Senate Hopeful Moulton Said Decision To Return Donations From AIPAC Unrelated to Lack of Endorsement

Representative Seth W. Moulton ’01 (D-Mass.) said that his decision to return donations from a pro-Israel lobbying group had nothing to do with the group’s refusal to endorse his Senate bid in a Tuesday interview with The Crimson.

Moulton is currently challenging incumbent Ed J. Markey (D-Mass.) for a seat in the U.S. Senate. One week after announcing his campaign, Moulton pledged to return all campaign funding — and refuse future donations — from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which funds pro-Israel candidates.

But Jewish Insider reported last week that Moulton spent months seeking an endorsement from the organization before he entered the race, writing that the representative rebuked the organization only after AIPAC refused to guarantee its support.

When asked on Tuesday about the deliberations around AIPAC’s endorsement, Moulton dismissed the claim.

“They had already endorsed me for the House race,” Moulton said. “This is a silly accusation.”

“I’ve been endorsed by AIPAC in the past, and sometimes not,” Moulton added. “Because I’ve always been someone that they’ve not endorsed for the Senate race.”

As the top contributor to his campaign committee, AIPAC donated $42,850 to Moulton in 2023 and 2024. AIPAC directly donated $10,000, and the other $32,850 was donated by individuals affiliated with the organization.

AIPAC confirmed that the organization had endorsed Moulton for his House run, but only after he had repeatedly requested it.

“We endorsed Rep. Moulton after years of him pleading for our support,” AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann wrote in a statement to The Crimson. “He flip-flopped after declaring for the Senate, ostracizing fellow Democrats and supposedly returning their checks.”

Moulton’s team did not say whether or not Moulton had been working to secure AIPAC’s support, but he wrote that the organization “hadn’t started a formal endorsement process for the Senate campaign yet.”

AIPAC did not respond to a request for comment on whether Moulton had been trying to secure the organization’s support informally.

Markey has never accepted funding from AIPAC in his Senate career. Neither has Representative Ayanna S. Pressley (D-Mass.), who is also reportedly preparing to enter the 2026 Senate race.

Moulton wrote in a Wednesday statement that AIPAC had already endorsed him for re-election, but the endorsement had not been announced yet.

“The idea that my returning their contributions had anything to do with endorsements is absurd and ignores the basic history,” he wrote.

Moulton said his decision to return the funds were motivated by his recent criticism of AIPAC and the organization’s loyalty to the administration of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He wrote that “AIPAC has chosen sides in both American politics and Israeli politics, and it is the wrong side.”

“When it became clear they would continue on that path, I made the decision to return their contributions based on my values,” he added.

Moulton, a Marine veteran who represents a portion of Northeastern Massachusetts, plans to return $35,000 in AIPAC donations by January — $15,650 of which were received during the third quarter of 2025 — according to the October Federal Election Commission filing.

Moulton also wrote that he regrets not announcing the decision sooner so the announcement did not coincide with his campaign launch.

“When the FEC filing deadline hit, which would reflect the refunds, I felt I owed the public complete transparency,” he wrote.

—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.