The architect of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s viral video campaign paid homage to the mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks in a series of tweets uncovered by Jewish Insider — posts in which the operative asserted that late Hamas military leader Yahya Sinwar “gave his entire life until the end fighting for his people’s liberation.”

Records show Donald Borenstein got paid more than $90,000 last year by the Mamdani campaign for his services as director of video — a role in which, according to his LinkedIn, he served as “primary cinematographer” for the social media imagery that propelled the democratic socialist legislator into Gracie Mansion. 

Borenstein’s Instagram indicates he has since assumed the title of “creative director” at City Hall, and he has been credited for official videos promoting the mayor and his agenda. Borenstein was also featured in a recent comedy sketch starring Mamdani and his top staffers that was shared on the official NYC Mayor’s Office YouTube channel.

Yet despite receiving attention from The New York Times and New York Post as a member of Mamdani’s inner circle, Borenstein’s profile online has largely escaped notice so far. 

Archives of his X account show that in 2024, a day after Sinwar was killed by the IDF, Borenstein described imagery of his death, captured in Israeli drone footage, as “absolutely overflowing with symbolism.”

“[I]nsanely funny that israelis are so genocidally up their own ass that they have basically hand-delivered one of the most heroic possible images they could here lmao,” Borenstein wrote from his X handle @boringstein on Oct. 17, 2024, and just a few months before Borenstein began working for Mamdani’s campaign.

Borenstein appears to have deleted this tweet, and all others referenced in this story, at some later point, though archived images remain accessible.

Federal Election Commission filings show that a few months before the posts, Borenstein wrapped up work for another politician highly critical of Israel: then-Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who was serving out the last few months of his term after he lost his reelection to a primary challenge from Rep. George Latimer (D-NY). 

The cinematographer further mocked the Israeli decision to release the video of Sinwar sitting on a couch and tossing a stick at the drone moments before he was killed.

“‘[S]urely this man who gave his entire life until the end fighting for his people’s liberation with no proxy will look bad when we show footage of his last stand,’” Borenstein wrote sarcastically, concluding a third post with the phrase “From the river to the sea,” often understood as calling for the annihilation of the entirety of Israel between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, and three Palestinian flag emojis. 

When one reply compared the terrorist with Tom Hanks’ character in the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” the cinematographer responded with enthusiasm.

“[I]n earnest!!! you could not direct this better lol,” Borenstein replied. “[I] am honestly so deeply moved.”

In another since-deleted tweet, Borenstein wrote that “the fascist state of Israel will fall in our lifetimes.”

Neither the video producer nor the Mamdani team responded to questions about the tweets. 

Borenstein is one of several figures instrumental in Mamdani’s rise whose social media accounts feature explicit support for Sinwar and the terrorist organization he led, even though the mayor has condemned terrorism personally.

In February, JI reported that the co-founder of the independent “Hot Girls for Zohran” social media and canvassing campaign had also shared multiple pro-Hamas posts. In March, JI reported that Mamdani’s wife Rama Duwaji — whom The Cut described as a “de facto adviser” to the mayor’s campaign — had liked posts on Instagram celebrating the Oct. 7 attacks.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) doubled down on his calls for two of his primary challengers in his reelection campaign to fire senior officials over their record of antisemitic statements after both candidates refused to do so — vowing on Tuesday to fight the growing tolerance for Jew-hatred in the GOP and call out aspiring lawmakers in South Carolina who excuse or embrace it. 

The South Carolina senator convened Christian and Jewish leaders for a call with reporters to criticize Paul Dans and Mark Lynch, who are challenging Graham in the Republican primary for his Senate seat, over Dans’ refusal to fire Vish Burra as his campaign communications director and Lynch declining to part ways with Evan Mulch as his political director despite their respective records of making antisemitic statements. 

Graham told reporters that while he would not typically make an issue of the behavior of staffers from an opposing campaign, he felt compelled to speak out because of the outgrowth of antisemitism in the Republican Party.

“I’m speaking more today as just an American, a senator representing South Carolina, rather than just a candidate. I’ve never had to make a phone call like this, and it, quite frankly, is disturbing,” Graham said. “There are two opponents of mine that have staff members that are very out of touch with where I think South Carolina is, and spewing hate in the form of antisemitism.”

“I’ve never done this before, but this is a problem in America, a small problem in the Republican Party, that I don’t want to grow,” he continued. “I seldom do this, go after other people’s campaigns, because I feel confident that what I’ve got to offer wins the day politically, but this is not about politics. This is not about my primary. This is about stopping something before it gets stronger, calling it out and making it unacceptable.”

Graham highlighted both staffers’ records at a news conference last Thursday and on Tuesday’s call, condemning Burra for depicting Jews as cockroaches in a video he created on the right-wing One America News Network, which ultimately resulted in his firing as a producer. 

Mulch, meanwhile, posted a photo  on X last June of a boot stepping on the Talmud and calling it a “hate filled book.”

“I call this out because I think it’s a vile antisemitic action. It has no place in politics or, quite frankly, decent society, and he hasn’t been fired,” Graham said on Tuesday. “As a matter of fact, Mr. Dans, in responding to the call to deal with the staffers, said that my campaign was controlled by Israel and that I’m being blackmailed by Israel and other affiliated groups, which I think is one of the oldest stereotypes, that the Jews control politicians.”

“When you step on the Talmud with a boot, I don’t think that’s American,” he added of Mulch. “I don’t think it’s Christian, and I don’t think there’s any place in running for higher office for people who engage in that behavior, and I’ve called for him to be fired with no response.”

While Graham said he does not believe it is inherently antisemitic to voice objections to the policies of the Israeli government, he argued that tolerance of such criticisms did equate to tolerance of blatant antisemitism.

“I’m a strong supporter of Israel, and you can oppose Israeli policies and not be an antisemite,” Graham said. “But when you’re an antisemite, not only do you oppose Israel, I think you oppose human decency and what America stands for.”

Graham told Jewish Insider on the call that he was confident “that when the people of South Carolina — Republicans, Democrats and independents — hear what’s going on, and that’s why I’m doing it today, it will be soundly rejected.”

Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith & Freedom Coalition; Sandra Hagee Parker, who chairs the board of CUFI Action Fund, the political arm of Christians United for Israel; and Rabbi Yossi Refson of Chabad of Charleston spoke on the call in support of Graham’s efforts.

“We have witnessed, I believe, sadly, the institutionalization of antisemitism in the Democratic Party,” Brooks told attendees. “For us at the Republican Jewish Coalition, let me be very clear and unambiguous that this is a fight that we will take everywhere. We will ensure that antisemitism does not take hold in our party like it has taken hold in the Democratic Party. The fabric of America was woven together based on Judeo-Christian values, the values that we all cherish are built in partnership with our Christian allies and friends. Anybody who traffics in antisemitic rhetoric or antisemitic actions has no place in our party.”

Graham vowed at the end of the call to continue his push to ensure elected Republicans in and out of the state are individuals who repudiate antisemitism.

