JTA — When an interviewer told him he wouldn’t vote for a candidate who accepts support from AIPAC, California Gov. Gavin Newsom stumbled over his answer.

“It’s interesting,” Newsom said, repeating the phrase multiple times. He distanced himself from the pro-Israel lobbying group, saying it is “not relevant” to his “day-to-day life,” but didn’t comment on whether he would ever accept its support. His critics said he “short-circuited.”

That was back in October. This week, he had a clearer answer.

“Never have and never will,” Newsom said on Sunday, asked whether he would take money from AIPAC.

It wasn’t the first time that Newsom has shown off his record of not taking money from AIPAC, nor from other special interest lobbying groups in industries like tobacco and oil. And that record comes as no surprise: AIPAC has not historically gotten involved in state elections, and Newsom has run only in gubernatorial races since 2018.

But Newsom, who’s widely believed to be running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, was offering a clear sign that he is aiming to appeal to a voter base that is increasingly critical of Israel and uses AIPAC support as a litmus test of politicians.

Signs are piling up that support for Israel is a mounting liability for national politicians. Polling shows that support for Israel has plummeted to the single digits among Democrats and has declined on the right, too. An internal investigation by the Democratic National Committee, meanwhile, found that Kamala Harris lost votes in the 2024 election as a result of her stance on Israel’s war in Gaza, Axios reported this week.

Now, moderate Democrats who have records of voting for pro-Israel policies are swearing off AIPAC, signaling just how toxic the pro-Israel group has become in electoral politics.

Newsom was the first sitting mayor of San Francisco to visit Israel when he did so in 2008, according to J. As governor of California since 2019, Newsom’s constituency includes........

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