Pro-Israel Donors Power Last-Minute Surge of Espaillat SpendingThe infusion of pro-Israel money into the NY-13 primary comes amid a multimillion-dollar push to save CHC Chair Adriano Espaillat from his progressive challenger, Darializa Avila Chevalier.
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A surge of last-minute support from major pro-Israel donors, including AIPAC’s former president Bob Cohen, has flooded into the campaign of Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who faces a formidable primary challenge from local community organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York’s 13th congressional district. On a single day, June 4, 2026, Espaillat raised just under $112,000 from 69 wealthy donors at an average of $1,623 per contribution. Not a single donor listed an address inside Espaillat’s district, which encompasses Harlem and surrounding areas, and 48 of the donors have also given large amounts of money to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) since 2023. That number goes up to 67 out of the 69 contributors if you include donations to AIPAC-adjacent organizations like Democratic Majority for Israel and the Republican Jewish Coalition. At least 44 of the new Espaillat donors have given heavily to Republicans. The pro-Israel money comes amid a multimillion-dollar push to rescue Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in the waning days of a campaign that ends on June 23. Espaillat and the New York Post have teamed up over the past week to hammer Avila Chevalier, who has the support of the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter as well as Justice Democrats, for a series of unapologetically leftist tweets, as well as for her attendance at a rally on October 8, 2023, for a ceasefire in Gaza, which her critics say came too early. As AIPAC’s money has grown increasingly toxic, the organization has relied heavily on funneling money through shell PACs or directing donors straight to a candidate. When reporters then identify the link between the donors and the candidate, AIPAC cries foul, saying it’s unfair to single them out. If the numbers at play were small, or the contributions themselves were not from major AIPAC donors, they might have a point. But the calvary coming to rescue Espaillat is not a collection of modest AIPAC donors—it’s major funders of the organization. Cohen, a national AIPAC board member, has raised tens of millions for the group and led the push against President Obama’s Iran nuclear deal. His real estate firm, R.A. Cohen & Associates, often clashes in New York City with local activists. Six of the donors have given $428,000 to AIPAC’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project. Since 2023, the few dozen donors have given nearly a million dollars directly to AIPAC and another half million to GOP candidates. The financing helps explain why Espaillat continues to take politically toxic positions in his campaign even as he faces an ignominious defeat at the hands of a previously unknown activist. At a recent debate, Espaillat once again refused to describe Israel’s assault on Gaza as a genocide, instead describing it vaguely as a “horrific situation,” and avoided acknowledging Israel as the culprit, saying, “whoever perpetrated that action should be held to the highest standard of accountability.” The congressman dodged debate questions about pro-Israel Super PAC spending on his behalf and the more than $676,000 in direct contributions he has accepted from AIPAC, saying, “my values are those of the people that I represent. They tell me how to vote.” Espalliat has taken contributions directly from AIPAC as recently as March 18, and has joined congressional delegations to Israel on the lobby’s dime. Through Democracy Engine—a payment processor used by AIPAC that allows donors to route money directly to multiple candidates at once—his campaign has received an additional $376,398. Since early May, Espaillat has benefitted from more than $3.3 million in outside spending from three super PACs that brand themselves as advocates for issues facing the Latino community. BOLD America, responsible for more than $2.5 million of these three groups’ outside spending for Espalliat over the last month, appeared effectively destitute by Super PAC standards in its last FEC filing before the spending push, reporting less than $250,000 total cash-on-hand. Of the fundraising it has declared, $50,000 of it was raised from Coinbase, the largest American cryptocurrency company, and $150,000 from International Bancshares Corporation, the largest minority-owned bank in the country. The name BOLD America appears to be an effort to sound like BOLD PAC, the primary vehicle used by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus since Espaillat was elected chair in November 2024. That leaves $2.25 million in secret money backing Espaillat, which won’t be disclosed until after the election. The dozens of pro-Israel donors listed on his June 4 disclosure, however, certainly have the capacity to have funded the Super PAC as well. Groups backing Avila Chevalier have decried the covert spending maneuvers used to skirt disclosure requirements. “The fact that Super PACs spending over $4 million attacking Darializa will not have to disclose their donors until after this election is exactly the kind of political corruption that voters are so fed up with from AIPAC stooges like Adriano Espaillat,” said Usamah Andrabi, communications director for Justice Democrats. “If you're going to let them bankroll your campaign, at least own up to it.” On May 8, Latino Victory Fund spent $475,000 on ads supporting Espaillat. Ten days later, on May 18, BOLD America spent another $600,000 on pro-Espaillat advertising. Four days later, on May 22, Latino Victory Fund poured an additional $50,000 into the race, $46,500 backing Espaillat and $3,500 attacking his opponent Avila Chevalier. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s BOLD PAC has taken money directly from AIPAC this cycle, then dumped roughly $230,000 behind Espaillat on June 1, followed by more than $730,000 from BOLD America over the next two days. On June 9 and 10, BOLD America reported spending yet another $1.2 million primarily on attack ads against Avila Chevalier, as the progressive insurgent was climbing in the polls. Latino Victory Fund, by comparison, had $912,725 cash-on-hand. CHC Bold PAC, the official spending arm of the caucus, was even more flush with cash at $3,297,278, but spent less than $230,000 of the total $3.3 million dump. For Super PACs that file quarterly reports, the last one on record only covers money raised through March 31, 2026. The next quarterly report isn’t due until after the June 23 primary, meaning much of the money can be concealed until after votes are cast. This massive dark money spending push comes as Avila Chevalier has secured key endorsements from NYC DSA and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who promised to back Espaillat for reelection last summer, according to Rep. Nydia Velasquez. Avila Chevalier has benefited from the backing of super PAC spending from Justice Democrats and American Priorities to the tune of about $1.3 million total. American Priorities is a new super PAC organized to challenge candidates backed by AIPAC; Justice Democrats, which recruited Avila Chevalier, backs left-wing Democrats. The race between Avila Chevalier and Espaillat reflects an ideological battle for control of the post-Trump Democratic Party. Espaillat represents an establishment wing of the party with close ties to institutional power players, even though he himself previously challenged the incumbent in the seat at the time, Charlie Rangel. For her part, Avila Chevalier—now being dubbed DAC— has embraced more combative positions throughout her campaign, running significantly to the left of AOC. “We need to stop sending our tax dollars to a state that is currently enacting a genocide, a word that my opponent has yet to say,” Avila Chevalier said during the June 12 debate. “There cannot be peace when the American taxpayer dollar is continuing to be used to slaughter civilians.”
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