The pro-Israel Democratic group warns that nominating far-left candidates will cost the party winnable seats against GOP incumbents
As Democratic Majority for Israel prepares for the midterms amid growing divisions in the party over Middle East policy, the pro-Israel group is now focusing much of its energy on three under-the-radar House races for swing seats in California and Colorado that could be key to the party’s chances of reclaiming the majority in Congress.
In those primaries, DMFI’s political arm recently endorsed a trio of relatively moderate, pro-Israel Democrats facing opponents whom, the group feels, have demonstrated anti-Israel records or questionable positions on Middle East policy — qualities that could hamper their odds of winning Republican-held districts in the November election.
“These definitely rank high on our list of priorities,” Brian Romick, DMFI’s president and the chair of its super PAC, said in an interview with Jewish Insider on Tuesday. “These are all strong places where this matters.”
DMFI’s political arm is backing Marni von Wilpert, a San Diego councilwoman seeking the nomination in California’s 48th Congressional District; Jasmeet Bains, a California assemblywoman and a physician competing in the state’s 22nd District; and Shannon Bird, a former Colorado legislator running to unseat a vulnerable freshman Republican in the state’s 8th District. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has ranked each of the races as “toss-ups” in its election forecast.
“We think all three of these candidates are strongly pro-Israel and have great relationships and records with the community,” Romick noted, calling them “the kind of candidates we need who can win both primaries and generals” and “hold these seats over the long term.”
DMFI’s efforts underscore how the organization is choosing to highlight consequential races in which the interests of Democratic Party leaders converge with its own, a notable alignment during a moment when Israel — and outside spending from pro-Israel groups — has emerged as one of the most polarizing sources of internal conflict in reliably blue districts.
One of DMFI’s “major goals” this cycle, Romick explained, is to “both elect pro-Israel candidates and help Democrats take back the House,” citing Republicans’ narrow three-seat majority as partly motivating its calculus. “If we win these three seats, then Democrats are in the majority with pro-Israel candidates.”
“I don’t think that anyone else is in that lane, and I think that’s an important distinction for us,” he told JI.
Romick declined to share if DMFI PAC plans to invest in the three primaries, following election cycles in which the group has spent heavily to help unseat vocally anti-Israel Democrats in deep blue House districts. “Possibly,” he hinted. “But I don’t want to show my hand.”
Here’s a rundown on the state of play in those races:
San Diego showdown
In California’s 48th District, redrawn last year to give Democrats an edge, von Wilpert is running in a crowded open primary to replace Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who has long been a fixture in state and national politics. Her top opponent in the June race, Ammar Campa-Najjar, twice unsuccessfully competed for the seat in 2018 and 2020 — and is familiar to voters as a perennial candidate in a district covering the San Diego area.
Campa-Najjar outraised the field in the last quarter of 2025 and has claimed endorsements from a range of House members — including his girlfriend, Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA).
During his race against Issa in 2020, Campa-Najjar, who is of mixed Palestinian and Mexican-American descent, stressed support for Israel as an important strategic partner, broadly aligning with mainstream Democratic sentiment regarding Middle East policy. He said in a candidate questionnaire solicited by JI at the time, for instance, he believed the U.S. should maintain foreign aid to Israel.
In a statement to JI on Tuesday, Campa-Najjar said his “Middle East foreign policy remains consistent,” arguing that the “United States must help broker a lasting peace to end the bloodshed between Israelis and Palestinians.”
“As a new member of Congress, I’ll put forward a meaningful agenda for the day after that promotes a stable, secure, and prosperous future for both Israel and Palestine,” he continued. “That future is only possible with new leadership, with Palestinians no longer under Hamas rule and the Israelis no longer burdened by Netanyahu’s failures,” he added, in a reference to the right-wing Israeli prime minister.
Still, Romick echoed other critics of Campa-Najjar in noting that the candidate had previously changed his positions on key issues as part of a conservative makeover in his last election, raising questions over his commitment to upholding support for Israel as a lawmaker.
“He’s on record as anti-Trump. He’s on record as pro-Trump,” Romick said. “You never know what you’re going to get and that’s obviously dangerous when people shift a lot on Israel.”
Andrew Lachman, the political committee chair of California Jewish Democrats, said his organization reviewed questionnaires from both candidates and concluded that von Wilpert’s record in backing Jewish community causes was more substantive. The group gave von Wilpert a rating of “strong support” and is “neutral” on Campa-Najjar.
“Campa-Najjar seems interested in building a relationship with the Jewish community, but with respect to a record of resolutions and legislation to support the Jewish community, von Wilpert had a voting record and a record of supporting the Jewish community that was much more clearly defined,” he told JI.
For her part, von Wilpert said in a statement to JI that she “strongly” supports “Israel’s right to exist as a secure, Jewish democratic state and defend itself from the real threats it faces.”
