Could AIPAC faceplant in Illinois?

The Daily Punch

Punchbowl News

Politics, Government, News

4.3 • 707 Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2026

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

AIPAC and a cadre of affiliated groups have pumped more than $21 million into four open Illinois congressional races with the hopes of installing a slew of pro-Israel Democrats in safe blue seats. Anna and Jake break down the dynamics to watch ahead of tonight’s Democratic primaries. Plus, the latest on the SAVE America Act as the Senate preps for a ‘drawn-out’ debate this week. Watch this episode on YouTube here! Punchbowl News is on YouTube⁠. ⁠Subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to our channel today to see all the new ways⁠⁠ ⁠we’re investing in video.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want more in-depth daily coverage from Congress?⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to our free Punchbowl News AM newsletter at punchbowl.news.⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Youth mental health is a complex challenge that requires comprehensive solutions.
0:05.4	We must strengthen after-school programs.
0:08.3	We must make digital literacy tools available in our schools.
0:11.8	We must work with mental health professionals to support children.
0:14.8	And we must empower mentors, educators, and parents to keep kids happy.
0:20.1	Learn more about our commitment to finding lasting
0:22.4	solutions at empower our future coalition.com slash solutions paid for by the coalition to
0:28.5	empower our future. Good morning. I'm Anna Palmer.
0:41.3	And I'm Jake Sherman.
0:42.4	And welcome to The Daily Punch, brought to you by Punch Bowl News.
0:44.8	It's Tuesday, March 17th, 2026.
0:47.5	Happy St. Patrick's Day.
0:49.2	Let's get into the mix.
0:49.9	Here are your Washington headlines of the day.
0:51.7	Number one, Apex Big Spending in Illinois.
0:54.7	What to Watch. Number two, the fraught path for Iran war funding. And number three, the Senate preps for a long
1:01.2	save act debate this week. All right, Jake, let's get into it. We are talking about Apex spending in Illinois,
1:07.7	the magic number, $21 million.
1:17.0	This is coming into focus, of course, because a few weeks ago, we talked about how APEC had a pretty bad strategy that didn't work out, where they were trying to install a slew of
1:21.0	pro-Israel Democrats and in New Jersey that backfired.
1:24.1	We're going to see what that means for the strategy, how they changed it up here in Illinois.
1:29.4	Yeah, and tonight's election night, which is why we're writing this today, because it's tonight in
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Punchbowl News, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Punchbowl News and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.