“The breadth of condemnation here and the quality of the thoughts expressed not only give me hope and prove that I’m doing the right thing. It inspires me. I am not going to let this go after what I heard today. I am never going to let this go until my last breath. I will make sure that any group, but particularly the long suffering Jewish people, have my unequivocal support.”

Dans and Lynch were unapologetic about their campaign staffers, instead releasing statements late last week and Tuesday directing their ire at Graham in deeply personal terms. 

“He’s given a member of my campaign staff more attention than he’s given South Carolinians for decades,” Dans said in a statement last Thursday. “The real headline that you should be covering is how many opioid deaths happened in South Carolina last year on Lindsey Graham’s watch. Israel picks Lindsey Graham’s staff, but they do not pick mine. I am not firing Vish Burra and I am calling on the people of South Carolina to fire Lindsey Graham.”

Lynch, meanwhile, told JI in a statement on Tuesday evening that Graham was “an existential threat to both the nation of Israel and the United States.”

“Lindsey Graham is responsible for the deaths of countless Jews in Israel by the fact that he has sent 10s of millions of dollars to Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Al-Nusra Front — funding the enemies of Israel,” Lynch said.

Far-left Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is taking flak over comments in an internal campaign call that issuing a statement on the attempted terrorist attack on Temple Israel in the Detroit suburbs that placed blame on Israel for the attack was a “risk” he felt he had to take, Punchbowl News reported Tuesday.

In both the original statement and the internal comments, El-Sayed condemned the attack while also suggesting that it ultimately could be blamed on Israel’s operations in Lebanon. The alleged attacker was the brother of a Hezbollah commander killed in an Israeli airstrike, the IDF said.

The Punchbowl report linked to a minute-long unlisted YouTube video of El-Sayed, which appears to have been recorded on Zoom.

“I want us to understand that we have to work toward a world where none of this happens, no war, no bombing of apartment buildings, no antisemitism, no attacks on synagogues in schools, like we need to be opposed to all of it and and I think that that’s the kind of leadership that I’m hoping I can offer,” El-Sayed said in the video.

“We put out a much longer statement on this,” he continued. “I hope folks will check it out, and I hope it resonated. And, you know, it was a risk. All of our team was really worried about saying something, but leadership is being willing to say the thing, if you believe it to be true, that nobody else is going to say.”

El-Sayed clarified in an X post that the “risk” he was referring to “that these cowards will NEVER take is having the courage to call out an illegal and unjustified war that’s killing children, wasting our tax dollars, and spiking gas prices, too.”

While El-Sayed spoke, one person in the Zoom meeting, identified as “Mauricio” appeared to justify the attack, saying in a comment, “The synagogue raised funds for the IDF.”

In the initial statement, El-Sayed offered a condemnation of the attack, emphasizing that it would leave scars on the community and that it recalled “centuries of trauma,” while affirming his support for Jews’ right to practice their faith in safety.

But, while condemning the attacker and saying his actions could not be justified, El-Sayed also suggested that the perpetrator’s actions ultimately traced back to Israel and its reported killing of his family members.

“Hurt people hurt people. Violence is a cycle,” El-Sayed said. “Ayman Ghazali lost family, including two children in an airstrike in Lebanon last week. They were innocent people, and then, in an evil act of displaced rage, he tried to take it out on innocent children who had nothing to do with the loss of the innocent children he lost, except that they share a faith.”

“A week earlier, an airstrike killed his niece and nephew. Imagine if that had never happened. Imagine there was no war in Iran. Imagine if there were no air strikes in Lebanon. Imagine if his family had never died. Imagine there was never an attack on Temple Israel. That’s the world that we want to live in,” El-Sayed continued.

Spokespeople for El-Sayed’s Democratic opponents did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

But Republicans have pounced on the comments.

Mike Rogers, the likely GOP nominee for the Senate race, condemned El-Sayed over his remarks in the internal campaign call.

“If you’re having a moral crisis over whether to condemn terrorism, you’re unfit for office,” Rogers said in a statement. “There’s no justification for it, but here Abdul is sympathizing with the attacker. It’s an absolute slap in the face to the families of these kids, and to Michigan’s entire Jewish community — and only serves to inflame antisemitism.”

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called his comments “pathetic.

“The contrast couldn’t be more clear in Michigan: radical terrorist sympathizers like Abdul El-Sayed or America First heroes like Mike Rogers,” Scott said.

El-Sayed has shrugged off criticisms of his comments.

El-Sayed is also facing attacks from Republicans and the Democratic group Third Way over his participation in a pair of events with far-left influencer Hasan Piker, who has repeatedly made antisemitic comments and expressed support for terrorism.

Washington, D.C., mayoral candidate Kenyan McDuffie criticized his Democratic primary opponents for pledging to avoid campaigning with elements of the Jewish community — an apparent jab at Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed rival Janeese Lewis George, who is facing backlash from Jewish leaders over her pledge to boycott events she described as promoting Zionism.

“Recent reporting has raised serious concerns about how some candidates for office in DC have pledged not to engage with the majority of Jewish organizations in exchange for political support,” McDuffie wrote in a campaign email on Tuesday. “That is wrong. Full stop.”

McDuffie did not mention Lewis George or any specific candidates in his email. 

Lewis George, who earned the endorsement of the Metro D.C. chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, wrote in a DSA questionnaire that she would not attend events focused on “promoting Zionism and apartheid.” She met last week with rabbis and local Jewish leaders who were concerned about her posture toward the Jewish community, Jewish Insider reported on Monday. 

She privately apologized for her responses and blamed them on a staff member, but has not expressed that sentiment publicly. 

“There is no place in this city for shutting out any community — especially in pursuit of political gain,” McDuffie wrote. “Not antisemitism. Not Islamophobia. Not racism. Not sexism.” 

The DSA questionnaire also asked candidates to refrain from affiliating with the Israeli government and “Zionist lobby groups.” In her responses, Lewis George defended her appearance at a Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington meeting in December, but said she was there to talk about immigration enforcement. 

She said she did not align with JCRC’s stance on Israel and Zionism, and that she disagrees with the organization’s “definition of anti-semitism that criminalizes dissent, and their attacks on activists.” 

“Leadership matters in moments like this,” wrote McDuffie. “As your next mayor, I will bring people together across lines of difference. I will engage every community in this city, especially when it is not easy or politically convenient.” 

Washington, McDuffie said, “must be a city where every resident — regardless of faith, race, gender, or identity — feels safe, respected and heard.” 

Each time Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro gets on a plane to visit different communities as he begins his reelection campaign, he’ll silently recite Judaism’s foundational prayer, the Shema, before takeoff, according to his new memoir.

Shapiro has always kept his Jewish faith at the center of his public identity. But in Where We Keep the Light, which comes out today, the swing-state Democrat provides the most intimate look yet at the centrality of Judaism to his understanding of the world. Widely expected to be eyeing a bid for the White House in 2028, Shapiro makes clear in his new book that he will not back away from his Jewish identity as his national profile grows. 

