A new wave of Muslim donors with little history of political giving is pouring millions into efforts to elect Left-wing candidates, helping build a financial counterweight to pro-Israel groups.
American Priorities, a super PAC formed to counter pro-Israel political spending, has spent more than $500,000 supporting Abdul El-Sayed’s Michigan Senate campaign and more than $1 million backing Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, two Democratic Socialists of America members who won New York congressional primaries.
A Wall Street Journal review found that five of its 12 largest donors also contributed to New York City Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign.
The Donor Class, a newsletter that interviewed two of the PAC’s donors, reported that the vast majority of its donors are Muslim Americans and entrepreneurs. The Journal described the emerging donor base as younger than traditional leftist megadonors, often of South Asian or Middle Eastern heritage, and working in fields such as technology and medicine.
Mohammad Waqas, CEO of New York-based Showcase Commerce and donor to both Mamdani and American Priorities, has given $1.1 million this election cycle, while Omer Hasan, a California tech worker, has contributed $1 million. The Journal found no federal political contributions from either donor between 2014 and 2024.
Afaq Ahmed, a self-employed California investor, has given $517,500 this election cycle, according to the Journal.
Ahmed said he didn’t believe El-Sayed would have won his Michigan primary without funding from American Priorities.
“The [Michigan Democratic Senate primary] race was close,” he said. “But I think it just shows that if our money wasn’t there, I’m pretty confident [El-Sayed] wouldn’t have won.”
Texas investor Moiz Ali, who contributed only $900 between 2014 and 2024, has given $171,000 this election cycle. Texas businessman Sam Mahrouq, CEO of MEI Group, has given $686,709 since the start of 2025, up from $79,059 during the preceding 11 years, according to the Journal’s review.
Not all of the PAC’s funding can be traced to individual donors. Fig and Olive Action, a Delaware corporation, has given the PAC $470,000 without disclosing who supplied the money.
For some donors, the war in Gaza helped spur their political involvement. Another donor to the PAC, Malek Jamil, said, “The war in Gaza was the tipping point for us to say ‘this is out of control’ and that ‘nobody is going to fight this fight for us.'”
Their rise adds a new source of money alongside the Hollywood donors and wealthy Democratic benefactors who have long financed leftist causes. Democracy PAC, run by George and Alex Soros, has given $7 million to leftist committees this cycle, according to the Journal.
The surge in donations comes alongside increased Muslim voter registration. An Institute for Social Policy and Understanding survey found that 85% of Muslim Americans legally eligible to vote were registered in 2025.
Despite the influx of money, leftist groups acknowledge that they still face a substantial financial disadvantage.
“We will never have the amount of money that AIPAC or crypto have,” Justice Democrats spokesman Usamah Andrabi told the Wall Street Journal.
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