A quarter century ago, when the late Sen. Joe Lieberman was tapped by Al Gore, the Democratic nominee for president, to be his running mate on the 2000 ticket, the question around many a Shabbat table was, “Is he too Jewish to be in the White House?”

There’s a different question being asked, largely in Democratic circles, of today’s Jewish presidential candidates: “Is he the ‘right’ kind of Jewish candidate to be president?” — a question that is almost entirely centered around a candidate’s position on Israel and how openly he identifies with his religious faith. 

A long list of Jewish candidates are considering a presidential campaign or are being touted as credible contenders, ranging from moderates like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to progressives like Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and those who straddle the ideological divide, like Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA).

In both 2026 and 2028, the debate over Israel is on the ballot: Congressional primaries are pitting pro-Israel candidates against those who don’t acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a
Jewish state, and already a clear divide is emerging in the prospective 2028 presidential field over the issues of the U.S.-Israel relationship and dealing with rising antisemitism. 

Even in races where Israel policy is not front-and-center, invoking AIPAC has become something of a catch-all slur for progressives attacking the role of outside money in Democratic primaries. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a likely 2028 hopeful, proudly proclaimed in February that he’d never taken AIPAC money — which of course he hasn’t, given that AIPAC and its affiliated super PAC historically focus on federal, not state, races.

Since soft-launching his presidential campaign last month (in Tel Aviv, no less), former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has made the Jewish state — and its relationship with the U.S. — one of his top issues in speeches and interviews. Even when his views are well within the mainstream, his signaling that he’s talking tough against Israel is a sign he recognizes his long-standing pro-Israel record is a vulnerability in a Democratic presidential primary. 

A week after his Tel Aviv speech, Emanuel appeared on the Council on Foreign Relations’ “The Spillover” podcast in an episode titled “Rahm Emanuel Talks Israel, Midterm Elections, and the Democratic Party.” Two days later, The New Yorker’s “Radio Hour” podcast aired an interview with Emanuel in conversation with David Remnick titled, “Rahm Emanuel Says Israel’s Path Is ‘Not Sustainable Politically.’” Earlier this week, Emanuel appeared on the podcast of anti-Zionist Peter Beinart for a conversation largely focused on Israel.

The polling reality is that despite his lengthy and impressive resume — a former U.S. ambassador, congressman, Chicago mayor and White House chief of staff — Emanuel’s record is out of step with the ascendant progressivism that’s taken hold within the party. (He is currently polling at 0% in most 2028 Democratic primary polls.)

Emanuel could be using his skill as a straight-talking political operative to push his party to the center on antisemitism and Israel, akin to the way former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie used his anti-Trump bromides against the MAGA-aligned candidates during the 2024 presidential debates. But Emanuel’s candidacy has thus far been an opportunity to push the party leftward on Israel — in essence, kashering an increasingly unfriendly approach to the U.S.-Israel relationship — and throw jabs at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom Emanuel has a long and less-than-amicable history.

Both Emanuel and Newsom’s approaches reflect what they see as a political reality as the 2028 race comes into view: criticizing Israel might garner some support, while backing it is a losing argument.

Other leading Jewish Democrats who are considering 2028 bids are opting not to make Israel — and the future of its relationship with the U.S. — a cornerstone of their campaigns. Some, such as Shapiro, attempt to pivot when pressed on Israel questions, focusing instead on the domestic impact of the war with Iran or on U.S. national security. And when they do talk about Israel, criticism is largely focused on Israel’s government and not the country as a whole.

Shapiro, whose Israel stance was reportedly one reason former Vice President Kamala Harris opted against selecting him as her running mate in 2024, has frequently criticized Netanyahu while also legitimizing Israeli security concerns. 

“I don’t think that if you are critical of Benjamin Netanyahu, you’re an antisemite,” Shapiro said on the “Higher Learning” podcast earlier this year. “By the way, I’m critical of Benjamin Netanyahu. And I have been for years and years and years, even predating Oct. 7. I think his approach has made Israel less safe.”

Pritzker has similarly kept the message — largely — focused on Netanyahu. In an in-depth New York Times interview in March, Pritzker said he felt Israelis had erred in selecting Netanyahu, saying that his leadership has led the country into “additional wars” and caused excess death and destruction in Gaza. On AIPAC, the Illinois Democrat, who previously supported the group, explained to The Times that his efforts to distance himself from the group were because it had become increasingly partisan and “pro-Trump,” rather than because of Israeli policy itself.

And then there’s Ossoff , who has always held positions on Israel that fall to the left of the others. We wrote last month that many Peach State Jews find themselves in a political no-win situation as Ossoff, who has voted to block weapons shipments to Israel, defends his seat against Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), who has a history of inflammatory right-wing rhetoric — and a son-in-law who openly espouses white nationalist, antisemitic propaganda. 

While all four have tacked left on Israel, they have done so to varying degrees — for example, Shapiro has expressed support for some aid to Israel to be conditioned, while Ossoff has voted to block weapons sales to Israel and Emanuel has called to immediately end all military aid to Israel.

2028 candidates rightfully sense that the party is shifting, not just on Israel but on a range of policies. When Lieberman was on the ticket a quarter century ago, the question was whether Americans were ready to elect a Jewish president (or vice president). Now, the question facing potential Jewish 2028 contenders is different: What do they have to say about Israel to persuade primary voters they are the “right” kind of Jew to become president?

The three major Democratic candidates vying to replace Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) are charting distinct lanes on Israel policy but only one of them, at a recent debate, offered support for Israel. The front-runner, former state Sen. Matt Little, is the Democrat positioning himself as most hostile to Israel in the race. 

Little’s views are at odds with Craig, who was one of 98 House Democrats who declined to support an amendment by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) that would have cut off $3.3 billion in military aid to Israel in 2027. (Craig is running for the Senate in a closely contested primary against a left-wing challenger.)

At a July 19 debate, Little called not only for the U.S. to stop sending military aid to Israel but also to impose an arms embargo “on the sale of all weapons to Israel,” preventing Israel from buying U.S. military systems — its primary source of armaments — with its own funds. 

He said he would have voted for the Massie amendment and would have offered it himself if he had the opportunity.

“This is an issue I’ve been speaking out about for over a year, ever since we started the campaign. I think that is a big difference in this race,” Little said. “I’m the first person in this race to call it a genocide because that is exactly what it is.”

State Sen. Matt Klein, running as a moderate and seen as most closely aligned with Craig’s own record, was the only one of the three candidates who did not express support for the Massie amendment at the debate. Klein additionally did not name the war in Gaza as a genocide and described Israel as an ally and friend of the United States.

“As a father and as a physician, I know that what is occurring in Gaza is a humanitarian disaster, and it is our obligation as an ally and a friend of the State of Israel to try to end that and come to a peaceful solution, a two-state solution that provides dignity and safety for peoples of that entire region,” Klein said.

“I am a supporter of our alliance with the State of Israel, just as I am a patriotic American who has deep difficulties with Donald Trump’s leadership,” Klein continued. “I am a supporter of our friendship with Israel, who deeply objects to the way [Prime Minister] Netanyahu has prosecuted this war.”

State Rep. Kaela Berg charted out something of a middle position, but she is still calling for a complete halt to U.S. taxpayer funding to Israel.

“That was an ill-written piece of legislation. It was political gamesmanship from the Republicans meant to divide, and it did,” Berg said of the Massie amendment. “We shouldn’t send one more tax dollar to Israel. We cannot be responsible for funding the genocide in Gaza. … Benjamin Netanyahu’s government should not be funded by the United States.”

She also described Netanyahu as “largely responsible” for the U.S. war in Iran.

Little repeatedly accused both Klein and Berg during the debate of being funded or supported by AIPAC, which both candidates denied. The group has not been involved in the race.

Little has been endorsed by the anti-Israel group A New Policy, and the anti-Israel super PAC American Priorities has spent $64,000 supporting him. Berg has been “primary approved” by J Street, and Klein is supported by Democratic Majority for Israel.

The little publicly available polling in the race has shown Little in the lead. A mid-May poll by Little’s campaign showed him with a wide lead at 41%, followed by Berg at 13% and Klein at 11%. A late May poll by Klein’s campaign showed Little with a narrower lead at 26%, followed by Klein at 19% and Berg at 16%.

Little also won the state party endorsement at a convention in May and is supported by state Attorney General Keith Ellison and former Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).

Little and Berg have both been leaning into appealing to the progressive party base, while Klein has argued that he’s more electable in a potentially competitive general election against GOP state Sen. Eric Pratt. The district was competitive in the past and was long held by Republicans prior to Craig, but is rated by the Cook Political Report as likely Democratic.

Klein’s campaign holds the lead in fundraising at $1.2 million, followed by Little at $923,000, with Berg trailing well behind at $391,000. The super PAC 314 Action Fund, which supports Democratic doctors and scientists running for office, has intervened aggressively to support Klein, spending nearly $2.5 million in the district.

Berg has been backed by EMILYs List and Our Revolution, a progressive campaign group founded by alumni of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) presidential campaign.

Klein’s campaign has come under scrutiny, and he was required to pay a $540 fine, after having been found to have bet on the outcome of the primary election on the prediction market Kalshi. Klein said he’d bet $50 that he would win the race.

So far, the success of far-left, anti-Israel candidates has been confined to Democratic primaries in deep-blue districts largely in big cities or college towns. The biggest test ahead for the socialist movement is whether it can prevail in primaries outside its geographic base, and more importantly, if such candidates can win general elections in battleground states or districts. 

All of the available evidence and recent history suggests that nominating extreme candidates in enough key races would threaten Democrats’ chances of winning a Senate majority and would dampen the party’s pickup potential in the House.  

Indeed, the victories by radical nominees in recent House primaries — combined with the high-profile collapse of the like-minded Graham Platner’s Maine Senate campaign — are already doing damage to the Democratic Party’s brand.

Looking at the big picture: In poll after poll, Democrats are now underperforming expectations on the generic congressional ballot — and have lost notable ground over Republicans in the last month alone. 