“My faith has never been something I thought about doing a whole lot. Not because it’s not important. The opposite, really. It’s elemental,” Shapiro writes. “It’s why I sometimes sound a little vague when I get asked about my religion in interviews or when I try to put it into words. Kind of like when you get asked to explain how you fall asleep or blink. You just know to do it. It’s part of you, without thinking. All essence and instinct.”

The book begins with the story of the arson attack on the governor’s residence in Harrisburg last year, hours after Shapiro hosted a Passover Seder there. It’s clear that the incident, in which the assailant said that he targeted the governor because of what Shapiro “​​did to the Palestinians,” impacted him deeply. 

“No one will deter me or my family or any Pennsylvanian from celebrating their faith openly and proudly,” Shapiro writes. 

The next night, his family began their Seder by reciting Birkat Hagomel, which he described as “a prayer expressing gratitude for surviving a dangerous situation.” Shapiro again sought comfort in those days in the Shema, and its straightforward declaration of faith in God.

Along with his deep identification with Judaism, Shapiro doesn’t shy away from his support for Israel in his memoir. 

The Democratic Party has become more critical of Israel in recent years, and it is easy to imagine Shapiro deciding that the politically savvy move would be to talk less about his connection to the Jewish state. 

Instead, Shapiro appears to have decided that the right move — a result, surely, of both political and moral calculations — is to reveal exactly what role Judaism and Israel have played in shaping him.

Early excerpts of the book revealed that Shapiro was asked by members of Vice President Kamala Harris’ team, during the vetting process as she chose her running mate in 2024, whether he had ever acted as a foreign agent for Israel. He was also asked by Harris why he had taken such a strong position criticizing anti-Israel encampments at the University of Pennsylvania that year, and whether he would apologize for doing so. He took offense at both questions, wondering whether a double standard was at play.

He describes his first experience with advocacy, as part of the movement to free Soviet Jewry in the 1980s. He writes evocatively of a semester spent in Israel as a teenager with his Jewish day school, detailing the transformative moment he visited the Western Wall for the first time. 

“My faith in that moment was around me. I was touching it. I was breathing it. My faith was alive and its roots grew deeper under me,” Shapiro writes. “The semester in Israel flew by. I loved every minute of it.” Years later, he returned to Jerusalem with his then-girlfriend Lori to propose.

Many scenes in Shapiro’s book also play out around the Shabbat table. There was the Shabbat dinner in 2017, early in Shapiro’s first month as Pennsylvania attorney general, that was interrupted by news of President Donald Trump’s ban on travel from several Muslim-majority nations. There was the Shabbat dinner in 2024 when he and Lori discussed the meeting he would have with Harris, two days later, about whether Shapiro wanted to be her running mate. The family’s Shabbat dinner table was also pictured in his first TV ad during the 2022 general election for governor. 

Shapiro said he drew this lesson of embracing his Jewish faith from his experience as attorney general working with law enforcement and the Jewish community after the 2018 Tree of Life shooting. In the years after, particularly as he ran for governor, he began to have more people express to him their fear of antisemitism and of being Jewish. The answer, Shapiro writes, is not to hide.

“There have been times when I have struggled to figure out what my responsibility is as a person so public about my faith, at a time when it is more tenuous than ever to be Jewish in America,” Shapiro writes. “In these moments, I look to the Tree of Life community as my guidepost for what it means to live our faith out loud, without fear or question.” 

Whether Shapiro continues to focus more closely on his Jewish faith and the rise of antisemitism, as he does in the book — as opposed to a more universal appreciation of religion’s positive role in society — is an open question. Shapiro likes to talk in stump speeches about his “faith,” with the word “Jewish” often conspicuously absent. In his election night victory speech in 2022, he quoted the Jewish book Pirkei Avot, or “Ethics of Our Fathers.” He talked about “scripture,” and how “my family and my faith call me to service.” He did not mention Judaism. 

With his new book, Shapiro appears to be betting that standing up for his values and beliefs — even if the short-term politics might not be in favor of campaigning as a proud Jewish candidate who remains supportive of Israel — will be rewarded over the long haul by voters looking for someone who is authentic to his true self, standing by a time-tested set of clear moral principles.

Campaigning in a crowded field for the New Jersey congressional seat recently vacated by newly inaugurated Gov. Mikie Sherrill, former New Jersey Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way is leaning into her support for Israel and the state’s Jewish community ahead of next month’s special election primary.

Speaking to Jewish Insider last week, Way, a Democrat, cited the rise in antisemitism that is leaving Jewish voters “terrified” as one of the reasons she’s running for office, alongside her concern about attacks on civil liberties, healthcare access, the economy and immigration raids.

She said that, going forward, it’s “really my fervor and my hope to continue my work on behalf of the Jewish community,” highlighting the work of the New Jersey-Israel Commission — which fell under her purview when she served as secretary of state — to increase trade between Israel and New Jersey as well as to push back on antisemitism.

“You think about the 1960s, when Blacks and Jewish people stood hand by hand” in the Civil Rights Movement, Way said. “That’s why I also made certain that my Israel Commission partnered with my MLK Jr. Commission, not just internally, but externally, going out to schools — especially our high school students — so that they could understand the history, understand the unity of two people in hopes of bringing about a better us.”

“Tahesha Way understands what is failing the Jewish community right now, and especially this fight against antisemitism which is on the rise,” Way said. “I have stood side by side with the Jewish community, overseeing the Israel commission and making sure that the needs and the protection has always been authentically there.”

She said she also worked with the commission to send letters to college and university presidents after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks to ensure that academic leaders took steps to combat antisemitism, and re-emphasized her support for legislation to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism — which was ultimately blocked by fellow Democratic leaders, including former Gov. Phil Murphy.

She alluded to those events, noting that she had “separated myself from governing partners” on that issue.

“Tahesha Way understands what is failing the Jewish community right now, and especially this fight against antisemitism which is on the rise,” Way said. “I have stood side by side with the Jewish community, overseeing the Israel commission and making sure that the needs and the protection has always been authentically there.”

Way said she would advocate for antisemitism legislation to codify the IHRA definition on the federal level as well, and to “streamline access” to security funding for Jewish institutions through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

“We need [representatives] who will stand with our Jewish communities without hesitation,” Way said, asserting repeatedly that, “other candidates are not strong on this.” Several other leading candidates also have spoken out against antisemitism and in favor of federal programs to combat it, as well as supported the IHRA bill.

She connected her own daughter’s experience surviving a mass shooting at the University of Virginia to those of Jewish students, and their parents, facing antisemitic harassment on their campuses after Oct. 7.

At the same time, Way said that the federal government should not step in to defund colleges and universities — as the Trump administration has — unless the institutions are “abdicating their responsibilities to students,” and that it must do so through due process and rule of law.

“Conditioning aid to Israel would weaken it at a moment when Israel faces real security threats, and I think it would undermine our credibility as a strategic partner,” Way said. “We work with Israel on these issues as partners, not by holding their security hostage to political demands. And ultimately, I believe, those aren’t conditions. They are the foundation of a strong alliance between two democracies.”

