Wake County congresswoman Deborah Ross recently confirmed that she won’t accept money from the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) during her 2026 reelection bid.
That’s per a Ross spokesperson, as first reported by The Intercept and confirmed by INDY. The spokesperson did not explain why Ross will not accept AIPAC money, and did not respond to a followup question.
Ross has remained relatively quiet on the war in Gaza. In a statement this summer, the congresswoman stood by Israel’s right to defend itself and said that the U.S. “should remain committed to ensuring Israel’s security.”
AIPAC, in recent years, has funneled millions of dollars towards congressional elections, including at least $80,000 to Ross’s campaigns, according to OpenSecrets. Ross was endorsed by AIPAC in her 2022 and 2024 runs, and campaign filings list the most recent AIPAC donation in October of 2024. Ross, nor any of North Carolina’s other congressional Democrats, are currently listed on AIPAC’s donation page.
Like Ross, Democrats at every level of government seem to be cautiously assessing their stance on Israel and its war in Gaza.
INDY previously reported that Congresswoman Valerie Foushee, whose district covers Durham and Orange counties, has also said she will not accept more AIPAC money. Foushee received much more than Ross, totaling $2 million in bundled contributions in her 2022 primary against county commissioner Nida Allam.
Foushee, unlike Ross, also signed on to the “Block the Bombs” bill alongside longtime advocates for Palestine as well as other candidates who had received AIPAC backing in recent elections. The legislation, which is all but dead in the Republican-controlled chamber, would prohibit the president from selling certain weapons to Israel.
And over the summer, the North Carolina Democratic Party executive committee passed a resolution calling for an “immediate embargo” on military aid to Israel.
That resolution noted that “The International Court of Justice at the Hague has ruled in January 2024 that there is credible evidence that the state of Israel may be committing the crime of genocide in Gaza” and that “polling by Data for Progress in October 2024 showed that 62 percent of young Democrats support an arms embargo.”
Not everyone in the party approved of the resolution. The party’s Jewish Caucus, for instance, condemned the resolution in a recent statement.
“As a whole, the resolutions imply that this anti-Israel narrative is the position of the NCDP. This may force our candidates to distance themselves from positions taken by our party and divert attention from issues that can help us win elections,” said the caucus.
Given the intra-party disagreements, it would be pure speculation to try and predict how Ross’s AIPAC stance may impact her 2026 reelection bid. The district is solidly blue, so any serious challenger would emerge in the primary.
Unlike Carrboro and Durham (both in Foushee’s district) no municipalities in Wake County have passed resolutions calling for a ceasefire. One such resolution in Raleigh failed last year with a split 4-4 vote.
Reach Reporter Chase Pellegrini de Paur at [email protected]. Comment on this story at [email protected].