In his analysis of congressional polling, Nate Silver documented that the Democrats’ advantage on the generic ballot in the polling average declined by one point since June, from seven points to six. At this point in the 2018 cycle, the Democrats’ generic ballot advantage was close to eight points, according to Silver’s analysis. 

Democrats still hold a decided edge, but the massive blue wave that could have emerged in this year’s midterms is now looking a bit more modest. That means it’s much more difficult for Democrats to overcome their partisan disadvantage in the red states they need to retake the Senate, while Republicans may have some outside hope that redistricting and enough flawed Democratic candidates could keep the House majority in play.

CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein also notes that Democrats are failing to win over as many voters who disapprove of President Donald Trump as they did during the 2018 midterms — another signal that the party’s negative image and leftward lurch is costing them among the swing-voting suburbanites who formed a critical mass of the anti-Trump movement in the president’s first term. 

Recent history also points to candidates significantly underperforming if they are ideologically out of step with their constituents. In the 2018 midterms, Democrats swept the vast majority of competitive battlegrounds, riding the wave of anti-Trump sentiment even in some districts that had long been held by Republicans. 

There were two notable outliers in that year’s Democratic wave — very winnable races that Democrats lost because they nominated progressives in swing districts. In that election, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) faced a challenger (Kara Eastman) who ran what Politico called a “Brooklyn-style campaign” in the Omaha-based district that former President Joe Biden comfortably carried. Bacon prevailed by three points. 

The other missed opportunity that year for Democrats was in a Syracuse-area district that favored their party. Despite the blue wave, the party’s decision to nominate an outspoken progressive (Dana Balter) cost them a victory against a vulnerable House Republican, former Rep. John Katko.

This year, the party has lurched further to the left and is likely to nominate more ideologically extreme candidates in even bigger races. 

Michigan is a swing state, but Democrats are at risk of handing their Senate nomination to Abdul El-Sayed, a Bernie Sanders acolyte whose incessant animus against Israel has defined his campaign message. If he’s the nominee, some Democrats believe their shot at a Senate majority could be lost. (The RealClearPolitics polling average shows that El-Sayed, in a general election, is statistically tied with expected GOP nominee Mike Rogers — a notable underperformance given the national environment.)

In the state’s biggest swing district, which is currently held by Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI), Democrats are so concerned about the far-left candidacy of Will Lawrence that even Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) snubbed him at the El-Sayed rally this past weekend. Two other mainstream candidates — former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and former Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam — are splitting the moderate vote.

And there are numerous other contests, from the Senate races in Maine and Minnesota to House races in California, Colorado and Maine, where left-wing candidates threaten to jeopardize the party’s prospects.

Ultimately, the most consequential political test of the anti-Israel movement will come in this November’s general election. The anti-Israel activists have certainly captured a faction of the Democratic Party, but their ties to so many unpopular views and causes make the whole movement politically toxic in middle America. 

The mad dash to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine is coming together so quickly and haphazardly that one potential replacement, Nirav Shah, is taking stickers from his failed gubernatorial campaign and cutting off the “for governor” line below his name before handing them to supporters. 

Much is still in flux about the process to replace Platner, who dropped out of the race on Wednesday two days after being accused of rape by a former romantic partner. His potential successors aren’t jockeying for the public’s approval — they’re angling for the support of the Maine Democratic Party, which voted on Wednesday, before Platner even announced his resignation, to hold a statewide nominating convention to tap his replacement. The MDP said it would share more in the days to come about the process, which according to state law would have to be completed by July 27. 

Many of the candidates now seeking to succeed Platner on the general election ballot are commending the populist movement he built and looking to capitalize on it. Less than 24 hours into the contest, some had already made clear they will adopt a platform much like Platner’s when it comes to Israel — seeking to end U.S. weapons sales to the country and shunning donations from AIPAC — while others are remaining mum on that topic. 

Shah, who served as the director of the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic, said this week that he would support a full arms embargo against Israel, that he believes Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide and that he would refuse AIPAC support. He finished second in the gubernatorial primary last month.

One contender who seems poised to rack up support from the party’s left flank is Troy Jackson, the former president of the Maine Senate. He placed third in last month’s gubernatorial primary, and earned the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and the Maine chapter of Democratic Socialists of America in that race. Jackson was one of Platner’s biggest boosters and appeared with him at several campaign rallies. 

Our Revolution, the Sanders-aligned advocacy organization, has already endorsed Jackson’s Senate campaign, along with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and far-left, antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker.

In a post on X on Thursday, Jackson accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, saying that “anybody with eyes” would agree, and pledged to “never vote in favor of U.S. taxpayer-funded military aid to Israel.” His team did not respond to a request for comment.  

Jordan Wood, a former chief of staff to Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) who placed third in last month’s congressional primary to replace retiring Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), said in a Thursday statement announcing his Senate run that he would not accept money from “corporate PACs and AIPAC.” He said in a post on X that the U.S. “can’t continue to fund Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” and that he would support the Block the Bombs Act.

In a statement to Jewish Insider on Thursday, Wood added some nuance to his views: “Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East,” Wood said via a spokesperson. “But there’s a difference between the Israeli people and the Netanyahu government, and nothing about self-defense justifies waging a war without limits. Starving children and flattened hospitals don’t make Israel safer, and they don’t make America safer.” He also stated that “Hamas must disarm, and it can never be allowed to govern Gaza again.”  

Wood reiterated that he will not accept support from AIPAC but said AIPAC supporters are still welcome in the Democratic Party.

“Jewish Democrats, and Democrats who care deeply about Israel’s security, are part of this party and always will be,” he said. “What’s not welcome is AIPAC’s agenda, which demands unconditional support for the Netanyahu government’s genocide in Gaza no matter the cost in innocent lives.”

Paige Loud, a 29-year-old social worker who placed fourth in the same congressional primary as Wood, ran an anti-Israel campaign and claimed that Democrats lost the presidency in 2024 “because of our lackluster stance on the genocide that’s happening in Gaza right now.” Her campaign website says she is committed “to human rights, sovereignty, and self-determination everywhere — from Palestine to Iran, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Greenland.”

Shenna Bellows, Maine’s secretary of state and a former state senator, entered the race on Thursday afternoon. She espoused a similarly populist message to Platner, pledging to take on billionaires and corporations, but stayed away from mentioning the Middle East or AIPAC in her opening salvo. A spokesperson for Bellows, who also ran for governor in last month’s primary and placed fourth, did not respond to a request for comment. 

Bellows served as executive director of the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine from 2018 to 2020, an experience that she still refers to regularly. In a campaign video from International Holocaust Remembrance Day, she said one way to remember the Holocaust is as a story of “resistance, of communities coming together to say no to antisemitism, xenophobia, racism, homophobia,” and said that Americans must speak out “against any othering and dehumanization of our friends and neighbors.” 

One unorthodox candidate is Dan Kleban, the founder of Maine Beer Company, a brewery in Freeport. He was briefly a candidate in the Senate primary last year, but dropped out early and endorsed Maine Gov. Janet Mills, the establishment favorite who dropped out of the race in April. He reentered the race on Wednesday and said in a Substack post that he’s “had enough meddling from Washington establishment insiders and New York City consultants trying to dictate who represents us,” ostensibly a dig at Platner’s own political consultants. 

Asked on CNN this week if he considered Israel guilty of genocide, Kleban called the situation in Gaza an “absolute tragedy” and said he would support placing conditions on U.S. arms sales to Israel, but did not use the term genocide. Kleban told Politico in October that he would not have supported Sanders’ resolution to block arms sales to Israel. 

“I believe Israel has a right to defend itself. I don’t think that we solve the horrific humanitarian crisis in Gaza by disarming Israel and exposing them to harm,” Kleban said at the time. 

While Platner and Mills were the main candidates running for Senate, a third, David Costello — a former senior official in Maryland’sMaine’s Department of the Environment who got 8% of the vote in last month’s primary — is now running again. He said during the campaign that Israel, after the Oct. 7 attacks, “not only had a right but an obligation to attempt to crush Hamas.” But, he argued, they did not do so surgically, and said Israel’s conduct has been “indefensible.” He said he would oppose offensive weapons sales to Israel. 

One possible wild card is state Rep. Valli Geiger, who has said she is considering entering the race. Geiger, who in the past defended Platner’s treatment of women, stuck by him until the end. “I will not throw Graham under the bus, but neither will I slander or accuse Ms. [Jenny] Racicot [Platner’s accuser] of anything more than telling the truth as she experienced it. I acknowledge the pain on all sides and offer compassion on all sides,” Geiger wrote on Facebook. 

She has said little publicly about Gaza, but shared Facebook posts criticizing Israel, including one in April that listed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as someone who, like President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, harbors “delusions of grandeur.” 

There’s little doubt that socialism is on the march within the Democratic Party after the latest  primaries, with extreme candidates who would have been dismissed as nonviable prevailing in numerous congressional primaries and mayoral contests from coast to coast. 

Factor in the political resilience of far-left Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner despite numerous scandals and the momentum of anti-Israel Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in a contested Michigan primary despite facing well-funded opposition, and there’s the potential of radicals toppling mainstream candidates well outside the deep-blue confines of major urban centers. 

Ultimately, that’s a major question looming for the Democratic Party’s future — and the health of our democracy. Is the rise of socialism primarily a product of urban angst and college-age naivete, or does it have staying power beyond the most-progressive precincts in the country?  Can left-wing candidates prevail in swing districts, far away from the urban progressive centers that make up its base? Or will they end up being more of a noisy but powerless faction in Congress?

Either way, socialist candidates have gone from a curiosity that rarely won any congressional seats to riding a Democratic Socialists of America-organized grassroots wave that now has to be reckoned with. You could count the number of Squad members on one hand when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) and her like-minded allies were first elected in 2018 and 2020. Now their representation is poised to double from its previous peak — and AOC now counts as downright pragmatic, compared to several of her soon-to-be-colleagues.