Way visited Israel in 2019 on a delegation with other state-level officials from around the country organized by the American Jewish Committee, calling it “one of the most significant experiences of my life.” She said she wanted to “witness the alliance between our nation and Israel,” and that she had the chance to see the security and intelligence cooperation, the shared democratic values and the economic ties between the two countries.

She said she “absolutely” opposes efforts to condition or stop U.S. weapons sales to Israel, a position she said goes back to the understanding of the U.S.-Israel relationship she developed on that trip.

“Conditioning aid to Israel would weaken it at a moment when Israel faces real security threats, and I think it would undermine our credibility as a strategic partner,” Way said. “We work with Israel on these issues as partners, not by holding their security hostage to political demands. And ultimately, I believe, those aren’t conditions. They are the foundation of a strong alliance between two democracies.”

She added that she has been “clear about my expectations: responsible use of aid, commitment to humanitarian law and a path towards a two-state solution.”

Asked to clarify her vision of a two-state solution, Way said that Hamas’ dismantling is a necessary precondition to moving toward a Palestinian state.

She noted that she had the opportunity to hear from former hostage Eli Sharabi when he visited New Jersey last December, an experience she said led her to recommit to supporting Israel.

Asked about the administration’s strikes on Iran last June, Way said that “Iran is a destabilizing force in the Middle East and an existential threat to Israel and the United States” which has harmed not only U.S. service members but also Iranian citizens. “The United States must ensure that Iran never possesses those nuclear weapons.”

She connected her concerns about the regime’s violations of its citizens’ rights to her own work in New Jersey fighting for civil rights and supporting democracy.

“That’s why I take democracy to heart, that is why I am so passionate about the United States-Israel relationship and alliance, because of the shared democratic values,” Way said.

Pressed on whether she would support strikes on the Iranian government in support of protesters, she again condemned the regime but said that the administration “cannot move unilaterally” and that Congress must be involved in any military action.

Way argued that voters are “are looking for someone who has already made a difference and has proven results for New Jersey families, and that is me, and I’m definitely not done yet,” and that she’s the only candidate with the diversity of government experience, as well as the only candidate who has been sued by the Trump administration.

Texas state Rep. James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for Senate in the state, has disavowed AIPAC and pledged not to take support from the group on the campaign trail.

But in late 2019, he attended an AIPAC event alongside a major donor to his campaign, according to a contemporaneous Instagram post about the event posted by an AIPAC supporter.

The post has been circulating online in recent days, driving discussion in progressive circles.

Since mounting his Senate bid, Talarico has vowed not to accept support from AIPAC or J Street, and has faced criticism from some in the Jewish community who believe he is singling out AIPAC in particular.

“I refuse to be complicit in the death and destruction in Gaza, and I will never use your tax dollars to support the killing in that part of the world, and it makes me sick to my stomach to see what’s happening,” Talarico said at an event last year. “I hope in this campaign here in Texas we can send a crystal-clear message to the rest of the country that we are done being complicit.”

Asked for comment on Talarico’s attendance at the AIPAC event, campaign spokesperson JT Ennis said, “James has been clear on his position on what is happening in Israel and Gaza. If anyone has questions on where James stands, they should look at his record, his extensive public comments, and the issues page on his website.”

Talarico has vowed to support efforts to ban some weapons sales to Israel and accused Israel of war crimes.

The same AIPAC supporter who shared the post with Talarico in 2019 was a major donor to his 2020 campaign; Talarico posted repeatedly on X about the donor offering to match up to $10,000 in donations to his campaign.

Talarico has also faced scrutiny on the campaign trail for accepting donations for his statehouse campaigns from a pro-gambling super PAC, Texas Sands PAC, funded by prominent pro-Israel GOP donor Miriam Adelson.

The Texas state representative is one a growing number of Democratic candidates who previously affiliated with or sought support from AIPAC but have since disavowed the group on the campaign trail amid increasing progressive hostility toward the pro-Israel organization, including Reps. Seth Moulton (D-MA), Valerie Foushee (D-NC), Deborah Ross (D-NC), Morgan McGarvey (D-KY), former New York Assemblyman Michael Blake and Evanston, Ill., Mayor Daniel Biss.

In the summer of 2024, when Vice President Kamala Harris was vetting potential running mates for her expedited campaign for president, a senior member of her team asked Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro whether he had ever been a “double agent for Israel,” Shapiro writes in a new book that will be published later this month. “Was she kidding? I told her how offensive the question was,” Shapiro recounts in the book.

The exchange — which Shapiro describes in an outraged tone — has prompted sharp criticism from Jewish leaders, including some who served in the Biden-Harris administration.

“The more I read about [Shapiro’s] treatment in the vetting process, the more disturbed I become,” Deborah Lipstadt, who served as the State Department’s antisemitism envoy under President Joe Biden, said in a post on X. “These questions were classic antisemitism.” 

Shapiro suggests in the book that he was being treated unfairly as a Jewish contender for the role of vice president: “I wondered whether these questions were being posed to just me — the only Jewish guy in the running — or if everyone who had not held a federal office was being grilled about Israel in the same way,” he writes.

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt called the line of questioning “barely veiled bigotry,” and said it is “a textbook invocation of one of the oldest antisemitic canards in politics: the smear of dual loyalty.”  

The comments also earned criticism from Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), who said in a statement that “that kind of insinuation and targeting is antisemitism, plain and simple. No one should be judged or discriminated against because of their faith.” 

Shapiro’s Jewish faith and his support for Israel became the object of criticism among far-left activists, who agitated against his selection as Harris’ running mate. Harris has maintained that antisemitism played no role in her decision not to pick Shapiro. 

Shapiro’s account of his interactions with Harris’ campaign suggests that his views on Israel did present a problem for Harris. According to Shapiro, Harris asked him to apologize for comments he had made denouncing the actions of some anti-Israel protesters at the University of Pennsylvania. He refused, writing in his book that he felt Harris wanted him to align “perfectly” with her on all issues.

“It nagged at me that their questions weren’t really about substance,” Shapiro writes. “Rather, they were questioning my ideology, my approach, my world view.”

Abraham Foxman, the former longtime leader of the Anti-Defamation League, called it “very disturbing” that Shapiro was asked about being an Israeli double agent. “Aides focused on Israel to the extent he found it offensive. Something very troubling about our current political culture,” Foxman wrote in a post on X. 

Shapiro was not the first Jewish official to face a “double standard” during the vetting process, Aaron Keyak, the Jewish outreach director on Biden’s 2020 campaign who later served as Lipstadt’s deputy at the State Department, said in a statement.  

“During my vetting process I faced questions in a classified setting that my fellow non-Jewish political appointees did not,” Keyak said. “These sort of antisemitic questions are anti-American and do not represent the best that the Democratic Party offers. Now and especially during the next Presidential campaign we must demand better.” 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was chosen as Harris’ running mate, was also asked a question about his own ties to foreign nations. The Harris campaign asked Walz — who had previously lived and worked in China — if he had ever been an agent of China, CNN reported. 

