Who are the top recipients of AIPAC PAC contributions in recent election cycles?

1. Why different lists name different “top” recipients — definition and method matter

Journalists and watchdogs use at least two different lenses: (A) direct disbursements from the AIPAC PAC itself, tracked monthly through FEC filings (the type of list Sludge compiles) and (B) the broader universe of “pro‑Israel” PAC giving compiled by aggregators like OpenSecrets, which can include multiple PACs and donor networks ^{[2] [4]}. That means a lawmaker who ranks high on Sludge’s AIPAC‑PAC list may be ranked differently (higher or lower) once you fold in other pro‑Israel groups and dark‑money flows that OpenSecrets counts ^{[2] [4]}.

2. What AIPAC itself reports about its 2024 activity

AIPAC’s own site advertises that it supported 361 pro‑Israel Democrats and Republicans in 2024 and put more than $53 million in “direct support” behind those efforts, and it touts perfect wins where it endorsed candidates on the ballot in 322 races ^{[1] [5] [6]}. Those are AIPAC’s internal success metrics; they do not list a ranked table of top individual recipient candidates on the pages cited here ^{[1] [6]}.

3. Independent compilations of top recipients: Sludge’s AIPAC‑PAC list

Sludge framed its May–September 2024 roundup as “the most complete, up‑to‑date view of AIPAC PAC donations to congressional candidates,” updating monthly from AIPAC PAC’s FEC disclosures ^[2]. That dataset focuses on AIPAC PAC’s direct donations in the 2023–24 cycle; it is the best source for answering “who got the most from AIPAC PAC specifically” because it derives from the PAC’s FEC reports ^[2]. Exact names and totals are in Sludge’s running list — the source cited here covers that compilation but the user must consult the Sludge page for the current ranked figures ^[2].

4. Broader context: OpenSecrets’ “Pro‑Israel” category

OpenSecrets publishes an industry/interest‑group view of pro‑Israel giving for the 2023–24 cycle, reporting totals and top recipients across multiple PACs and donors; their pro‑Israel category showed $5,428,588 in direct PAC giving to federal candidates in 2024 for the specific dataset cited ^[4]. OpenSecrets also provides a tool to see top recipients across cycles and notes that some numbers are based on FEC data released in early 2025 for the 2023–24 cycle ^{[3] [4]}. If you want a wider picture of who benefits from the pro‑Israel funding ecosystem (not just AIPAC PAC), OpenSecrets is the authoritative aggregator cited here ^{[3] [4]}.

5. How to reconcile differences and what reporters recommend

To identify the “top recipients” reliably, combine: ^[7] the direct FEC disclosures for AIPAC PAC (as Sludge compiles) to find who got the largest checks from AIPAC PAC itself, and ^[8] OpenSecrets’ pro‑Israel aggregates to understand which candidates received money from a wider set of pro‑Israel groups ^{[2] [4]}. That approach exposes both the PAC’s direct influence and the broader funding ecosystem; readers should expect the two lists to overlap but not match perfectly because of differing inclusion rules ^{[2] [4]}.

6. Limitations, competing perspectives, and next steps

Available sources here do not provide a single, definitive ranked table inside this response — Sludge’s list and OpenSecrets’ tables contain the detailed names and dollar amounts but must be consulted directly for exact rankings and totals ^{[2] [4]}. AIPAC’s own pages emphasize scale and success metrics (361 candidates, $53M claimed), which can be interpreted as an institutional messaging point as much as an itemized disclosure ^{[1] [5]}. For a specific ranked answer, consult Sludge’s “Top Recipients of AIPAC Money” for AIPAC‑PAC direct totals and OpenSecrets’ “Pro‑Israel Recipients” pages for the broader category ^{[2] [4] [3]}.