In Kentucky’s recent Republican primary election, pro-Israel groups and a super PAC funded by major pro-Israel donors spent more than $15.5 million to successfully unseat Rep. Thomas Massie, a vocal critic of unconditional U.S. aid to Israel—a sum equal to roughly three times what the candidate himself raised.
The money was spent largely on ads, but it did not simply flow to television stations and digital platforms. Federal Election Commission filings reveal a bipartisan network of political consultants, media buyers, pollsters, and campaign operatives who are collecting millions of dollars from the surge of pro-Israel spending reshaping congressional elections.
Already this midterm cycle, four major pro-Israel committees—AIPAC’s PAC, its outside spending arm United Democracy Project (UDP), the closely aligned Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) super PAC, and the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Victory Fund—have poured nearly $50 million into congressional races nationwide. It is the third straight election cycle in which the groups have operated as a dominant financial force, swamping candidate fundraising in some contests and generating a windfall for firms staffed by former White House aides, national party strategists, and senior congressional campaign operatives.
The consultants benefiting from the spending include alumni of the Reagan White House and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, veterans of Obama and Clinton presidential campaigns, former Biden advisers, and longtime media firms tied to both political parties.
The heaviest pro-Israel spending on the Kentucky race came from the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Victory Fund, which spent about $3.9 million against Massie—the only race it has targeted so far this cycle. Nearly all of that money was funneled through two firms: Political Communications Advertising, founded by cable industry alumnus Phil Cunningham; and Grapeseed Media, a Manhattan-based programmatic digital advertising firm. Cunningham spent 15 years at Time Warner Cable, where he placed political and issue advertising on cable television. In 2008, he launched his own media firm to place political ad buys for Republican clients.
The AIPAC-affiliated UDP super PAC spent more than $4.1 million through OnMessage Inc. for its anti-Massie effort. The firm was co-founded by Curt Anderson, a former Reagan White House staffer and RNC political director, along with his brother Wes Anderson, a longtime GOP pollster, and Brad Todd, a Republican strategist and CNN contributor. UDP’s payments to OnMessage have been for both production and placement of media assets, and overall, the PAC has paid it nearly $8 million.
Targeted Platform Media LLC has been UDP’s top vendor over the years, collecting roughly $32.5 million since the 2022 election cycle across multiple races, including nearly $4 million this cycle for spending in support of Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin in the March Illinois 7th District Democratic primary, another $1.45 million for attack ads against former Rep. Tom Malinowski in a New Jersey special election, and smaller amounts on other targets. In past cycles, it has been paid millions by UDP to help defeat former progressive-leaning Democratic representatives Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, and Donna Edwards.
The firm is an arm of Buying Time LLC, a Democratic media buying company founded and run by Cathie Herrick, who has been placing ads for campaigns and outside groups for nearly 30 years. Before launching Buying Time in 1997, Herrick spent time at several prominent Democratic media shops, including Doak Shrum and Squier Knapp Dunn, the predecessor firm to SKDKnickerbocker, which has also been paid by the pro-Israel groups. As a media placement operation, most of Targeted Platform's billings are passed through to television stations, cable networks, and digital platforms, though Herrick and her company retain a fee, likely in the range of 10-15%. The firm was also the ad buyer for Elect Chicago Women and Affordable Chicago Now!, two UDP-funded super PACs that spent millions backing pro-Israel candidates in Illinois’ March primary elections.
MVAR Media has been paid more than $4 million by UDP for both media placement and production, including $549,000 so far this cycle, with most of its work this cycle concentrated in the pro-Conyears-Ervin and anti-Malinowski spending. The firm, whose full name is Murphy Vogel Askew Reilly, is run by operatives with deep resumes in Democratic politics. Managing partner Jon Vogel spent years at the DCCC as executive director, political director, and independent expenditure chief. His partner Steve Murphy got his start volunteering for Joe Biden's 1972 Senate campaign and later ran the House Democratic Caucus under Dick Gephardt. Managing partner Mike Reilly, the firm's creative director, produced ads for the Obama media team in 2008 and for Sen. Jon Ossoff's 2020 campaign. Their client list includes the DCCC, House Majority PAC, Senate Majority PAC, SEIU, and AFSCME.
SKDKnickerbocker has collected about $2 million from UDP, split between media placement and production costs, including $450,630 so far this cycle. The firm is part of Mark Penn's marketing services company Stagwell Group. Penn was Bill Clinton's chief pollster and has longstanding Israel connections, including polling work in Israel for Menachem Begin's Likud party. He has also personally given six figures to AIPAC in recent years, according to a report by The Lever. SKDK co-founder and managing director Anita Dunn served as a senior White House adviser under Biden. The company also worked as a vendor for DMFI last cycle, earning $727,000 for production and placement of ads against re-electing Bowman.