The adversarial nature of Harris and Shapiro’s relationship during the 2024 campaign was the source of a great deal of speculation. Harris took aim at Shapiro, too, in a book she published in 2025, writing that before they even met, he was asking questions about furnishing and decorating the Naval Observatory, where the vice president resides, should he be selected. 

A spokesperson for Harris did not respond to a request for comment.

This story was updated on Jan. 20 with additional comments.

In suburban Philadelphia, in one of the most hotly contested swing districts in the country, Democratic congressional candidate Bob Harvie is pitching a message of affordability. But not because of a certain big-city mayor 90 minutes north on I-95.

The former high school history teacher and vice chair of the Bucks County Board of Commissioners who is hoping to unseat Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) is not trying to mimic the campaign tactics of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who ran a populist campaign pledging to make the city affordable again. 

Instead, he said he’s looking for inspiration from two moderate Democratic governors elected last year: New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill and Virginia’s Abigail Spanberger.

“There have been others who have been talking about affordability. It’s not a Democratic hoax, as the president has said it is. It has a real impact on people, and we’re seeing it here at the county,” Harvie told Jewish Insider in an interview last week. 

Harvie, 54, is not the only Democrat vying to take on Fitzpatrick, but he has racked up several endorsements from leading Pennsylvania officials, including Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) and Chris Deluzio (D-PA) and the chairs of the Democratic Party in Bucks County and neighboring Montgomery County. Gov. Josh Shapiro has quietly thrown his support behind Harvie, Axios reported last month, though a Shapiro spokesperson declined to comment. An October poll commissioned by Harvie’s campaign showed him and Fitzpatrick running neck-and-neck in a two-way matchup. 

If he wins the primary, Harvie faces an uphill battle against Fitzpatrick, a moderate who has held onto the 1st Congressional District seat through several tough elections — including in 2020, when he was one of just nine House Republicans to win a district that President Joe Biden carried. Fitzpatrick won reelection in 2024 by more than 10 points, even as Vice President Kamala Harris narrowly prevailed in the district. 

Speaking to JI, Harvie described hearing from voters at town halls that the American dream now feels out of reach, and he described Fitzpatrick and Trump as part of the problem. But Harvie was clear that he does not think the path to victory in this swing district lies in trashing Trump. 

“​​Certainly this campaign is not going to just be about how terrible Donald Trump is. There are people who still follow him, support him. I don’t think we’re going to be real successful in terms of getting them to switch their votes, I think, unless we’re focusing on issues,” Harvie explained. 

“I will admit that I’m a lifelong Democrat, and my party has lost its way over the past several decades,” Harvie added. “I think many people who used to be solid Democrats turned to Trump because they just felt that the Democratic Party wasn’t there for them, didn’t care about them, and so we have to get back to focusing on those issues, because that’s really what matters.”

While Harvie may be leaning in on the affordability message that Mamdani popularized last year, he is taking a more traditional approach to foreign policy and to the U.S.-Israel relationship than the mayor. Harvie, who taught high school history for two decades, attributes the recent rise in antisemitism to a lack of education about Judaism and Israel. 

“I think what we’re seeing among younger people is just a lack of understanding about the history of Jewish people, especially in the 20th century, the history of Israel,” said Harvie. “I don’t know if there’s been another country in the history of this planet that has had to fight harder in the first 80 years of its existence just to exist. I think fighting antisemitism means you stand up against it every time you see it.” 

Harvie’s experience with foreign policy is mostly limited to the classroom. He regularly brought American veterans to talk to his students, and he also invited Holocaust survivors to speak. In 2023, after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, he joined two other county commissioners in releasing a statement saying that they “stand in solidarity with the people of Israel.” The county administration building’s interior was lit up in blue and white. 

“We haven’t had a whole lot of consistent friends in the Middle East who we can trust, except for Israel. That’s quite blunt. And Israel, obviously, like any country, has the right to defend itself, and so certainly, as an ally of Israel, we should be willing to help them and make sure that they can protect themselves,” Harvie said. 

At a town hall last week, Harvie was asked by an audience member whether he would accept donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, at a time when many progressive candidates are saying they won’t accept an endorsement from the pro-Israel lobby. Harvie responded by saying he hadn’t yet spoken to anyone from AIPAC.

A spokesperson for Harvie said on Tuesday that he will accept donations from any source, without specifically addressing AIPAC. 

“Bob welcomes support for his campaign and he will always stand with the Bucks and Montgomery County Jewish communities, speak out against rising antisemitism and support the Jewish state of Israel and her right to defend herself,” campaign manager Dan McCormick told JI on Tuesday. 

AIPAC has supported Fitzpatrick in the past and plans to do so in 2026. “Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick is a strong champion of the U.S.-Israel partnership, and we are proud to support him in this race,” an AIPAC spokesperson told JI. 

J Street has not yet made a decision about whether to get involved in the race, but they have opposed Fitzpatrick in the past, a J Street source said. 

Following the Oct. 7 attacks and ensuing war in Gaza, more congressional Democrats than ever have signed onto legislation that would place conditions on American military aid to Israel. Harvie does not plan to join them.

“Israel is an ally of ours who we trust. I don’t see a reason for conditions,” Harvie said. “When I think back to Franklin Roosevelt talking about helping Europe in World War II, and the garden hose story, that if your neighbor’s house is on fire and he comes over to borrow a garden hose, you don’t ask questions about, ‘Well, am I going to get this back in one piece?’ and ‘How are you going to use it?’ You give him the garden hose.” 

Harvie’s speech is peppered with historical references like this, a folksy nod to his time in the classroom. And like his days as an educator, he said his biggest accomplishment in local government — starting as a member of the Falls Township Planning Commission more than two decades ago — is responding to individuals and their needs.

“I’d like to believe that I’ve made each of the governments I’ve worked in, at the local township level and the county level, more responsive to the needs of the people, trying to be more proactive, other than just reactive,” Harvie said. “I know there’s clearly people in this country who feel afraid to be who they are, and someone’s got to stand up to do something.” 

Following the terrorist attack at a Sydney, Australia, Hanukkah event in which 15 people were killed, American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch said that it is critical for Jewish communal organizations to join together around a campaign to protect the Jewish community worldwide and win over allies in that fight.

“The community organizations need to come together around an immediate effort to respond to Bondi Beach. This is urgent for us,” Deutch said. Even if various groups have different approaches to their work, “we’ve got to show the Jewish world” and the philanthropists who back them “that we can actually work together, all of us, in ways that will protect the Jewish community in response to what happened at Bondi Beach.”

He said all Jewish community organizations need to come together on “one campaign right now that seeks to help secure the Jewish community, to help the world better understand the Jewish community, to enlist allies in this fight, and to help everyone understand why fighting antisemitism is not just the right thing to do, but it is in everyone’s self interest, because our society will be strengthened as a result.”