So far, nearly all of the major victories from the far-left candidates are in the most left-wing constituencies in the country — in big cities and college towns. We first saw the socialist stirrings last year in three prominent mayoral races: New York City, Seattle and St. Paul, Minn., and flagged the three contests as an early bellwether of socialism’s standing in the party. The socialist candidates won two out of three contests, led by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s shocking success against far more established and mainstream Democratic Party leaders. 

Mamdani’s out-of-nowhere victory fueled the rise of like-minded anti-Israel, DSA-aligned candidates, proving that radical records weren’t necessarily an obstacle to success in Democratic primaries. The DSA-endorsed Chris Rabb’s primary victory in a Philadelphia congressional district in May was at the leading edge of how far-left candidates were making inroads with Black voters who have typically been skeptical of ideologically driven campaigns.

Even more shocking was the nomination of Adam Hamawy in a largely urban New Jersey district with a large Jewish population. Hamawy was a former associate of the Blind Sheikh, Omar Abdel-Rahman, and previously held ties with Islamist extremist groups. Not only did he prevail with a plurality in the crowded race, but many of his Democratic opponents didn’t bring up his obvious vulnerabilities.

The commanding victory of Janeese Lewis George, a socialist candidate in the D.C. mayoral primary, and Mamdani’s ouster of two well-respected New York City Democratic leaders in Congress (Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat) — in no small part over their support for Israel — was the capstone to the tidal wave occurring in Democratic Party, at least in the urban centers that make up its geographical base. 

It’s also worth noting that while more-competitive districts have tended to nominate traditional center-left Democratic candidates, there have been some notable outliers that underscore the rising tide of radicals within the party. Democratic Party leaders had to furiously organize to stop an outright antisemitic candidate, Maureen Galindo, who broadcast deeply disturbing conspiracy theories about Jews, to prevail in a battleground Texas district.

And in New Jersey, partly as an unintended result of AIPAC spending against a more-traditional front-runner, a Bernie Sanders acolyte and left-wing activist (Rep. Analilia Mejia) prevailed in the heart of the state’s wealthy suburbs. Hamawy’s New Jersey district, too, contained many affluent suburban pockets that nonetheless swung in his direction.

These are the signals that raise the possibility that far-left Democratic candidates, like Platner and El-Sayed, can prevail in larger, more ideologically diverse battlegrounds. If neo-Nazi tattoos, anti-American sloganeering and antisemitic signaling doesn’t move the needle for a critical mass of Democratic voters, it’s fair to wonder how much damage they will cause in a general election. 

In all too many of these races featuring extreme anti-Israel candidates, Jewish voters — left without any moderate allies — were the only Democratic constituency who swung away from backing the radical Democratic nominee. Mamdani got record-low support from Jewish voters, but it didn’t matter. Mejia badly underperformed her moderate Republican challenger in Jewish communities, but it barely made a dent in a Democratic-friendly district. 

So, the Michigan Democratic Senate primary in August — featuring Israel-bashing Democrat El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), a long-standing ally to the Jewish community — is ultimately the more consequential test of whether this unapologetic brand of socialism can find political purchase outside its home turf.

If it does — and if Platner prevails in Maine despite his significant baggage — it will serve as a five-alarm fire for American Jews and their place in American society.

Former Secretary of State Tony Blinken offered support for Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-CA) stance on the Iran war and the U.S. deal with Iran in a post on X on Tuesday.

Blinken praised the “wise words from my friend [Khanna],” reposting a Fox News op-ed by the congressman making the case that “stopping the Iran war is good. But Trump’s deal is worse than the JCPOA.”

He’s the second prominent former Biden administration official to draw closer to Khanna in the lead-up to the 2028 presidential primary, joining former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, who has reportedly been advising Khanna behind the scenes as he prepares for a presidential run.

The comments also come as some progressive presidential contenders call for the Democratic Party to purge its ranks of foreign policy advisors who served in the Biden administration, given its general support for Israel. 

Khanna, in the op-ed published on Fox News’ website, praised the “welcome news” of the end of the war in Iran, but called the war “a self-inflicted disaster that cost American lives and burned through taxpayer dollars” and said the deal reached is more favorable for Iran than the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action from which President Donald Trump withdrew.

“The details of the ceasefire released this week show that Vice President [JD] Vance woefully misled Americans on at least five accounts when he claimed the administration’s deal was better than the JCPOA that President Obama negotiated in 2015,” Khanna continued. “A better deal for ending this war would have been anchored in tough diplomacy and economic pressure rather than blunt force.”

The only times in the op-ed Khanna mentioned Israel — a frequent target of criticism by the congressman — were to argue that “through tough diplomacy” the U.S. could have worked with Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah so it could not threaten the Lebanese people or Israel, and “used Iran’s temporary loss of military capabilities as an opportunity to restart negotiations over a two-state solution for Israelis” along the lines of the Arab Peace Initiative.

Abetting two recently established PACs spending millions to defeat two of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s candidates for Congress is a veteran politician who sought Gracie Mansion last year — former City Comptroller Scott Stringer, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the committees and their activities.

Stringer declined to comment on the record for this story. But Jewish Insider first reported in March that the Upper West Side Democrat was a key force behind a political committee, Next NYC PAC, committed to defeating the Democratic Socialists of America’s candidates for Assembly and state Senate.

According to several individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their relationships, the team behind the Progressive Unity Fund and Real Fight NYC PACs — which have released a wave of ads attacking activist Darializa Avila Chevalier and Assemblymember Claire Valdez, Mamdani’s candidates to defeat Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) and replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), respectively — overlaps considerably with the personnel behind Next NYC PAC. This includes consultant David Keith, as well as the firm of longtime Rahm Emanuel operative Greg Goldner, who ran former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign for mayor in the last weeks of the 2025 race.

However, sources said Goldner was not personally involved in either PAC, which have each made only a few minimal disclosures to date, although an employee of his Next Public Affairs appears in the source code of Progressive Unity Fund’s webpage. Goldner and Next Public Affairs did not respond to a request for comment from JI.

Stringer has no formal position or title with either group, sources said, but has been deeply involved in their organization and operations. His former comptroller campaign and inaugural committee treasurer, Peter Frank, holds the same role with Progressive Unity Fund. Frank told JI he had “nothing to offer” for this story.

Stringer recently shared an ad from Progressive Unity Fund attacking Avila Chevalier on his X account.

Stringer also provides a key link to the primary funder of both PACs, the American Federation of Teachers. AFT President Randi Weingarten — who formerly led the New York City’s United Federation of Teachers, which has deep ties to Stringer and the Upper West Side Democratic establishment — confirmed to City & State on Tuesday that her union was underwriting the ads attacking Valdez and Avila Chevalier.

In the interview, Weingarten rejected baseless suggestions from Valdez that AIPAC had a role in Real Fight NYC. The AFT did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this article.

According to the latest FEC filings, Progressive Unity Fund and Next NYC PAC together have spent more than $2.1 million to date.

Jennifer Bayer-Michaels, a longtime Cuomo fundraiser and prominent pro-Israel Democrat, as well as a key figure in Next NYC PAC, is not involved in these two federal committees, she and several other sources attested. She is, however, working with an unrelated pro-Espaillat committee.

For most of his political career — which included stints in the state Legislature and the Manhattan borough presidency — Stringer counted among the city’s most liberal political figures, reflecting the deep-blue proclivities of his Manhattan voter base. But by the time he made his second bid for mayor in 2025, he cut a lonely figure on the debate stage by declaring himself a Zionist. He ultimately placed fifth in the competition.

In the closing weeks of the Los Angeles mayoral primary, the two candidates challenging incumbent Mayor Karen Bass — from both the left and the right — had a lot to say on areas of interest to Jewish Angelenos, which was particularly notable in a race in which those issues have, for much of the campaign cycle, not been front and center. 

Nithya Raman, a city councilmember taking on Bass from the left — her surprising council victory over an incumbent in 2020 was powered by the Democratic Socialists of America — recently joined far-left political streamer Hasan Piker for an hour-long interview. She said she believes Israel has a right to exist, but also accused Israel of genocide and said she would no longer accept the endorsement of Democrats for Israel Los Angeles, a local group that supported her first council run six years ago. 

Meanwhile, Spencer Pratt, a bombastic, 2000s-era reality TV star running as a Republican, was asked by CNBC anchor Sara Eisen the weekend before the primary if antisemitism is on his agenda should he be elected.

“I made it very clear that I’m going to protect my Jewish friends and families that feel unsafe from these attacks, and I didn’t even realize how insane it was until I said that publicly, and the level of Nazi, crazy psychopaths that are threatening me, saying I’m owned by Jewish — no, I want Jewish moms to feel safe when their kids go to temple or they go to class at UCLA,the same I want a Muslim student to feel safe going to worship. Everyone needs to feel safe in Los Angeles,” Pratt said. 

In a city that is still recovering from last year’s devastating wildfires, and where affordability and homelessness rank as top concerns for voters, debates surrounding Israel and antisemitism are not top of mind for many — a contrast to last year’s mayoral contest in New York. 

But in a race that appears to have the three leading candidates bunched together in a three-way tie, the winning votes could come from anywhere, and Pratt’s outreach to the Jewish community suggests he knows that winning over Jewish Democrats could help him make it to the general election (which will feature the top two vote-getters in the primary, regardless of party affiliation). The Los Angeles metro area is home to roughly 560,000 Jews, although not all of them live in the city of L.A. 

That means that a pressing question facing moderate Jewish voters who have supported Bass, a liberal Democrat and former member of Congress, is whether taking a chance on Pratt is worthwhile. 

A poll commissioned by the Los Angeles Times and released last week shows Bass and Raman statistically tied, with Bass favored by 26% of voters and Raman supported by 25%. Pratt is close behind, with 22%.

Pratt has earned support from some prominent L.A. Democrats, including the pro-Israel megadonor Haim Saban and Ashley Underwood, Larry David’s wife, who hosted a fundraiser for Pratt. A series of leaked messages, purportedly authored by Pratt, referred to antisemitism as a “legitimate mind virus and a sign of a decaying society.” 

