A Michigan businessman offered a Michigan Democratic Senate candidate $20 million to drop out of the Senate race and launch a challenge to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) in Michigan’s 12th District, Politico reported on Wednesday.
The offer was made on October 16 to Democratic Senate candidate Hill Harper by Linden Nelson, who is connected to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Nelson offered $20 million, split between $10 million in bundled contributions to Harper’s campaign, and $10 million in independent expenditures if Harper ran against Tlaib in the Democratic primaries.
This follows recent reports that reported AIPAC plans to spend $100 million to challenge members of the Squad for their attacks on Israel in the wake of the October 7 Hamas massacre.
In 2020, Nelson donated $13,000 to Concerned Citizens of Michigan that supported a primary challenge against Rep. Tlaib.
Harper confirmed the report on Wednesday, tweeting: “I didn’t intend for a private phone call to turn public. But now that it has, here’s the truth. One of AIPAC’s biggest donors offered $20m if I dropped out of the US Senate race to run against Rashida Tlaib. I said no. I won’t be bossed, bullied, or bought.”
He also tweeted: “Yes, telling the truth here will put a target on my back. But if we ALL come together, we can win.”
Nelson refused Politico’s request for a comment.
Frank Eugene “Hill” Harper, 57, a Hollywood actor who most recently portrayed Dr. Marcus Andrews in The Good Doctor on CBS, is running to succeed retiring Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
Michigan’s 12th Congressional District is 46% Black and 46% White. In 2022, Tlaib was redistricted from the 13th district and succeeded in getting re-elected. But her chances of reelection in her new district are more tenuous than in the 13th, where Blacks outnumber Whites by 10%.
