Representative Danny Davis (D., Ill.), who has held Illinois’ seventh congressional seat since his first victory in 1996, defeated a crowded field of challengers Tuesday night in the Democratic Party’s primary election. One of his challengers, community organizer Kina Collins, found herself on the receiving end of negative advertising from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) independent-expenditure arm United Democracy Project (UDP).
Collins, who tonight lost her third bid against Davis after falling short in 2020 and 2022, has criticized the incumbent for not signing a bill sponsored by Representative Cori Bush (D., Mo.) calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. In an interview with Chicago’s NPR affiliate, Collins characterized Davis’s absence from the list of signatories as “a complete slap in the face to the Arab-American community in our district.” She called for conditions on aid to Israel even before the ongoing war and described Israel’s military response to October 7 as a “genocide” days after the Hamas attack.
Despite UDP’s spending against Collins in this particular primary, incumbent Davis has by no means been a stalwart supporter of Israel during his time in office, though he didn’t go so far as to describe Israel’s military response to October 7 as a “genocide.”
After the 2014 Gaza War — which began when Hamas-affiliated Palestinians kidnapped and murdered three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, Israel arrested nearly every known Hamas associate in the area, and the terrorist organization responded with over 4,000 rockets — Davis called on Israel to “end the blockade” of Gaza. In May 2023, he co-sponsored a resolution introduced by Representative Betty McCollum (D., Minn.) and signed by figures such as Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) that accused Israel of “occupation” in the West Bank and sought to place conditions on United States aid.
Days after October 7, Davis issued a statement in which he professed his support for “Israel’s right to defend itself and to seek a safe and secure environment in which to live and work” and advocated a safe return for hostages held in Gaza but also urged Israel to “let the people in Gaza have access to water, energy, food, medical supplies, and medical personnel.” About a month later, he reportedly called for a temporary cease-fire, saying “there needs to be a pause, if not a cessation, to let aid and medical supplies, food, to get to these individuals” in the Gaza Strip.
Collins acknowledged the AIPAC-associated UDP’s involvement in the race in a post on X, claiming the organization targeted her “because they know we have the momentum to win” and said AIPAC has “given donations to over 200 GOP members of Congress who supported the insurrection,” a talking point that has become common among progressive politicians.
In response to a National Review request for comment, UDP sent a written statement also posted on the organization’s X account.
“This was a significant defeat for the Squad and the anti-Israel fringe as one of their star recruits lost her bid for Congress,” the statement reads. “Notably, Kina Collins is yet another Justice Democrats candidate who ran against a progressive, Black incumbent member of Congress.”