100percentfedup.com
U.S. Senate Candidate Says He Is “Returning AIPAC Donations”
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), who launched a Senate campaign this week, said he is “returning AIPAC donations and refusing to accept any donations or support from them.”
Moulton is challenging incumbent Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) in the Democratic primary.
“I support Israel’s right to exist, but I’ve also never been afraid to disagree openly with AIPAC when I believe they’re wrong,” Moulton said in a statement posted to X.
“In recent years, AIPAC has aligned itself too closely with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government. I’m a friend of Israel, but not it’s current government, and AIPAC’s mission today is to back that government,” he continued.
“I don’t support that direction. That’s why I’ve decided to return the donations I’ve received and will not be accepting their support,” he added.
I am returning AIPAC donations and refusing to accept any donations or support from them.
The FEC filing I made yesterday reflects that we are returning donations. pic.twitter.com/shBgHmYB1s
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) October 16, 2025
The Hill shared:
According to OpenSecrets, individuals affiliated with AIPAC donated $32,850 to Moulton’s campaign in 2023 and 2024, while the group itself donated $10,000, totaling $42,850. That makes AIPAC the top contributor to Moulton’s campaign over the previous two years.
Moulton’s campaign is in the process of returning $35,000 in AIPAC donations, a campaign official told The Hill. According to a quarterly Federal Election Commission finance report the campaign filed on Wednesday, $15,560 in AIPAC donations from the third quarter of 2025 will be returned.
All refunds will be reflected on the campaign’s 2025 report, due Jan. 31, 2026, the official added.
On Wednesday, Moulton announced he is challenging Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey in the Democratic primary for the 2026 Senate race. The 46-year-old said that Markey, 79, is not “the right person to meet this moment and win the future.”
Markey, according to OpenSecrets, did not receive campaign donations from AIPAC from 2019 to 2024. The Hill has reached out to Markey’s campaign for comment on Moulton’s pledge.
Rep. Seth Moulton returning AIPAC donations over close ties to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government https://t.co/o79U6a3wdo
— The Hill (@thehill) October 17, 2025
The primary contest between Moulton and Markey is billed as a “generational fight” within the Democratic Party, testing whether voters are more eager for younger candidates.
POLITICO explained:
Moulton, who turns 47 this month, is putting age at the center of his announcement, saying in a campaign video to be released Wednesday that Markey is “a good man” but he should nevertheless move on after decades in Congress.
“We’re in crisis, and with everything we learned last election, I just don’t believe Senator Markey should be running for another six-year term at 80 years old,” he said in the video announcement. “Even more, I don’t think someone who’s been in Congress for a half century is the right person to meet this moment and win the future.”
Moulton has a history of challenging those in power. He was first elected to Congress in 2014 after defeating incumbent Rep. John Tierney, and tried to block Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) from becoming speaker in 2018.
Markey has been in Congress since 1976 and would be 86 at the end of another term. At 79, he’s one of the oldest members of Congress seeking reelection next year.
Markey has faced the generational change argument before and won. In 2020, he defeated then-Rep. Joe Kennedy III by double digits, bolstered by a horde of young, digital-savvy supporters.