Which individual congressional candidates received the largest total AIPAC PAC (including American Israel Public Affairs Committee and related PACs) donations in the 2024 cycle?

1. AIPAC’s money machine: scale and components

AIPAC’s political footprint in 2024 combined direct PAC donations and vast super-PAC spending: reporting summarizes roughly $44.8 million from AIPAC PAC to date (with roughly $42 million to campaigns/party groups by July) and roughly $55 million+ from UDP, putting total spending above $100 million this cycle; a later Sludge analysis tallied AIPAC PAC plus UDP near $126.9 million and more than $55.2 million given directly to federal candidates ^{[4] [1] [2]}. That split matters because AIPAC PAC can give to candidates directly (within FEC limits), while UDP primarily makes independent expenditures or funds other groups ^[5].

2. What “related PACs” means and why it complicates ranking

The term “related PACs” includes AIPAC PAC (the direct conduit for donor earmarks), United Democracy Project (UDP, a super PAC doing independent spending), and allied groups such as Democratic Majority for Israel PAC (DMFI) that have coordinated policy goals ^{[3] [5]}. AIPAC PAC’s contributions are recordable per candidate; UDP’s independent expenditures often target or defend the same races but are recorded differently. Because Sludge/The Lever/Forward provide separate datasets and sometimes aggregate across entities, producing a single definitive ranked list requires pulling FEC line‑item totals across multiple reports ^{[3] [2] [6]}.

3. Candidates repeatedly named in coverage as top recipients

Reporting highlights several high-dollar individual cases: Missouri’s First Congressional District candidate Wesley Bell received more than $3.1 million from AIPAC PAC through July and also faced UDP independent spending totaling roughly $8.6 million in the same race; other incumbents and high-profile House races show large AIPAC PAC earmarks though the exact top-ranked totals differ by dataset ^[4]. The Forward notes specific candidate amounts in some cases — for example, Representative David Trone received $105,600 via AIPAC PAC in the current cycle as of that article — but the Forward piece is selective rather than comprehensive ^[6].

4. Where to find the per-candidate rankings the question seeks

ReadSludge (Sludge) published a candidate-level data table and an interactive dataset in January 2025 that “includes the totals of how much AIPAC PAC and super PACs spent for every federal candidate,” and states its combined PAC and UDP totals by candidate — that is the closest source to a ranked list ^{[2] [3]}. FactCheck and other recaps explain institutional limits and broad totals but do not list a ranked per-candidate roster ^[5]. For a precise ranking, consult Sludge’s January 24, 2025 dataset and the earlier March 2024 Sludge compilation of FEC filings ^{[2] [3]}.

5. Disagreements, caveats and interpretive choices

Different outlets use different definitions (AIPAC PAC only vs. AIPAC PAC + UDP + DMFI). Sludge’s January 2025 tally aggregates across entities and reports more than $55.2 million given directly to federal candidates and nearly $126.9 million combined spending — higher than earlier mid‑cycle tallies — illustrating how totals change as late filings and independent expenditures are added ^{[2] [1]}. FactCheck notes UDP cannot give directly to candidates and that PAC limits apply to AIPAC PAC donations, which affects how “largest total” should be interpreted: does the reader want only direct AIPAC PAC candidate contributions (capped by FEC) or the sum of direct contributions plus independent expenditures benefiting that candidate? ^[5].

6. How to get a definitive ranked answer (actionable next steps)

If you want a strict ranking of individual congressional candidates by total AIPAC-linked money in 2024, use Sludge’s January 24, 2025 data table (it’s described as containing per-candidate totals across AIPAC PAC and UDP) and cross-check with the AIPAC PAC FEC filings and UDP independent-expenditure reports for confirmation ^{[2] [3]}. Note that some numbers will differ depending on whether you include independent expenditures, transfers to other PACs, or only direct contributions to campaign committees ^{[5] [2]}.

Limitations: Available sources provide candidate-level data tables but no single short ranked list quoted in these summaries; to produce an authoritative ranking I must rely on the Sludge/ReadSludge datasets and raw FEC filings noted in those pieces ^{[2] [3] [5]}.