“Bass has had a long relationship with the Jewish community in L.A., but not a particularly strong one,” Dan Schnur, a political analyst who teaches at the University of Southern California and Pepperdine University, said. “Raman has been the subject of significant controversy. … Pratt voices a very pro-Israel MAGA type line, and he’s probably doing better among Jewish voters than [President Donald] Trump did, but not by a large margin.” 

Pratt rose to fame on the MTV reality show “The Hills,” where he appeared as the boyfriend of star Heidi Montag, his now-wife. Thep couple’s Pacific Palisades home burned down last year during the wildfires, which Pratt has repeatedly raised as evidence of Bass’ failings. He entered the race in January, on the one-year anniversary of the fires. A viral campaign ad shows Pratt walking outside the homes of Bass and Raman, past a homeless encampment and in front of his home — an AirStream trailer on a charred lot — while pledging to return the city to the “golden age” of L.A. 

Raman studied urban planning at MIT and then spent time in her native India, where she worked to improve sanitation in the city of Chennai. She worked in city government after moving to L.A. in 2013 and later founded a homelessness outreach organization. She relied on DSA in her 2020 race for council, in a district that includes parts of the San Fernando Valley, Hollywood, Los Feliz and Silver Lake. 

Raman was censured by DSA in 2024 for her endorsement from Democrats for Israel (even though she said she would no longer seek their endorsement), while she has stood by her stance that Israel should exist in the face of pressure from Piker and others. But she has continued to take positions on Israel that place her well outside the Jewish mainstream, even as she has built relationships with many of the synagogues in her district. She told Piker that foreign policy would not be a focus of hers.

“Being mayor, my role is not one that has foreign policy power. It’s really one that is about Angelenos, and making sure that Angelenos are safe here, that we’re pushing back against antisemitism and Islamophobia, both of which have increased in the wake of what’s happening,” Raman told Piker. 

Andrew Lachman, a past president of Democrats for Israel L.A., said Raman’s disavowal of the group, as well as her choice to be interviewed by Piker, raise concerns about her commitments.

“She wasn’t perfect, but she was taking steps to build relationships with the Jewish community. But her appearance on Piker’s show basically severely undercut, if not demolished, a lot of that trust and support,” Lachman told JI. 

Bass is the known quantity in the race. She condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel and has criticized antisemitism, including after a violent altercation during an anti-Israel protest outside a synagogue in 2024. She convened a group of Jewish leaders and law enforcement officials to discuss antisemitism last year after deadly antisemitic attacks in Washington, D.C., and Boulder, Colo. Thrive LA, a political advocacy group with a focus on electing “common sense” candidates, issued a joint endorsement of Bass and Pratt. 

“For most rational observers it’s a choice between a pro-BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement], hostile-to-Israel candidate and a totally irrational Trumper vs. the incumbent who in reality has done a credible job. I am supporting Bass unequivocally,” Howard Welinsky, a pro-Israel Democratic donor, told JI. 

But she has faced controversy more broadly, particularly given that she was traveling in Ghana at the outbreak of the 2025 fires. Her polling numbers are unusually low for an incumbent. 

What Raman and Pratt share is a similar message about taking on the establishment, Pratt’s success has surprised many in the race. 

“He’s essentially out-Mamdami’ed the DSA candidate, which is no small feat,” said Schnur, referring to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a DSA member who was elected in an insurgent campaign last year. “Raman entered the race as an outsider, and he has out-outsider’ed her.” 

Bass’ message is that she knows how to get things done — something she claims her opponents do not. She has also painted herself as the person best positioned to take on Trump. 

“Angelenos, the city I’ve been in my whole life, the city I love, I feel we have accomplished a lot,” she said at a campaign launch rally in December. “But we’re not done. And I’m not finished.” 

The open race for mayor of Washington, D.C., has been largely uneventful ahead of next month’s primary — so much so that the first TV ads run by the leading candidates, Kenyan McDuffie and Janeese Lewis George, sound nearly identical. Both candidates tout affordability and safety on the campaign trail, with promises to build more housing and stand up against President Donald Trump. 

But if elected, Lewis George’s victory would mark a significant shift away from the centrist brand of politics espoused by outgoing Mayor Muriel Bowser over the last 12 years, and would instead hand a major win to Washington’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter, of which Lewis George has been a member for years. 

Lewis George has faced criticism throughout the campaign from some in the Jewish community for comments she made on a DSA endorsement questionnaire pledging to boycott events that “promote Zionism” and criticizing Jewish activists’ approach to combating antisemitism. Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, on Tuesday called DSA an “evil” organization that seeks “to make being Jewish unacceptable in polite society.” 

DSA has activated its small but growing membership to knock on doors for Lewis George, a member of the D.C. Council, tapping into a grassroots energy that they hope translates into success at the ballot box. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), one of two DSA members currently serving in Congress, attended a recent DC DSA rally alongside Lewis George. 

DSA’s Metro DC chapter is relatively small. Yet its current roster of roughly 3,400 members represents a massive increase from its pre-2016 nadir of just 200 members — and mirrors DSA’s growing clout nationally. 

“For most of the ‘80s and ‘90s and 2000s, DSA was a small organization with maybe 5,000 or 8,000 people at the most. I would say the average age was probably over 60, maybe higher than that,” said Peter Dreier, an emeritus professor of politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles. “Then Bernie [Sanders] ran for president in 2016 and started talking about democratic socialism in a way that made sense to, particularly, a lot of young people, and he kind of opened the door to people to be in DSA.” 

Overall, DSA is still a small organization on the fringes of Democratic politics. Even the highest membership counts — adding up DSA’s local chapters — don’t top 100,000. But the unexpected popularity of Sanders’ 2016 presidential run sparked a resurgence of interest in democratic socialism not seen in generations, and that has continued well past his two campaigns. A 2025 Gallup poll found that 42% of Democrats have a positive image of capitalism, down from 54% a decade ago, while 66% have a positive view of socialism.  

“If [young people] don’t remember the Cold War, then what do they think when they hear the word socialism? There’s still a battle over that, but they’re more likely to think, ‘Oh, countries that have more equality, or students that get free or almost free higher education, everybody has access to healthcare,’” said Dreier. 

“We are going to raise money and develop a plan over the course of the next few months to try to make them toxic, to make it unacceptable for major figures in the party or anybody actually running for office to be affiliated with the DSA, the way it should be unacceptable to be affiliated with [neo-Nazi influencer] Nick Fuentes if you’re running as Republican,” Third Way’s senior vice president for public affairs, Matt Bennett, said. 

The key question now facing capital-D Democrats — one they sound unsure of how to answer, or perhaps unwilling — is how to handle an insurgent faction that has galvanized people over its straightforward messaging on corporations (bad), taxing the rich (good) and Medicare for All (necessary), while at the same time promoting far-left positions like prison and police abolition that are nowhere near the Democratic mainstream. The group has long promoted the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, as well as calling for an arms embargo on Israel, and its members passed a resolution last year affirming their commitment to anti-Zionism. On Oct. 7, 2023, DSA released a statement holding Israel accountable for the Hamas attacks and calling on members to take to the streets to protest U.S. support for Israel. 

The centrist Democratic group Third Way plans to launch a major PR campaign against DSA in the coming months, one of the group’s executives told JI, arguing that its far-left positions and incendiary brand of politics will be harmful for the party’s electoral prospects. 

“We are going to raise money and develop a plan over the course of the next few months to try to make them toxic, to make it unacceptable for major figures in the party or anybody actually running for office to be affiliated with the DSA, the way it should be unacceptable to be affiliated with [neo-Nazi influencer] Nick Fuentes if you’re running as Republican,” Third Way’s senior vice president for public affairs, Matt Bennett, said. 

In the decade since Sanders’ 2016 campaign, DSA has had an outsized impact on national politics. The 2018 congressional victory of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a DSA member, raised the group’s profile. A steady stream of more than 200 DSA-aligned candidates have been elected to state and local offices since, culminating with the election of DSA member Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City last year. 

“To the degree that people need to pay attention to DSA, it’s because they built this kind of political machine,” said Micah Sifry, a journalist focused on left-wing political organizing. “In a time when people are, for the most part, not very organized, the ability of any small group, relatively speaking, to punch above its weight grows.” 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, New York has the largest bench of DSA-affiliated state lawmakers. The group has slowly but steadily been gaining electoral power in state and local offices in some unexpected places, too, like Minnesota, Colorado, Delaware and Wisconsin. The group’s largest foothold is in city council races, where a small but committed cadre of volunteers can swing elections in low-turnout races. 

National Democratic leaders are divided about how to treat the small but vocal socialist minority in the party. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) declined to support Mamdani in the primary election but ultimately endorsed him ahead of the general election last year. Weeks later, Jeffries voted in favor of a Republican-led resolution condemning socialism. He has been skeptical of the left-wing ideology throughout his political career: “There will never be a moment where I bend the knee to hard-left democratic socialism,” he said in 2021. A spokesperson for Jeffries declined to comment this week when asked if he believes Democrats should be welcoming socialists into the party. 

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin has been more open-minded about socialists. Asked by Fox News last year whether progressives like Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez make his job harder, he said no. 

“The party is a big tent. But just like we have to believe it’s a big tent, the DSA also has to believe it’s a big tent, and I’m not sure they do,” Brian Romick, CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel, said. “Democratic leaders want to win elections, and that means a big tent, and that means that Democratic base voters and pro-Israel voters and moderate people who maybe voted for [Donald] Trump sometimes because they’re concerned about prices have to be in the tent.” 

“I don’t think they make it difficult at all,” Martin said in August 2025. “The difference between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party is that we’re a big tent. We have lots of people in that tent from all of the different ideological wings, from conservative Democrats, to centrists, to progressives, to these new leftists.” A DNC spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment this week.

Brian Romick, CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel, told Jewish Insider this week that he is concerned about the inroads DSA is making in the party. He agreed with Martin that the Democratic Party should be a big tent, but noted that DSA members — who are at times intent on putting litmus tests even on would-be allies — don’t extend the same understanding to more moderate members of the party.