And he said that the Jewish community needs to stand its ground and be clear that it has the right and expectation to have its concerns and security “treated as seriously as other communities” and the “expectation that when we’re at risk, there will be action, rather than asking that everyone please consider our plight.”

“We are a proud community that has experienced challenges for thousands of years. We’re not going anywhere. If you’re not going to take this seriously, then we’re going to keep ramping up the pressure until you do,” Deutch said. “We can’t just go from one of these tragedies to the next. At other moments in American history with rising antisemitism, the community came together in ways that forced policymakers to acknowledge what we’re going through. This is one of those moments.”

He said he’s begun reaching out to colleagues on the subject.

Deutch said that he sees a level of unified horror, “passion” and “resolve” following the Bondi Beach attack akin to that he saw after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, and said that the community and organizational leadership need to build on that.

He said it’s critical to make clear to non-Jews that the fear and horror they felt at the footage of the Sydney shooting is “what we think about every single day as a community” and whenever Jews gather together.

Asked how those efforts will be more successful and more durable than similar calls seen repeatedly since Oct. 7, Deutch responded, “because we have to.”

“One coordinated campaign … isn’t going to solve the thousands of years of antisemitism but it will help us in this moment and it will show that the Jewish community can actually work together on one effort in a meaningful way, which is what members of the Jewish community everywhere in America are desperate to see,” Deutch continued.

The AJC CEO said that lawmakers and leaders have a responsibility to mind their rhetoric, emphasizing that the Bondi attack has shown “yet again” that rhetoric can prompt violence against the Jewish community.

“The need for them to ratchet down the rhetoric, to focus on the dangers that spreading antisemitism and polarization is having on society, is something that they can do without passing legislation. That needs to be an ongoing topic of conversation,” Deutch said. “They need to lead by example.”

Deutch, a former Democratic member of Congress, said that antisemitic actors on both sides of the political aisle have “not been marginalized” in the way that they should be. He said he’d “like to see more from leaders across politics and throughout the country and in every part of our society.”

Calls to “globalize the intifada” and “casual accusations of genocide” lead people to “taking action against anyone they think is responsible,” Deutch said, pointing to the Capital Jewish Museum attack in which two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed outside an AJC event in Washington, perpetrated by an alleged shooter who witnesses said shouted that he had carried out the shooting in the name of Gaza and freeing Palestine.

“What the leaders need to understand in Australia and around the world is, this has always been about terrorism,” Deutch said. “It’s terrorism against the Jewish community. These are attacks against the Jewish community to terrorize us, to put us at risk. The motives have been clear throughout.”

Referencing comments from Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin calling the party a “big tent,” Deutch said that “both parties may claim to be big tents” but have the ability to decide “who’s in the tent and who’s outside of the tent.” He said that anyone targeting Jews should be excluded, regardless of which side they’re on.

Deutch praised Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) as a particularly powerful voice standing up to the “horrific” antisemitic conspiracy theories spread by far-right voices like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes, calling him a “model” for other leaders.

“There has to be an acknowledgement in both parties that there will be no place for that, for those kinds of voices,” Deutch said.

He expressed frustration with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian government’s response to the Sydney attack, which he said has ignored and de-emphasized the fact that the attack targeted Jews. 

He also highlighted Canberra’s failure to fully implement the recommendations of its own antisemitism envoy, which were presented over the summer, saying Albanese should have made such a commitment immediately after the attack.

“What the leaders need to understand in Australia and around the world is, this has always been about terrorism,” Deutch said. “It’s terrorism against the Jewish community. These are attacks against the Jewish community to terrorize us, to put us at risk. The motives have been clear throughout.”

Earlier in the year, Deutch had offered a mixed response to the administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism, particularly on college campuses. In the months since, those efforts have mostly fallen out of the headlines. But Deutch largely praised the administration’s ongoing efforts and the “serious way they’re approaching these issues.”

Of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon’s work on antisemitism, he said, “the way that she’s approaching this fight is serious and thoughtful and aggressive and that’s the way that every part of the administration should be approaching it.”

“When protesters come and stand and march and scream outside of a synagogue, it’s clear that there’s not a question of why they’re doing this. It’s antisemitism and the idea that every, every Jew is to be held responsible for whatever ills they see in Israel,” Deutch said. “It all starts with this fundamental belief that, just as it’s true for Christians and for Muslims and for Hindus and for everyone else: Jews should not be afraid simply for gathering together.”

Deutch recently sent a letter to Dhillon urging her to investigate whether there is coordination or foreign involvement in recent synagogue attacks across the country, and to enforce applicable laws to ensure access to religious institutions.

He said that AJC is open to working with the administration and supporting legislation, if necessary, to ensure that blocking access to a religious institution is banned — even if the institution is not hosting a religious service, currently a gray area in existing law.

“When protesters come and stand and march and scream outside of a synagogue, it’s clear that there’s not a question of why they’re doing this. It’s antisemitism and the idea that every, every Jew is to be held responsible for whatever ills they see in Israel,” Deutch said. “It all starts with this fundamental belief that, just as it’s true for Christians and for Muslims and for Hindus and for everyone else: Jews should not be afraid simply for gathering together.”

Deutch said that the Department of Education has made “significant steps forward in working toward a real plan” that he hopes the administration will put into effect. And he praised Justice Department senior counsel Leo Terrell for his efforts as well.

Looking at the year in retrospect, Deutch said that it brought many unexpected developments in the foreign policy realm, especially the strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, Israel’s strengthened geopolitical position and the return of all but one of the hostages in Gaza.

“The administration’s leadership has been significant,” Deutch said. “The president’s decision about Iran and the president’s leadership on this peace plan have given us this opportunity to think about what comes next.”

He said the administration needs to continue to squeeze Qatar and Turkey to pressure Hamas to stand down and relinquish its arms, in accordance with the next stages of the ceasefire plan. He said key administration officials also need to stay focused on moving the plan ahead.

AJC has worked for decades to cultivate ties with the Gulf and pushed for greater regional integration and normalization. Asked about how he views the prospects for Saudi-Israeli normalization, Deutch said there have been some concerning developments, but said that the U.S. and other advocates “have to stick with this.” With progress on the peace plan, he said that movement toward normalization would also be possible, he argued.

Deutch also warned that, even after the 12-day war between Israel and Iran that included U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, the Islamic Republic continues to pose a threat through its international terrorism and plots against the Jewish community, its repression of its citizens, its continued desire to destroy Israel and its global efforts to foment conflict.

“Their desire to destroy Israel has not changed as a result of the strikes,” Deutch said. “So the advice to policymakers everywhere is Iran continues to be a threat, not just to Israel, but to the Jewish community around the world and more broadly beyond that, and they have to be treated that way. That requires being vigilant, both in the military context and through using economic force.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) announced on Friday that she was ending her campaign for governor of New York, an abrupt and unexpected move that comes just over a month after the Republican congresswoman launched her bid to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul.