“To me, ensuring Israel’s security and building peace for all in the region, including getting the two-state solution back on track, are inseparable, and U.S. leadership is indispensable to achieving both outcomes,” she added. “Only when a nation feels safe and secure, can it take the necessary steps to make peace.”
Both von Wilpert and Campa-Najjar are endorsed by J Street, the progressive Israel advocacy group.
Last week, Jim Desmond, a Republican member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, also filed to run for the seat that is now being vacated by Issa.
Under the newly drawn district lines, former Vice President Kamala Harris would have narrowly defeated President Donald Trump by three points.
Bakersfield battle
In a GOP-held district hours north of San Diego that includes part of Bakersfield, Bains is facing off against a progressive rival, school board trustee Randy Villegas, to challenge Rep. David Valadao (R-CA), who took office in 2021 but is now confronting a difficult national environment for Republicans. .
Villegas has gained endorsements from some of the most prominent Israel critics in Congress, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as well as Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Ro Khanna (D-CA), along with the virulently anti-Israel AIPAC Tracker, which said in a social media post that Villegas had signed on to a January 2024 letter pressing for “an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to end the weaponization of antisemitism claims against Israel’s critics.”
“In Congress, Randy will fight to end the flow of unconditional military aid to Israel that fuels the ongoing genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank,” AIPAC Tracker said in its January endorsement. “He is ready to champion a foreign policy that centers human rights over militarism.”
Villegas’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment about his foreign policy views concerning Israel.
Speaking with JI, Romick characterized Villegas as “the most obvious” source of concern for pro-Israel Democrats among the three primaries that DMFI is now eyeing, referring in part to his early demand for a ceasefire just a few months after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. “He consistently has an anti-Israel record,” Romick said.
Lachman, meanwhile, said his group had not yet weighed in on the primary. “I do know that Bains has a reputation as a fighter for progressive values, but one who can build coalitions in order to sustain them,” he told JI. “Whereas, I don’t think Villegas is known for that.”
In a statement shared with JI on Tuesday, Bains said she believes “in Israel’s right to exist, defend itself and live in peace as a secure nation.”
“As a doctor,” she pledged, “my priority will always be protecting all human life and for that we must ensure advancing lasting peace. That’s why I believe a two-state solution is a necessary path forward to ensure long-term security and the dignity of people across the region.”
Valadao, for his part, is backed by AIPAC, which calls the congressman “a steadfast supporter of the U.S.-Israel alliance throughout his six terms representing the Golden State’s Central Valley.”
Colorado clash
Meanwhile, in a Colorado House race to take on Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO), two Democrats are vying for their party’s nomination with differing records of public commentary on Israel as well as the rise of antisemitism.
Bird, who resigned from the Colorado legislature in January to focus on her congressional bid, has long been vocal in her support for Israel and opposition to antisemitism, which she recently called a “global cancer” after the terror attack targeting the Jewish community in Bondi Beach, Australia late last year.
During the war in Gaza, she frequently highlighted the plight of hostages on social media while issuing statements standing with Israel. “Lessons learned from history make clear that the world must stand with and protect Israel,” she wrote in one X post in 2024. Bird’s campaign did not return a request for comment from JI.
By contrast, her chief rival in the June primary, Manny Rutinel, a progressive state representative, has condemned recent instances of antisemitism — but does not appear to have clarified his stances on key issues regarding Israel.
While he has garnered endorsements from some pro-Israel House members such as Reps. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) and Rob Menendez (D-NJ), his past record of activism has raised some concerns among pro-Israel Democrats who privately worry he will assume a hostile approach to Israel if he is elected. Republicans have indicated that they are eager to run against him in the general election.
As an undergraduate at the University of Florida, for example, Rutinel attended a demonstration in 2014 that was co-organized by Students for Justice in Palestine, the extreme anti-Israel group that has recently expressed alignment with Hamas, according to a local news story covering the event at the time.
The campus demonstration was “aimed to raise awareness for police brutality in Ferguson, Mo., and military oppression in Palestine,” the article noted.
In a statement to JI, however, a spokesperson for Rutinel said he “has never affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine.”
“While in college at the time of the Ferguson protests, he attended a demonstration to protest police brutality in the United States,” the campaign spokesperson explained. “Manny supports Israel’s right to exist and supports a two-state solution with secure borders to bring peace.”
Rutinel also “supports U.S. security assistance to Israel in line with the Obama administration’s 2016 memorandum of understanding,” the spokesperson added, when asked about his views on conditioning aid to Israel, which has become a litmus test of sorts for left-wing candidates.
Evans, an Army veteran endorsed by AIPAC, has cited his service in the Middle East as motivating his staunch support for Israel and opposition to a nuclear Iran. The first-term congressman is viewed as one of the most vulnerable House Republicans seeking reelection in a district north of Denver.