“The party is a big tent. But just like we have to believe it’s a big tent, the DSA also has to believe it’s a big tent, and I’m not sure they do,” Romick said. “Democratic leaders want to win elections, and that means a big tent, and that means that Democratic base voters and pro-Israel voters and moderate people who maybe voted for [Donald] Trump sometimes because they’re concerned about prices have to be in the tent.” 

The questionnaire Lewis George filled out in Washington to earn DSA’s endorsement reveals how important hard-line opposition to Israel is to the organization, which requires even candidates for local offices with no connection to foreign policy to all but disavow the Jewish state. Most voters who support DSA-aligned candidates likely are not drawn to them because of their views on the Middle East; Mamdani’s message was first and foremost about affordability. But DSA’s growing reach among Democrats gave a foothold to anti-Israel views that may have once been rare, though global attention on the war in Gaza also contributed to shifting Democratic orthodoxy on the conflict. (Other far-left groups like Justice Democrats have played a role, too.)

Zach Shartiag, a Jewish Democratic campaign operative from Chicago, told JI that Democrats he has talked to who support DSA candidates generally do not do so because of DSA’s stance on Israel, even if the activists are themselves critical of Israel.   

“People might be very anti-Israel now, but at the same time, it’s like, what does that have to do with local politics?” said Shartiag, who is currently working on a congressional campaign in Hawaii. “I’ve talked to a lot of people, just in general, normal humans, and it’s like, ‘Yeah, I might be against what Israel’s doing, but what does that have to do with the local and the city and the state?’” 

The full picture of DSA’s influence in the party will not be known until all the votes are tallied at the end of this year’s midterm elections. A number of DSA-affiliated candidates are gaining ground in congressional primaries, such as Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb, who has garnered progressive endorsements in a Philadelphia-area open seat, and New York state Assemblymember Claire Valdez, who has Mamdani’s backing for her congressional campaign. 

Still, the election outcomes in states across the country this year will present only a partial picture of where the Democratic Party is moving. In the same year that Mamdani won in New York City, for instance, Democratic moderates Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill won gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, respectively. 

The only certainty, then, is that the battle between centrists and socialists will continue into 2028. 

“I think you’re going to have a real mixed verdict, with us yelling about our side and the left yelling about their side,” Third Way’s Bennett acknowledged. “So what that means is, unsurprisingly, we’re going to go into the presidential primary season with the two camps demanding that they are right.” 

Despite being banned from campus, UCLA’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter is actively lobbying candidates to influence upcoming student government elections, Jewish Insider has learned. 

SJP contacted candidates and asked them to complete an attached questionnaire in order to secure the group’s endorsement, according to an email reviewed by JI. SJP is permitted to endorse in the race as an “external organization” since it is no longer officially recognized on campus, according to the election board’s guidelines. 

“This is more proof that the anti-Jewish movement — even when banned from our campus — continues to break the rules to intimidate their fellow UCLA students,” UCLA Hillel’s executive director, Daniel Gold, told JI. “Student government should honor premier student leaders — and should be free of any influence by those banned for bad behavior.”

A UCLA student affairs spokesperson told JI, “Students for Justice in Palestine is not recognized as an official organization at UCLA nor receives any university resources. We want to make clear that candidates for student government may choose to ignore questions as they see fit.” 

UCLA banned SJP as a campus organization indefinitely in March 2025 after the group led a demonstration outside the home of UC Regent Jay Sures, who is Jewish. SJP members left red handprints on Sures’ garage door, accusing him of having “blood on his hands” amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Last month, UCLA’s student government condemned a campus event featuring former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov, labeling the speaker selection as “selective platforming of narratives that obscure the broader reality of ongoing state violence” and “a troubling disregard for Palestinian life.”   

Sures, who is also vice chairman of United Talent Agency, told JI at the time that UCLA’s student government was “shortsighted, antisemitic or both,” and called its members “lunatics” for condemning Shem Tov’s speech. 

When thousands of Michigan’s most ardent Democratic activists gathered in Detroit on Sunday for the party’s nominating convention, Decky Alexander was thrilled: 200 people were in the room for a Jewish Democratic Caucus meeting, more than double the 70 people who showed up last year in its first official gathering. 

Candidates for statewide office, from the U.S. Senate to attorney general, came by to pitch voters as activists schmoozed over bagels.

“It was incredibly energizing and affirming. That’s how the day began,” Alexander, who chairs the caucus, told Jewish Insider in an interview on Tuesday. “It didn’t end that way.”

As the day went on, Jewish Democrats were alarmed to see pro-Israel voices within the party marginalized and shouted down. 

“Our Jewish caucus brought a lot of people to the convention, and I was with many of those people who were first-time conventiongoers. They were — I would use the term shell-shocked,” said Joan Lowenstein, a lawyer and former Ann Arbor city councilmember.

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), a moderate and pro-Israel candidate for Senate, faced loud, sustained boos when she spoke in front of the main convention room. One person spotted an attendee on Sunday wearing a shirt that said “Resistance until liberation,” with an image showing someone wearing a keffiyeh throwing rocks. 

The main reason that activists gathered that day was to vote to nominate candidates for a range of positions, including attorney general and secretary of state, distinct from other states where voters directly elect their party’s primary nominees. 

The outcome of one relatively low-level race generated the most headlines: delegates’ decision to nominate Amir Makled, a Dearborn attorney with a history of social media posts praising Hezbollah, for a position on the University of Michigan Board of Regents. He unseated incumbent Jordan Acker, who is Jewish and was in part targeted due to his calls to discipline anti-Israel student protesters during the 2024 encampment at the Ann Arbor campus.

Acker told The Detroit News afterward that the level of antisemitism among Michigan Democrats is “extensive.”

“The question we have to ask as Jews is whether we still belong here,” said Acker, a Democrat. 

The Democratic Party congratulated Makled in social media posts. What remains unclear is just how far party leaders will go to support Makled as he proceeds to the general election. Curtis Hertel, the chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, did not respond to a request for comment. 

But Makled’s nomination is cause for concern among many Jewish Democrats. 

“I certainly cannot vote for somebody who praises Hezbollah and uplifts posts that use ‘Jew’ as a slur. This was an unacceptable nomination, and I simply cannot affiliate with somebody who harbors those views,” Jeremy Moss, a state senator who is running for Congress in the Detroit suburbs, told JI on Tuesday. 

Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI), a moderate Democrat representing a swing district, who is not Jewish, on Tuesday described the scenes from the convention as “deeply troubling,” and in particular criticized the party’s nomination of Makled. 

For Jewish Democrats who are not willing to disavow Israel, the question of what to do in a race like the Board of Regents is uncertain. Lowenstein, the Ann Arbor activist, said she would “never” support Makled, but that she also would not vote for a Republican. 

“I think Jewish voters are now in a position where we have to look at each person, and not look at their party, but look at what they stand for,” she said. 

“I need to create the table, not just always be invited to the table. I just don’t know what that looks like,” said Decky Alexander, the Jewish caucus chair. “It’s a heartbreak. I felt, in moments, is this going to be a breakup? I don’t think so, but we’ve been feeling this way, a lot of us, for a long time.” 

The Jewish voters who attended the convention on Sunday are among the most committed Democrats in the state, which makes it more notable that some were left questioning their place in the party. 

“They think that there’s shrinking room for them in spaces that claim to be inclusive,” said Elyssa Schmier, the Anti-Defamation League’s Michigan director. “That’s kind of the saying of the Democratic Party: ‘We have a big tent, big-tent politics.’ It did not feel that way at the convention.” 

Even the activists most disillusioned by Sunday’s events acknowledge that the convention attendees are not necessarily representative of the state’s Democratic electorate. All it took to attend the convention was registering as a party member a month beforehand and paying a nominal fee. 

“I don’t know that it was an accurate representation of where the broader Democratic electorate would be, say, in a primary,” said Moss. “But there’s no question, there was incivility at best [and] displays of Jewish antagonism at worst in the convention hall.”

Jewish activists hope this moment of upheaval can be a chance for Jewish Democrats to reassert their place in the party, even if things feel tenuous and difficult at present.

“I need to create the table, not just always be invited to the table. I just don’t know what that looks like,” said Alexander, the Jewish caucus chair. “It’s a heartbreak. I felt, in moments, is this going to be a breakup? I don’t think so, but we’ve been feeling this way, a lot of us, for a long time.” 

Between now and the general election, Alexander wants to talk to as many candidates as possible about whether they plan to take the concerns of Jewish voters seriously. 

“I haven’t changed. I am not a Republican or a conservative. I cannot win my district as an independent. But I also wonder how I can continue to carry this party banner with anything approaching pride, or rather, without anxiety and ambivalence,” state Rep. Noah Arbit, a Democrat who represents West Bloomfield, told JI.

“This isn’t identity politics. This is figuring out, in a pluralistic nation like the United States, does everyone have a place? And we want the people who are running for office to answer: Do the Jews have a place in your vision and your platform?” she said.

Moss said he intends to use his platform as a state lawmaker and congressional candidate to answer that question clearly: Jews do have a place in the Democratic Party.

“My solution is to offer my candidacy for everybody and to ensure that folks know that there is a lane for Jewish Democrats in this moment, that we don’t have to feel hopeless, we don’t have to feel politically homeless, that this is a lane that we have to solidify here,” said Moss. “My core values as a Democrat are really Jewish values.”

For state Rep. Noah Arbit, a Democrat who represents West Bloomfield, the site of an antisemitic attack last month, Sunday’s convention adds to angst he has been feeling about his party for years. He was the one who founded the Jewish caucus in 2019, in response to rising antisemitism on the political left. 

“I haven’t changed. I am not a Republican or a conservative. I cannot win my district as an independent. But I also wonder how I can continue to carry this party banner with anything approaching pride, or rather, without anxiety and ambivalence,” he told JI. Yet he said he will not cave to pressure from the party’s far-left flank.

“I certainly won’t be run out of representing my community by a band of extremists,” said Arbit. “So I need to stay.”