In addition to not running for governor, Stefanik said in a statement posted to social media that she also would not seek reelection to her House seat, making her future plans unclear. Stefanik said the decision to end her short-lived gubernatorial bid was based on her desire to spend more time with family and the uphill battle she would face in the general election after what would likely be a bruising Republican primary battle.

“While spending precious time with my family this Christmas season, I have made the decision to suspend my campaign for Governor and will not seek re-election to Congress. I did not come to this decision lightly for our family,” Stefanik wrote on social media.

Stefanik added, “As we have seen in past elections, while we would have overwhelmingly won this primary, it is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of next year in an unnecessary and protracted Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York.”

“And while many know me as Congresswoman, my most important title is Mom. I believe that being a parent is life’s greatest gift and greatest responsibility,” she continued. “I have thought deeply about this and I know that as a mother, I will feel profound regret if I don’t further focus on my young son’s safety, growth, and happiness — particularly at his tender age.”

Stefanik’s withdrawal from the race came weeks after Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, another close ally of President Donald Trump, jumped into the GOP primary, setting up a competitive fight ahead of what would be a difficult general election contest for Republicans in the blue state. 

Stefanik was briefly Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, though she withdrew her nomination as it became clear that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) could not afford another vacancy in the House without risking Republicans’ already slim majority. 

Trump said in a statement on his Truth Social platform after Stefanik announced her decision, “Elise is a tremendous talent, regardless of what she does. … She will have GREAT success, and I am with her all the way!”

Johnson, meanwhile, wrote on X, “I know this was a tough decision for my friend and colleague @EliseStefanik, but her resolve to put family first is one that everyone will respect. Elise is an exceptional talent who has served the people of New York valiantly in Congress.”

“She will continue to be [a] leading force for our party and its principles no matter what the next chapter brings,” he added. “We are grateful for her service and wish her well in her next endeavors.”

The upstate New York lawmaker, a pro-Israel stalwart in Congress, had said during her confirmation process earlier this year that anti-Israel and antisemitic bias at the U.N. was a major factor that drove her interest in the Turtle Bay role. As she began considering entering the governor’s race this fall, Stefanik became a vocal critic of Hochul, frequently tying her to New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and his policies.

Stefanik has gained attention in the Jewish community in the two years since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, most notably due to her aggressive questioning of university presidents about campus antisemitism.

In recent weeks, James Fishback, a 30-year-old Republican investor who last month launched a long-shot campaign for governor of Florida, has drawn online attention for a series of incendiary social media posts attacking Israel and invoking antisemitic tropes.

In addition to praising followers of the neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes, comments for which he has refused to apologize, Fishback has promoted a range of extreme anti-Israel positions, including in a recent campaign ad vowing to defend those who accuse the Jewish state of genocide. He has taken repeated aim at the pro-Israel organization AIPAC, which he calls a “foreign lobbying group,” saying its supporters are “slaves” and that his own “allegiance is to America.”

“I’ll be the first to admit that I fell for the ‘Israel is our greatest ally’ scam and the lie that criticizing Israel is ‘antisemitic,’” he wrote in a social media post this week. “It wasn’t until I was offered a paid trip to Israel this summer (which I never took) that I realized how cringe and pathetic the propaganda was.”

In using such inflammatory rhetoric, Fishback, a political newcomer, is likely seeking to capitalize on the views of a younger audience of far-right voters increasingly fueling anti-Israel as well as antisemitic sentiment in the GOP, which has recently forced the party to confront a growing schism within its ranks over its ideological direction.

But while Fishback has sought to cast next year’s Republican primary as “very clearly a two-person race” between him and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) — the pro-Israel GOP front-runner now dominating the polls while reporting a $40 million fundraising advantage — political operatives in both parties are skeptical his insurgent bid will ultimately amount to any sort of meaningful on-the-ground traction even as he continues to provoke controversy from behind the screen.

“Social media is the only reason anyone has heard of Fishback, and 20 years ago no one would even be talking about him,” Steve Schale, a Democratic strategist in Florida, told Jewish Insider. “Unless he stumbles into a pile of cash, it’s hard for me to see this being more than just an effort to get clicks.”

Fishback, the CEO of an anti-DEI investment firm called Azoria, is hardly the first candidate hoping to translate social media clout into votes or fame. A growing cohort of young influencers seeking office has emerged in recent years, so far with no success. 

Deja Foxx, a progressive TikTok activist who ran for Congress in Arizona this summer, had raised a lot of money and appeared to be gaining momentum near the end of the campaign. But despite the hype, Foxx fell short by nearly 40 points — losing out to a more established local lawmaker.

In the race to succeed outgoing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Donalds, a three-term congressman who is endorsed by President Donald Trump, is heavily favored to clinch the nomination over a handful of lesser-known primary rivals. Multiple surveys have shown him leading by double digits — with support from a range of state elected officials. Fishback, for his part, claimed just 2% of the vote in a recent poll.

“Although we’re still in the early stages of this race, it’s almost game, set, match,” said Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist in Florida. “Byron Donalds is dominating the field, approaching 50% in the polls. Once voters realize he has Trump’s endorsement, he becomes the clear favorite. In GOP primary politics, Trump’s endorsement is the platinum standard.”

“If you look at any legitimate polling I would say Mr. Fishback has a very tall mountain to climb,” Will McKinley, a GOP lobbyist and government consultant in the state, echoed to JI.

Jim Cherry, a Republican pollster in Florida, said his “firm does political polling and as of this point, no client has requested that we include Fishback in any gubernatorial head-to-head questions.”

A college dropout and former hedge fund analyst, Fishback attracted some attention in conservative circles after he pitched DOGE “dividend checks” to a receptive Elon Musk, though the plan never took off. He later launched a super PAC to oppose Musk when the billionaire mogul fell out with Trump. He announced his gubernatorial bid in mid-November, pledging to “build on” DeSantis’ “historic record.”

Fishback has portrayed himself as a strong ally of DeSantis, who has so far declined to publicly back anyone in the race, while dismissing Donalds’ bid. But Fishback’s hostility to Israel puts him at odds with the governor, who has long touted his support for the Jewish state.

Meanwhile, Fishback’s recent comments on Israel are almost certain to alienate a sizable population of Jewish voters who live in Florida and can help tip the scales in close elections.

“In my opinion, he’s not a serious candidate and is simply trying to be incendiary to get attention,” said Gabriel Groisman, a Jewish Republican donor and a former mayor of Bal Harbour, Fla. 

He declined to comment further, saying that doing so would be “counterproductive.”

In a statement to JI Thursday, Sam Markstein, spokesperson for the Republican Jewish Coalition, dismissed Fishback as “a radical fringe candidate who has decided that the way to run his campaign is to attack the Jewish community and our ally Israel.” 

“It won’t work — and Republican Floridians will resoundingly reject him in the GOP primary,” he said.

Fishback, in response, said the “only poll that matters is on Election Day: August 18, 2026,” adding: “Until then, I am committed to earning Floridians’ votes by visiting all 67 counties to meet folks where they are, hear their concerns and share my vision for a more affordable Florida.”

