Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Wednesday morning!
With many of yesterday’s primary races called shortly after polls closed in Illinois, Colorado, Utah, Oklahoma and New York, winning candidates — and those backing them — were able to claim decisive wins.
Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL), who was endorsed by both Democratic Majority for Israel and J Street, easily beat Rep. Marie Newman (D-IL)— a first-term member who drew the ire of the pro-Israel community for her intense critique of the Jewish state, including her vote against supplemental Iron Dome funding last fall — in the Democratic primary for Illinois’ 6th Congressional District. J Street had endorsed both candidates prior to a redistricting effort in the state that saw their districts merge, but threw its support behind Casten earlier this year.
In Illinois’ 1st District, activist Jonathan Jackson, son of Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., is leading the crowded Democratic pack. With 75% of precincts reporting, Jackson leads Chicago alderperson Pat Dowell by nine points.
And in the state’s 3rd District, Delia Ramirez, who was endorsed by J Street, beat Chicago alderman Gilbert Villegas, who was backed by Democratic Majority For Israel.
Longtime Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) pulled off a win against activist Kina Collins in Illinois’ 7th Congressional District, but the race — which had Davis leading by seven points — was closer than their first face-off in 2020, when Davis bested Collins by 46 percentage points.
Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) — a staunch conservative who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump days before yesterday’s primary — defeated the more moderate Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) in Illinois’ 15th Congressional District. Miller, a freshman, has stirred up controversy on multiple occasions — quoting Adolf Hitler while speaking at a rally in Washington, D.C., shortly after taking office, and, more recently, calling the overturning of Roe v. Wade a “victory for white life,” a comment that her team later walked back.
In Colorado, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), who has aligned with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Madison Cawthorn (R-NC),soundly defeated her primary opponent, moving on to the general election, where she will likely face former Aspen City Councilman Adam Frisch. Days before the primary, Boebert told church worshippers, “The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church,” and added that she is “tired” of the separation between church and state.
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), who won 44% of New York’s GOP vote in the Republican primary for governor, and his running mate, Alison Esposito, will go on to face Gov. Kathy Hochul and her running mate, Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-NY), who defeated their closest competitors by margins of 47% and 36%, respectively.
In its sixth public hearing, the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot heard testimony on Wednesday from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff.
Ivanka Trump pleaded with her father to put out a statement calling for rioters to peacefully disperse from the Capitol, according to Hutchinson’s testimony. Hutchinson also testified that she had overheard a conversation between Meadows and former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, in which Meadows said that Trump had told them he did not think that the Capitol rioters were “doing anything wrong” and that former Vice President Mike Pence deserved to be hanged. She also said Trump was “reluctant” to film a video telling rioters to leave the Capitol.
Meadows and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani sought presidential pardons for their actions leading up to and during Jan. 6, Hutchinson said.
Iran and the U.S. began EU-mediated negotiations in Qatar yesterday aiming to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told JI, “As I’ve said since the beginning of this administration, any attempt to restart JCPOA negotiations with Iran is dead upon arrival,” reiterating his call for increased sanctions and defensive support to regional partners.
BDS Board
Facing Illinois blacklist, Morningstar commits to resolving anti-Israel bias

BRAZIL – 2021/05/11: In this photo illustration a person holding a smartphone displaying the Morningstar logo on a screen. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Morningstar, Inc., the Chicago-based financial services firm that came under fire earlier this month for providing analytical tools that were found to have a bias against Israel, committed to addressing concerns that the company harbors anti-Israel attitudes at an Illinois investing board meeting last week, according to two individuals present, Jewish Insider’s Jacob Miller reports.
Details: In last Tuesday’s meeting, the Committee on Israel Boycott Restrictions subdivision of the Illinois Investment Policy Board (IIPB) voted not to place Morningstar on the state’s “prohibited investment list,” subject to the firm’s implementing of recommendations put forth in a report published by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington-based think tank, and a separate independent report commissioned by Morningstar and conducted by New York City-based law firm White & Case LLP.
Concerning company: The concerns raised in the two reports focus on Sustainalytics, a Morningstar subsidiary firm that rates companies based on Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) criteria, metrics that have recently become popular among investors who desire to understand companies’ social effect. Critics assert that Sustainalytics unfairly targets Israeli companies in its ratings and that it supports the BDS movement.
Disputed discussion: Morningstar did not acknowledge that the board vote was conditioned on responding to the FDD-recommended reforms, and told JI that, “ultimately, the IIPB voted not to place Morningstar on the Prohibited Investment List.” A meeting attendee who asked for anonymity to discuss the conversation disputed Morningstar’s characterization of the meeting, which did not address the proposals put forward by FDD, and did not mention the board’s insistence that Morningstar address FDD’s critiques to avoid further legal action. The attendee told JI, “Morningstar is playing fast and loose with the truth to avoid a shareholder backlash.”
Report highlights: The external White & Case study absolved Morningstar of bias charges in its topline findings, but confirmed suspicions that firms were penalized in ESG ratings for being Israeli. The report finds Sustainalytics indiscriminately gives poor ratings to Israeli infrastructure companies and describes a “guidance document on ‘Occupied Territories’” that asserts “in occupied territories where human rights are being systematically violated, any business activity in that region is connected to the violations in some direct or indirect way.”