As Washington, D.C., voters get ready to elect their first new mayor in more than a decade, the two leading candidates — former colleagues on the Council of the District of Columbia — are proposing drastically different visions for the city’s future: political moderation or democratic socialism.

In an interview with Jewish Insider this week at his campaign headquarters in Northeast Washington, former Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie drew a direct contrast between his campaign and that of his Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed rival, Janeese Lewis George. 

“I didn’t seek, nor would I accept, the endorsement of Democratic Socialists of America, or any organization, for that matter, that requires some sort of divisive pledge to exclude people that are a part of the fabric of the community of the District of Columbia,” McDuffie said.

He was referring to a DSA endorsement questionnaire that asked candidates not to engage with “the Israeli government or Zionist lobby groups.” Lewis George, a longtime DSA member, vowed not to attend events that promote Zionism when she filled out the questionnaire, which earned her the DSA endorsement. 

Lewis George’s responses sparked concern among many in the Jewish community, and she apologized in a closed-door meeting with rabbis in March. But she has not offered any public remorse. 

“I think it’s important for elected officials to have the courage to say in public things that they say in private,” McDuffie said. “Any message that depends on taking a pledge to exclude entire communities as a condition of a political endorsement is extraordinarily divisive and disturbing.” 

Amid the controversy surrounding her DSA questionnaire and the meeting with rabbis, Lewis George released a statement last month pledging to stand firm in both her opposition to antisemitism and her support for “Palestinian human rights.” McDuffie told JI that he did not see the mayoral race as a place to litigate debates about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I think a mayor’s responsibility is to look out for all of its residents, particularly our most vulnerable residents,” said McDuffie. “At a time where the Jewish community is seeing rising antisemitism worldwide, and even the District of Columbia, it’s important that they understand that their elected officials are going to use every tool possible to protect them.” 

“I didn’t bring those issues into this race. My opponent did it when she sought the endorsement of Democratic Socialists of America,” McDuffie said. “I’m not running for Congress. I’m not engaging in the crafting of foreign policy. I’m running for mayor of Washington, D.C., the most beautifully diverse city in America, and I’m running to fight and deliver for all D.C.”

McDuffie is actively courting votes in the Jewish community. He will appear next week at a meet-and-greet with Jewish young professionals in the District. 

“I think a mayor’s responsibility is to look out for all of its residents, particularly our most vulnerable residents,” said McDuffie. “At a time where the Jewish community is seeing rising antisemitism worldwide, and even the District of Columbia, it’s important that they understand that their elected officials are going to use every tool possible to protect them.” 

McDuffie pledged to speak out against antisemitic violence and rhetoric so that the District’s Jewish residents “understand that they have a mayor and elected leadership who’s going to strongly oppose those kinds of activities and threats and do everything humanly possible to protect them.” He called the city’s nonprofit security grant program, which provides funding to several local synagogues to pay for security expenses, a “nonnegotiable,” even if the city faces other budget challenges. 

Born and raised in Northeast Washington, McDuffie entered politics circuitously. He worked as a mail carrier for the USPS before ultimately going to college and law school, in a career pivot he said was inspired by witnessing the death of two friends to the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s. He spent a few years as a prosecutor, in Maryland and at the Justice Department, before running for Council in 2013. McDuffie represented Ward 5, which includes the neighborhoods Bloomingdale, Eckington, Brookland and Fort Totten, until being elected to a citywide at-large position in 2022 where he served until January.

His message now is about affordability, a buzzword brought into style last year by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a DSA member like Lewis George. The way to make the city more affordable, according to McDuffie, is “economic growth with guardrails” — a contrast to the sweeping changes promised by Lewis George, the viability of which McDuffie has questioned.

“They want experience. They want vision. They want bold. They want change. What they don’t want is more empty promises,” said McDuffie. “What they don’t want is rhetoric that isn’t supported by an actual plan. What they don’t want is somebody who engages with organizations seeking to divide residents, and what we think we have as an advantage is both a vision that is about building a big tent and inviting people in and a record.” 

“We’re the nation’s capital. We can walk and chew gum,” McDuffie said. “I think that’s important for people to understand, that we can have innovative, transformational policies at the same time that we’re delivering core services on time and within a budget that doesn’t default to raising taxes on hard-working residents.” 

McDuffie seemed to recognize that pushing a vision of pragmatism may not be as seductive as promises powered by major spending increases. For instance, both Lewis George and McDuffie want to build new housing in the city, but Lewis George has promised to build 72,000 new units compared to 12,000 suggested by McDuffie, The Washington Post reported. But McDuffie argued that voters want honesty.

“They want experience. They want vision. They want bold. They want change. What they don’t want is more empty promises,” said McDuffie. “What they don’t want is rhetoric that isn’t supported by an actual plan. What they don’t want is somebody who engages with organizations seeking to divide residents, and what we think we have as an advantage is both a vision that is about building a big tent and inviting people in and a record.” 

Though McDuffie and Lewis George are widely viewed as the frontrunners in the race, they are not the only candidates running in the Democratic primary which, in deep blue Washington, will almost certainly decide the eventual victor. Other candidates in the June 16 primary include real estate developer Gary Goodweather and former Councilmember Vincent Orange.

Tomorrow (April 15) isn’t just Tax Day, but it’s also the deadline for candidates vying in the pivotal midterms to report their latest fundraising figures — an important marker on the political calendar in determining which candidates are raising enough money to run credible campaigns and which will be left financially behind. 

Historically, having a critical mass of prominent, well-heeled supporters was a prerequisite for a congressional candidate being able to get their message out to the public. 

Not long ago, candidates with extreme or exotic views — such as those affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America on the left or those embracing conspiracy theories on the far right — would have a hard time being taken seriously by rank-and-file donors, who typically want a back a winner and would shy away from those with far-out-of-the-mainstream views. 

Similarly, the pro-Israel community historically benefited from the presence of strong organizations like AIPAC that helped pool supporters’ money to favored candidates, giving them outsized impact within both parties. More recently, AIPAC’s super PAC has led the way in engaging directly in political campaigns, directly spending money on behalf of favored candidates and attacking some of the most radical candidates on the ballot.

But in our brave new decentralized world of politics and media, where a critical mass of small-dollar donations from passionate individuals can easily be amassed online (especially through an incendiary video clip or well-timed fundraising appeal), the comparative advantage of having a defined group of reliable donors can be neutralized by an online feeding frenzy that galvanizes enough individuals to give to a radical cause or candidate. 

At the same time, the social media-driven public conversation — without any guardrails and few standards — has totally transformed what is viewed as normal. One recent example: 27-year-old Kat Abughazaleh, a far-left social media influencer without any roots in the Chicago-area district she was running in, raised well over $3 million for her (unsuccessful) primary campaign, fueled by high-volume, low-dollar, largely out-of-state contributions. 

If Tip O’Neill once said all politics is local, the opposite is true today. All politics is now nationalized, with the most outlandish hot takes and incendiary commentary most likely to go viral. 

The same viral clips that lead unsuspecting audiences to extreme voices like Hasan Piker and Candace Owens live in the same ecosystem that makes it easy for a candidate like Abughazaleh to bring in big money. It’s not a coincidence that former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) were among the top fundraisers within their respective parties this cycle. 

There are two different ways for Jewish and pro-Israel voices to adapt to this still-evolving revolution in both media and politics — one on the supply side and one on the demand side. 

On the demand side, it’s clear that the algorithmic preferences for leading social media platforms prioritize constant unthinking engagement (at best) and rage and radicalism (at worst). 

It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Twitter/X’s decision to unblock neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes from the platform in May 2024 quickly led to an upsurge in antisemitic content being embraced by a wide range of far-right podcasters. There are thoughtful policy proposals that have been floated to do a better job regulating what has increasingly become an anarchic space. 

Most of the focus, however, has been on how politicians and outside groups can adapt on the supply side. As Obama campaign manager David Plouffe wrote in The New York Times last week, “A successful campaign in 2026 must operate like a full-time production studio…  It means creating output tailored specifically for TikTok or Instagram or YouTube.”

Plouffe also noted that campaigns need to focus on what he called “answer engine optimization” for artificial intelligence, essentially working to ensure friendlier responses from AI bots. 

If the old media and fundraising model was to rely on scale (of donations) and volume (of ads) to persuade voters, the new media ecosystem requires nimbleness and adaptability. Raising the most money and saturating the airwaves with advertisements was once a time-tested tool of success. 

Now, campaigns and advocacy groups alike are facing a multifront challenge, figuring out whether to accommodate what appears to be a new political and media reality where the loudest and most polarizing voices prevail — or fight for a more fair-and-balanced ecosystem while also engaging with the fractured landscape as best as possible. 

Ted Deutch, the CEO of the American Jewish Committee and a former Democratic congressman, said that Democratic lawmakers and candidates should not associate with far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who has a record of antisemitism and support for terrorism.

His comments come at a time when a small but growing group of Democrats has begun speaking out against Piker, particularly as he’s set to join a far-left Michigan Senate candidate on the trail. 

Deutch drew parallels between Piker on the far left and white supremacist influencer Nick Fuentes on the far right.

“In both cases, each party should make clear that voices that aren’t representative of their parties have no place in an official campaign setting — shouldn’t be welcomed, shouldn’t be welcomed in to share their views,” Deutch said. “In Piker’s case, his record speaks for itself, the same with Nick Fuentes. I don’t need to go into details about who they are or what they represent. Neither one of them belongs in the middle of the political process as a result of candidates choosing to put them there.”

He said he’s expressed that view to candidates on both sides of the aisle and would keep those conversations private, but “my hope is that we’ll see some clarity on that issue going forward.”

“The challenges that we’re facing now with increasing polarization and the rise of extremism on the edges of both political parties is bad enough. Injecting the views of antisemites into that mix and welcoming those views is dangerous,” Deutch said.

Voters are casting ballots today in the special election for the ruby-red House seat previously held by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), but the final outcome will likely remain uncertain for another month. 