“If elected, I’ll be a governor for all Floridians,” he continued in a statement to JI. “As a Christian, I have never ‘attacked’ anyone for their faith. I will protect religious freedom and ensure the safety of all Floridians.”

On paper, Shaun Donovan seems to stand out as an eminently qualified candidate for New York City mayor. The 55-year-old housing and urban development expert with two master’s degrees is a policy wonk who held top jobs in the Obama White House and Bloomberg mayoral administration, and in conversation, he projects an air of academic forbearance reminiscent of his former bosses.

In his 200-page campaign policy book, released last month, Donovan lays out his painstakingly detailed and rather creatively rendered plan for New York City as it emerges from the ravages of the pandemic, calling for equity bonds of $1,000 for every child and envisioning a plan to engineer a series of “15-minute neighborhoods” in which “a great public school, fresh food, rapid transportation, a beautiful park and a chance to get ahead” are all within walking distance.

On Tuesday, Donovan announced a new initiative, “70 Plans in 70 Days,” in which he will lay out one new policy proposal every day until the Democratic primary on June 22 — a meticulous approach he is hoping will set his candidacy apart from the crowded field as a “campaign of ideas.”

“The plan for New York City is the best expression of that, and I really do have the boldest, most comprehensive ideas about the future of this city,” Donovan boasted in a recent interview with Jewish Insider. “But I also have the deepest experience in government to be able to ensure that those ideas can make a real difference in people’s lives.”

Donovan’s proposals have, appropriately enough, earned plaudits from serious policy experts in New York. 

“I’ve been impressed with Shaun Donovan’s focus on getting New Yorkers back to work,” said Eli Dvorkin, editorial and policy director for the Center for an Urban Future. “He has identified a number of strong models that New York City can build on — from apprenticeship programs to nonprofit tech training — and made it clear that he would invest heavily in skills-building infrastructure. That’s what the city will need to rebound from the current crisis and build a more equitable economy in the future.”

But it remains to be seen if Donovan has the wherewithal to pull off an upset. Several analysts who spoke with JI described the mayoral hopeful as a “talented” individual, while also observing that, despite his policy chops, voters don’t seem to be rallying behind him.

Shaun Donovan, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, testifies at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee hearing on Nov. 6, 2013. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

“Shaun Donovan is a tremendously talented public servant,” said David Greenfield, the CEO of the Met Council and a former city council member. “The challenge that he faces is that he’s always sort of been in the background and therefore doesn’t have the same political profile as some of the more active and better-known political candidates, many of whom have either held office or run for higher-profile office before.”

Polling suggests as much. Donovan seems to be lagging significantly behind the apparent frontrunners in the race, including Andrew Yang, the charismatic former presidential candidate; Eric Adams, the brash Brooklyn borough president; and Scott Stringer, the seasoned city comptroller.

But Donovan remains uncowed, citing another set of statistics that he claims supports his case. “I wouldn’t trade my place in this race with anyone,” he said. “I think it’s reflected in polling that New Yorkers want change and they want experience at this moment, and I really believe I’m the only candidate that represents both of those in the sense that nearly every other candidate is, in some way, part of the status quo.”

Donovan, of course, isn’t exactly a fresh face in New York City government, though it has been some time since he was on the scene enacting what experts characterized as meaningful change.

From 2004 to 2009, he served as former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s housing commissioner, creating the city’s first inclusionary housing program offering “density bonuses to developers who agree to set aside units as affordable,” according to Ingrid Ellen, a professor at New York University who specializes in housing.

“He left a legacy of improving the lives of so many people who don’t have the means to get habitable housing,” said Rabbi David Niederman, president and executive director of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, who worked with Donovan on issues of affordable housing back in the aughts.

Following his tenure in city government, Donovan accepted an appointment from former President Barack Obama to helm the Department of Housing and Urban Development, during which time he helped lead a revitalization task force in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, among other things.

“I worked extremely closely with mayors across the country and saw, again and again, that particularly at a time when our national politics could be divisive and dysfunctional, mayors really touch people’s lives,” said Donovan, who went on to lead the Office of Management and Budget under Obama. “They are close to the ground. They are the leaders that can make the most difference in the day-to-day lives of New Yorkers and people in their communities.”

In conversation with JI, Donovan, who was raised on the Upper East Side, emphasized his family’s own personal connection to New York as an explanation for why he is now mounting a mayoral bid. 

His father, Michael Donovan, an advertising executive, had Jewish, Catholic and Protestant grandparents, and was “beaten up as a child because of that,” Donovan said. Michael, who was born in Panama and grew up in Costa Rica, “had a deep connection to his Irish roots, but also a sense of being an outsider,” Donovan added. “He came to the U.S. to go to school like so many immigrants, and then came to New York to find opportunity, and found it.”

“I would say my entire family owes everything to New York in a fundamental way,” Donovan elaborated. “But at the same time, I also grew up in New York in the 1970s and ’80s. I saw homelessness exploding on the streets. I saw the South Bronx and so many other communities around the city struggling, even burning to the ground, and that really lit a fire in me to go to work on behalf of this city that I love.”

Shaun Donovan

“My platform is really about repairing and rebuilding the city but also about reimagining it as a city that works for everyone,” said Donovan, who advocates for investments in bus rapid transit as well as keeping libraries open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so New Yorkers will have increased access to broadband.

But getting elected and implementing such policies is in many ways a more challenging task than earning an appointment to public office, particularly in New York, where many prominent figures have tried and failed to do so, including Joe Lhota, Richard Ravitch and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. 

“This is a longstanding challenge,” said Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy and planning who directs the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at New York University. “It’s not unusual that people who succeed in appointed life can’t make it in New York City politics.”

Donovan seems intent on proving that he will be an exception to the rule. In the first TV ad of the race, released in February, he painted himself as a veteran of the Obama administration with ties to the current president, Joe Biden — though such appeals appear largely to have gone unnoticed as other candidates gain traction. 

“Donovan’s going to have to do something creative over the next couple of months to be able to catch people’s attention and be, if not their number one choice, their second or third,” said Jake Dilemani, a managing director in Mercury’s New York office.

Donovan is now mounting an aggressive TV ad blitz as he seeks to earn name recognition in the new ranked-choice voting system, buoyed by $2 million in independent expenditures from his father. “I am following the law,” Donovan said of his father’s super PAC contributions in an interview with WNYC host Brian Lehrer on Tuesday. “There are dozens of these groups supporting many different candidates who are running, and I don’t coordinate with any of them.”

In the end, Donovan, who has staked out a position, for better or worse, as one of the brainiest candidates in the race, wants to focus on the ideas. “I think, especially in this moment of crisis, New Yorkers are really hungry for a mayor who has the boldest ideas about how we rebuild our health and our economy, how we make this a more equitable city.”

“Shaun Donovan is very smart, very capable and very knowledgeable about New York City,” Moss acknowledged. But in the highly competitive mayoral race, he said, “It’s not enough to be smart.”