Michael Blake is running as a Democrat for the Congressional seat that Ritchie Torres, one of Israel’s most eloquent supporters in the House, now holds. Blake was himself once a supporter of Israel, and even a recipient of AIPAC largesse, but he has now become a fierce critic of Israel. He opposes American support for Israel as it fights its seven-front war for survival. He is also opposed to U.S. spending on defense, or claims he is, because he has a longstanding relationship with at least one large defense contractor. More on Michael Blake can be found here: “Anti-Israel Congressional Candidate Michael Blake Has Deep Ties to Defense Contractor, Despite Campaign Rhetoric,” by Corey Walker, Algemeiner, January 8, 2026:
Although Democratic congressional candidate Michael Blake has made opposition to US military spending and Israel’s war in Gaza a centerpiece of his insurgent left-wing campaign to unseat incumbent US Rep. Ritchie Torres in New York, newly surfaced documents reveal that Blake maintains deep ties to defense contractors.
Financial disclosures and employment records examined by New York Focus are complicating Blake’s message in the Democratic primary for New York’s 15th Congressional District, raising questions about whether his own professional history undercuts the left-wing, anti-militarism platform on which he is campaigning. The documents show that Blake himself has maintained a longstanding professional relationship with a defense contractor that has received millions of dollars in federal contracts, including from the US Department of Defense.
According to financial disclosure forms and public records reviewed by the New York outlet, Blake began working in 2018 as a vice president at Eccalon, a Maryland-based defense firm that provides services to federal agencies, including the Pentagon. Public filings show that Eccalon secured millions in Pentagon contracts. Ethics filings list Blake’s compensation in ranges that in later years reached the $100,000 to $250,000 range. Blake’s Linkedin Page indicates that he started working at the firm in 2018 as a “senior advisor” and continues his employment with the firm to this day.
Blake, a former New York Assemblymember and past Democratic National Committee vice chair, has accused Torres of profiting from investments in major aerospace and defense firms that receive Pentagon contracts. His campaign has sought to link those holdings to Torres’s staunch support for Israel and robust US military assistance, positions that have drawn fierce criticism from progressive activists….
Ritchie Torres relies on an outside manager to make his investments. He has agreed to donate any amounts he made on defense stocks to charity.
Blake’s attacks have prompted backlash of their own. As reported by the New York Post, the challenger appears to have deleted years of social-media posts praising Israel and AIPAC, the influential pro-Israel lobbying group he once openly supported. Between 2014 and 2017, Blake attended AIPAC events and heaped praise on the Jewish state. Blake subsequently deleted photos of himself at AIPAC events after receiving criticism.
What explains Blake’s about-face on Israel? Was it that he knew in a race with Torres, he had to distinguish himself? Since Torres was known for his staunch support of Israel, then Blake would make himself known as someone opposed to military aid for the Jewish state. Or was it that Blake knew that Arab money — much more than what AIPAC can offer — has been sloshing around Washington, buying influence and votes, for several decades, so why not let Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and other rich Arab states know that his withdrawal of support from Israel deserved some tangible dollars-and-cents sign of Arab gratitude?
Finally, one more unpleasant side of Michael Blake. He has repeatedly attacked Ritchie Torres for the investments Torres has made — or rather, his financial advisor made for him without his knowledge — in defense contractors, though all such investments were properly reported. But all this time Blake has himself been a “senior advisor” at Eccalon, a company of Washington political insiders, working to ease the way of defense contractors doing business with federal agencies, by peddling influence, and distributing campaign contributions, up and down the corridors of Congressional power.
Hypocrisy, thy name is Michael Blake.
WPM says
The area they are fighting over to represent is in the Bronx. The Moslem population has gone up greatly in the center part and the Jewish population has dropped over all. The Bronx is solid blue vote they voted for Mamdani at about 70 percent of the vote for the jihadist in the primary .and around the same amount in the election .
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I think if Torres does a good job exposing Blake, he can sabotage that Leftist candidacy. Unless of course, there is another challenger from the Left, who unlike Blake is a genuine Mamdani-like commie
Westman says
Leading from behind the popular ideas of voters and generous donors is how one gets into office and leading from behind is how a politician stays in office. Supporting Israel is honorable but not popular.
Lifetime politicians who don’t wish to work too hard beyond reelection, make speeches, attend the best parties, and brag about what they are going to do.
Isn’t the best way of succeeding (for yourself) to follow what others have done successfully? (sarc)
WPM says
Neither of these guys running is going to provide an economic boom for the Bronx both are running on democratic ideas of tax and spend other peoples money. One happens to provide lip service to supporting Israel ,as the number of Jews living in the Bronx falls and the number of Moslems living there increases the other panders to jihadist .
Lucy Goosey says
He seems to have seen the light about the Demo party in New York.
Blake was one of the many in the Demo primary for mayor last year and started out claiming that he was “the most pro-Israel guy in the room”
Eventually, as Mamdani gained momentum and pulled ahead of the pack during the campaign, a few other candidates endorsed him – as in asking their supporters to rank Mamdani #2 on the ranked choice ballots. In exchange, Mamdani asked his supporters to rank certain opponents high
Blake came in too late with his attempt at a cross endorsement (meaning that he endorsed Mamdani for his supporters to rank #2 but didn’t receive anything back from Mamdani), but started his jihad against Israel then, in a subtle manner
I assume he sees how the Demo party is going in the city and wants to catch the same wave Mamdani did. I predict that many Dems throughout the city and even bleeding into nearby suburbs are going to do hard left turns in attempts to mimic Mamdani
OLD GUY says
It appears that America is only about the money. Our foreign adversaries are slowly chipping away at America with CASH. Whats happening in Minnesota is just the beginning of the shit storm coming if we continue to allow the invasion of islamic/muslim people.