With 17 candidates on the all-party ballot, the race is expected to go to a runoff — unless any candidate receives 50% or more of the vote, making today’s race effectively a competition over which two candidates are likely to finish with the most support. 

On the GOP side, the race is dominated by two candidates. The first is Clay Fuller, a local district attorney, veteran and former White House fellow who is backed by President Donald Trump. 

The second, former state Sen. Colton Moore, a hard-line conservative rabble-rouser often at odds with his own party’s leadership, is running as the anti-establishment populist — a profile that more closely matches Greene’s. 

The district is one of the most Republican in the country: Trump carried the district by 37 percentage points in 2024, and paid a visit to the district in late February to throw his support behind Fuller.

A third Republican candidate, Brian Stover, a local businessman, has raised a significant amount of campaign cash and is a wild card. 

On the Democratic side, the likely leader is Army veteran Shawn Harris, who lost to Greene in 2024 by nearly 30 points. He’s pulled in $4.2 million from Democrats outraged by Greene and who’ve been attracted by a far-fetched pitch that he can flip the seat. But he’s likely to secure a runoff spot, given how many Republican candidates are on the ballot.

Fuller’s campaign has been touting Trump’s endorsement, and his own military service. Fuller’s Air Force career included work on counterterrorism operations, and he was deployed in 2024 to the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar supporting U.S. Central Command operations. He also has the support of the conservative Club for Growth.

He has backed the U.S.-Israeli offensive against Iran, and expressed support for Israel. “President Trump tried the peace route with Iran not once, not twice, but THREE separate times—and they refused. He’s the peace President, but you can’t negotiate with a death cult,” Fuller said, emphasizing he had supported operations against Iran and that the regime and its proxies had killed many Americans.

Despite not receiving Trump’s support, Moore is also trying to tie himself closely to the president, describing himself on his campaign website as “Trump’s #1 Defender” and “a Proven Warrior for President Trump” — pointing to his vocal efforts to contest the results of the 2020 election and opposition to subsequent investigations of Trump and his allies — and using the campaign slogan, “God. Guns. Trump.”

Moore has repeatedly found himself at odds with Georgia’s GOP establishment, having been expelled from the Republican caucus, banned from the Statehouse floor and arrested when he tried to enter the 2025 State of the State address.

Moore doesn’t appear to have addressed the war in Iran, but said, days after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, “The Jewish people are the indigenous people of Israel.” And according to a candidate questionnaire from 2022, he is a longtime supporter of Israel, having attended AIPAC conferences and, as a college student, having served as co-chair of the University of Georgia AIPAC chapter. “There is no Palestinian land, it is all the land of Israel,” he said in the questionnaire.

So despite his MAGA bona fides, his record appears decidedly more supportive of Israel than Greene, who has advanced antisemitic conspiracy theories and became one of the few anti-Israel Republicans in Congress.

However, Moore was also the only Republican member of the state Senate to vote against a bill in 2024 codifying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism — echoing Greene’s stance on the Antisemitism Awareness Act in the same year.

As of Feb. 18, Stover had raised $940,000 (around two-thirds of that was in the form of a personal loan to his campaign), Fuller $787,000 and Moore $342,000.

The normally voluble Greene has stayed on the sidelines in the race to replace her, not endorsing or rallying for any of the candidates, as she continues to air her disappointment with Trump and the GOP leadership.

As California’s gubernatorial race heats up, five leading candidates said at a forum on Thursday that they are committed to deepening the state’s partnership with Israel and fighting efforts to boycott the Jewish state. 

The candidates — Democrats Antonio Villaraigosa, a former state lawmaker and Los Angeles mayor; Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA); Tom Steyer, a billionaire businessman and former presidential candidate; and Matt Mahan, a tech entrepreneur and mayor of San Jose; along with Republican Steve Hilton, a conservative commentator who was once an advisor to former British Prime Minister David Cameron — appeared together Thursday night at a Los Angeles candidate forum hosted by Jewish California (formerly JPAC), the Bay Area Jewish Community Relations Council, the Los Angeles Jewish Federation and the Skirball Cultural Center.

“I’ve been to Israel half a dozen times. I’ve been all over the region. I’ve seen the innovation in energy. I’ve seen the innovation in water technology, and of course, California should partner with Israel to meet our own energy and water needs,” Swalwell, who represents a Bay Area district, said. “I will bring back as many values and technologies from Israel that can help Californians. That’s the job of the next governor.” 

Hilton praised the business relationship between California and Israel, and said “that foundation of prosperity and cooperation is how we build a stronger future for Israel and for us here in California.”

Villaraigosa also outlined his many past trips to Israel. “I’ve been to Israel half a dozen times, including the last time three years ago, when I wasn’t in office anymore. As governor of this state, I will work with the State of Israel,” he said. 

Mahan called California’s relationship with Israel “an important one for our country and for our state.” 

“In Silicon Valley,” he continued, “I’ve lost count of how many brilliant entrepreneurs [and] investors I’ve met from Israel who have brought incredible innovation to our state. And that exchange is something we need to continue to invest in.” 

Steyer, like the other Democrats on stage, drew a line between the Israeli people and the Israeli government. 

“Are we talking about the people of Israel? Or are you talking about the administration that runs the State of Israel? As far as I can tell, Mr. Netanyahu is quite a close confidant, ally and co-believer with our president. There’s nothing about our president, literally, that I agree with,” said Steyer. “How do I feel about the people of Israel, a scrappy group of people trying to build a country, build their families, build businesses? That’s a completely different question.” 

A recent Public Policy Institute of California poll showed a crowded, closely contested race, with five candidates neck-and-neck in the all-party primary, each with 10-14% of the vote. 

Hilton led the pack with 14%, followed by former Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) with 13%, and then Republican Chad Bianco, sheriff of Riverside County, with 12%. Swalwell was at 11%, with Steyer at 10%. The top two finishers face off in the November general election.

A spokesperson for Porter told Jewish Insider she could not attend due to a scheduling conflict.

“Rep. Porter spoke to Jewish California last year about her vision to address the many issues facing California as Governor, including the increase in antisemitism, and she looks forward to continuing the conversation,” the spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for Bianco did not respond to a request for comment, but SF JCRC CEO Tyler Gregory told JI he also had a scheduling conflict. Democrat Xavier Becerra, the former secretary of Health and Human Services, also did not participate. 

All five candidates at the forum on Thursday said they oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Hilton and Mahan, citing the state’s anti-BDS law, said they would push back on efforts by municipalities to boycott or divest from Israel.

“They’re illegal. I will make sure that, as governor, my attorney general, sues these cities to stop them breaking the law,” said Hilton. 

“We should push against any attempt to unwind our prohibition of it,” Mahan said of the BDS movement.

Each of the candidates also criticized how public universities in the state responded to anti-Israel and antisemitic protesters during the spring 2024 encampments. 

“I’m a proud graduate of UCLA, but I’ll tell you something, I’ve never been so embarrassed and ashamed about what I saw happen on a UC campus, and as governor, we will not tolerate that,” Villaraigosa said. “The fact that it took so long to extricate these people that tried to intimidate people and wouldn’t allow them to go to class, wear their yarmulke, was absolutely unacceptable.” 

Mahan criticized a questionnaire from a union representing thousands of professors and lecturers in the California State University system that asked candidates last year to say they would refuse donations from AIPAC and JPAC.

“That tells you how bad it has gotten. As governor I will actively call that out,” said Mahan. “One of the most powerful things the governor has is the bully pulpit, and it’s important as governor to speak directly to that divisiveness and call it out and explain that it is wrong and that we will not tolerate it in our public institutions. We also have to talk about curriculum.” 

Steyer called freedom to protest “one of the hallmarks of higher education” in the U.S., but said “when protest moves into discriminating against other students, that’s when protest is no longer acceptable.” 

Swalwell recounted a recent conversation with a friend who said his daughter had taken some schools off her college list because of fears about antisemitism.

“A metric of success for me is that Jewish California students feel safe in every California university and college,” said Swalwell. “Yes, California and our colleges have always led some of the best movements in our history. However, that does not give you license to hate, discriminate, to commit violence.”

Hilton described visiting UCLA after the encampments to speak to Jewish students and called on the other candidates in the room to bring their messaging of fighting antisemitism to other audiences, not just Jewish ones.

“It’s still going on, this sense of fear and intimidation, and we’ve got to take a stronger stance,” Hilton said. “Our elected leaders in this state aren’t quite as clear on some of these issues, and give succor to the hate and the ideology that’s causing this fear among our Jewish population. So I would like them to speak with the same strength and clarity against this ideology everywhere, not just in this audience.” 

Other questions touched on immigration, homelessness, affordability and the impact of artificial intelligence. The state’s gubernatorial primary will take place on June 2, and the top two vote-getters, irrespective of party, will advance to the general election. 

Four progressive House candidates came together in the Chicago area on Tuesday to condemn reported pro-Israel spending in their districts, a sign of growing cross-district collaboration among candidates hostile to Israel as they seek to push back against pro-Israel interest groups.

The joint press conference included Evanston, Ill., Mayor Daniel Biss, state Sen. Robert Peters, activist Junaid Ahmed and union organizer Anthony Driver Jr. All four are endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC.

Driver’s attendance was particularly notable given that he has little public record on Israel policy issues. He’s running in the 7th Congressional District, where the AIPAC-linked United Democracy Project has spent $753,000 — and reportedly plans close to $3 million in spending — in support of Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin. He was endorsed by the CPC on Tuesday.

“AIPAC is not your friend. … They are in the business of buying elections. They’re in the business of buying representation. They’re in the business of buying politicians,” Driver said. “Melissa Conyears-Ervin … is selling out our community.”

He added, addressing AIPAC directly: “You will lose, and when you do lose, may you never come back to this city again.”

Another anti-Israel candidate, Kina Collins, is also running for the seat.

“I was raised by a single mother on the West Side and I’m the full-time caretaker to my disabled sister who relies on SNAP and Medicaid. I’m going to fight for our communities in Washington because I know what Trump’s attacks have done to us,” Conyears-Ervin said in a statement to Jewish Insider. “I’m insulted that some of my opponents think a Black woman born and raised in this district would ever be anything but independent and fearless.”

