report