Scoop: Mike Rogers-AIPAC rupture roils Michigan Senate race

Allies of Mike Rogers , Michigan's GOP nominee for the U.S.

Senate, have asked AIPAC not to advertise on his behalf, triggering a rupture with the powerful but polarizing pro-Israel group.

Rogers spoke with AIPAC chair Michael Tuchin in Los Angeles last week.

The next day, AIPAC shelved an already-cut video ad targeting Rogers' Democratic rival, outspoken Israel critic Abdul El-Sayed.

Why it matters: The extraordinary tension underscores how far AIPAC's political standing has fallen amid voters' anger over the war in Gaza.

Even Rogers — a staunchly pro-Israel Republican — fears the group's public support could be a liability in the Nov.

3 election.

Driving the news: The move by Rogers' team angered AIPAC officials, who had spent more than $30 million to try to defeat El-Sayed in the Democratic primary and prepared to spend millions more to help elect Rogers, according to people familiar with the conversations.

Zoom out: El-Sayed made AIPAC a centerpiece of his successful primary campaign, using the group's spending against him to portray Democratic opponent Haley Stevens as beholden to the pro-Israel lobby.

El-Sayed has called Israel a "rogue state," accused it of genocide and apartheid, and has declined to say whether Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state.

That made defeating him a priority for AIPAC, which rarely mounts major spending campaigns in general elections.

Behind the scenes: Rogers' team warned AIPAC before the Aug.

4 Democratic primary that it believed El-Sayed would beat Stevens, though AIPAC held out hope Stevens would prevail.

The two sides agreed to keep talking.