Backing primary opponents to progressive Democrats, the new Solidarity PAC resembles a state-level analog to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
By Julia Rock & Chris Gelardi, Reposted from NY Focus, March 26, 2025
The Republican Treasurer and Democratic executive director of a pro-Israel political advocacy group have launched a state-level political action committee to spend directly in New York’s elections, according to Board of Elections records obtained by New York Focus.
The committee, called Solidarity PAC, is boosting Democratic primary opponents to candidates endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Families Party. It resembles a New York state-level version of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which backs pro-Israel candidates in federal elections.
PACs run by pro-Israel groups like AIPAC and Democratic Majority for Israel have been a pivotal force in national Democratic politics for years, funneling millions into us congressional elections — and defeating incumbent and insurgent candidates alike. But the new Solidarity PAC appears to be the first committee to explicitly back New York state-level candidates who, according to its website, “value the American alliance with Israel.”
The website invites visitors to make donations to be split among candidates the PAC endorses, and the candidates’ webpages note whether their opponents are endorsed by the DSA or WFP. It backs the Hudson Valley incumbent Assemblymember Didi Barrett, one of the chamber’s more conservative Democrats, who is facing a formidable challenge from Claire Cousin, a WFP-endorsed nonprofit director. Another candidate’s page states that his challenger is a “Jamaal Bowman organizer.”
The PAC’s registration document, filed in February, shows that Solidarity PAC is operated by officials involved in the New York Solidarity Network, a 501(c)(4) dark money nonprofit that describes itself as a “membership organization for New Yorkers who have a tight-knit relationship with Israel personally and politically.”
New York Solidarity Network’s executive director, Sara Forman, is the PAC’s treasurer, and her organizational email address appears in the registration document. Forman is a former fundraiser for the influential Democratic PAC Emily’s List who frequently rails against the left flank of the Democratic Party on social media.
“Progressives are the MAGA of the Democratic Party,” she tweeted in December. “The DSA doesn’t belong in the ‘big tent’ of the @TheDemocrats anymore, and it’s time party leaders show them the exit,” she wrote in another tweet.
Republican operative Nathan Parsons-Schwarz, the Solidarity Network’s most recently listed treasurer, is also registered as a Solidarity PAC official. He’s worked for the College Republican National Committee, Republican former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, and the Republican parties of Arkansas, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In 2022, the New York Solidarity Network paid his political consulting firm, Allegiance Strategies, around $300,000 for consulting and fundraising services, according to tax filings.
Neither Forman nor Parsons-Schwarz claimed residential addresses in New York: Forman listed a New Jersey residence, while Parsons-Schwarz listed one in Virginia.
Real estate magnate Hal Fetner, ceo of Fetner Properties and a member of the influential Real Estate Board of New York, is also listed as someone “who exerts operational control over the pac.”
As of publication, Forman and Parsons-Schwarz did not respond to multiple attempts to contact them, including by phone, text, and email. Fetner did not respond to an email request for comment.