The candidates broadly framed AIPAC as a pro-Trump, pro-Netanyahu group that is trying to buy the elections in their four districts, and suggested that accepting any funding from AIPAC affiliates will make lawmakers incapable of opposing the Trump administration.

Peters claimed that accepting support from the group means that candidates will be “a ‘yes man’ to Trump donors to commit unspeakable horrors in another part of the world,” activities in which he said AIPAC was directly involved.

Ahmed called the alleged AIPAC spending a “sinister plot” across all four races: “massive AIPAC spending designed to buy political power and silence the voices of the people. … [Former Democratic Rep.] Melissa Bean will look the other way as Israel commits a genocide. Melissa Bean will fight for the wealthy and the powerful and leave everyone else behind.”

Bean did not respond to a request for comment.

In the other districts — the 9th, 8th and 2nd — purported pro-Israel spending has come through newly created groups boosting three allied candidates: state Sen. Laura Fine, Bean and Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller.

Elect Chicago Women, the group backing Fine and Bean, has spent $1.26 million supporting Fine and $1.27 million supporting Bean thus far and Affordable Chicago Now, the group backing Miller, has spent $868,000.

In his race, Biss has been leaning aggressively into Israel and AIPAC-related attacks on Fine as a centerpiece of his campaign. 

The “red box” on Biss’ website — where candidates share messaging that they hope super PACs involved in the race will boost — lists as his top priority informing voters that Fine is “bankrolled by Trump donors, MAGA Republican donors, and AIPAC.”

“She will side with AIPAC on policies that starve children and will fund their war in Gaza with billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars,” the website states.

“This is further proof that professional political candidate Daniel Biss will say anything to get elected,” a Fine spokesperson responded to JI. “He said he’d serve his full term as mayor and broke his promise. He says he’ll protect Medicaid but voted to eliminate coverage for 25,000 working Illinois parents. He can’t run a campaign pitting his record against Laura Fine’s because he doesn’t have one. Laura stood up to the insurance industry, corporate polluters and the gun lobby — and won.”

At a recent candidate forum, video of which was obtained by JI, Biss repeatedly attacked Fine for receiving donations from AIPAC and Trump supporters and accused her of supporting a “blank check” for Israel. On one occasion when Biss repeated the attack line, loud groans and grumbling could be heard from members of the audience.

Fine has denied any knowledge of the funding behind the outside group backing her — an idea that Biss has declared is “not credible,” though super PACs are legally prohibited from coordinating with campaigns and the group’s donors have not been publicly disclosed — and said she would also like transparency on the issue.

Biss has also faced scrutiny for the more than $350,000 in outside spending supporting him from 314 Action Fund, a Democratic pro-science group — to which UDP donated funds in a 2024 Oregon primary race when they were backing the same candidate. Biss has dismissed the idea that there are similarities in the outside support both he and Fine are receiving as “preposterous.”

Outside of the pro-Israel spending, new outside spending by the cryptocurrency-aligned Fairshake super PAC is also shaking up the race. The group is set to spend at least $1 million against Peters and state Rep. LaShawn Ford, who’s running against Conyears-Ervin, Driver and others in the 7th Congressional District.

Leading the Future, a super PAC funded by OpenAI President Greg Brockman and his wife, Anna, and venture capitalist Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, has plans for a seven-figure ad spend supporting former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) in the 2nd District and Bean in the 8th.

Pro-Israel candidates and organizations showcased healthy financial hauls over the final three months of 2025, according to newly released fundraising reports. The strong totals were headlined by AIPAC’s United Democracy Project super PAC, which ended last year with an imposing $95.8 million on hand (up significantly from $40.7 million last cycle at this time), after raising $61.6 million in the final six months of 2025.

In many of the closely watched Democratic primaries pitting pro-Israel candidates against anti-Israel antagonists, both sides posted strong fundraising figures.

In Michigan’s hotly contested Senate race, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) raised $2.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 and banked $3.05 million at the end of the year. Stevens, a stalwart ally of the state’s Jewish community, narrowly outraised physician Abdul El-Sayed ($1.8 million raised), who has made hostility to Israel central to his campaign, and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow ($1.7 million), who has tagged Israel’s war against Hamas as a genocide.

Stevens also has significantly more cash on hand ($3 million), aided by her time spent raising money in the House. Both McMorrow and El-Sayed have just under $2 million cash on hand.

In Illinois’ closely watched open 8th District race, former Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) showcased her fundraising skills to comfortably lead the crowded primary field, bringing in $772,000 in the fourth quarter. Bean, a pro-Israel moderate during her last stint in Congress, nearly doubled the fundraising haul of Junaid Ahmed, a leading anti-Israel challenger, who brought in $360,000. 

In the race to succeed retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), pro-Israel state Sen. Laura Fine raised an impressive $1.2 million — three times her fundraising total in the previous quarter — and banked $1.4 million. Her haul outdistanced her two anti-Israel rivals: Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss (who raised $659,000 and banked $1.37 million) and social media influencer Kat Abughazaleh (who raised $1.1 million, but spent $1.4 million, leaving her with $811,000 cash on hand). 

In New York City’s top primary clash, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) outraised former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander in fundraising, bringing in $1.1 million to Lander’s $629,000. But Lander only entered the race in early December, a sign he could catch up to the congressman in fundraising if he keeps up the pace. (Goldman’s campaign told JI that he already raised $851,000 in January, suggesting his fundraising has already accelerated.)

In the Bronx, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) brought in a significant $519,000 in fourth-quarter contributions, and has a whopping $14.9 million cash on hand to spend as he faces several challengers running to the anti-Israel left in the primary.

In the crowded primary to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), state Assemblyman Alex Bores has emerged as the early fundraising leader, bringing in $2.2 million and ending the year with $2 million. That’s more than three times the $672,000 that Nadler-endorsed state Assemblyman Micah Lasher raised, and a little under twice his cash on hand ($1.2 million). Meanwhile, social media influencer Jack Schlossberg, the Kennedy scion, tapped his fundraising networks to bring in $1.1 million.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) was one of the top House fundraisers as he prepares for a tough reelection in a swing district, bringing in $1.28 million for the fourth quarter. His leading Democratic opponent, military veteran Cait Conley, announced she raised around $560,000 during the same period. Peter Chatzky, one of the few Democrats running as a harsh critic of Israel in the heavily Jewish district, poured in about $5 million of his own money into the race. And Beth Davidson, another Democratic candidate, raised $264,000 — a decline from previous quarters, as some party leaders have gotten behind Conley.

On the Senate side, a pair of far-left, anti-Israel candidates posted healthy hauls in their races against establishment-backed moderates. In Maine, oyster farmer Graham Platner brought in a notable $4.6 million in the quarter in his primary against Gov. Janet Mills, who raised a solid $2.7 million. And in Minnesota, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan was outraised by moderate Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) but still managed to bring in $1 million (compared to Craig’s $2 million).

The big Republican primary to watch is in Kentucky, where Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, scored a massive fundraising haul against anti-Israel Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), bringing in over $1.2 million compared to the congressman’s $638,000 total. Massie still holds about twice as much cash on hand as his upstart challenger, banking $2.18 million to Gallrein’s $933,000.

It’s important to remember that, while fundraising totals are an important signal of a candidate’s viability, the strongest fundraisers aren’t always the most successful. And the fact that numerous far-left candidates are also raising big bucks — when in the recent past, they would have struggled to show viability — is a warning that holding mainstream views isn’t the automatic ticket to primary success it once was. 

Good Friday morning!

In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on how candidates are responding to the pro-Israel vote in the seat of retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), examine the shifts in the Democratic primary field in the race against Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and preview Tuesday’s meeting between President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. We also look at the latest resignation at the Heritage Foundation as its president refuses to disavow the institution’s relationship with Tucker Carlson. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: State Rep. Esther Panitch, Harriet Schleifer and Jonah Platt.

Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik with an assist from Matthew Kassel. Have a tip? Email us here.

For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: After Mamdani win, socialists look to challenge Democratic incumbents in NYC; Israel’s neighbors have banned the Muslim Brotherhood, but Israel hasn’t. Why not?; and Black and Jewish college students explore shared adversity and allyship at DC-area ‘Unity Dinner.’ Print the latest edition here.

What We’re Watching

• Some 2,000 Jewish communal leaders, philanthropists and nonprofit officials from North America, Israel and beyond will gather in Washington on Sunday for the Jewish Federations of North America’s annual General Assembly. The opening plenary will include former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, authors Sarah Hurwitz and Micah Goodman, CNN contributor Scott Jennings and Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, senior rabbi at Central Synagogue in New York City. Read more here from eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim and Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch.
• New York City Mayor Eric Adams is traveling to Israel today for a five-day trip where he plans to meet with government officials and economic development and high-tech leaders.
• The Texas Tribune Festival, taking place this week in Austin, continues today with speakers including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Democratic Texas Senate candidates James Talarico and Rep. Colin Allred, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), comedian John Mulaney, former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Tomorrow, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) are slated to speak.
• MSNBC is launching its rebrand tomorrow as MS NOW, part of its separation from NBCUniversal, with dozens of veteran journalists recruited as part of its expanded newsroom.
• On Sunday, the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will present its fourth annual New York Jewish Book Festival. 

What You Should Know

A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S Josh Kraushaar

Given the GOP’s sturdy 53-seat majority in the Senate, combined with the increasing rarity of split-ticket voters, the Republican Party’s hold on the upper chamber looked nearly guaranteed, with a map featuring very few true swing-state pickup opportunities for the Democrats.

Indeed, the unlikely pathway for Democrats to win back control of the Senate in 2026 runs through states that have been reliably Republican in recent years — Ohio, Iowa, Texas, Florida and Alaska. To win back a majority, the party would need to win at least two of these red-state races, reversing the yearslong Democratic drought in many of these states — along with winning GOP-held seats in battleground Maine and North Carolina, which is far from assured.

But given the dominant Democratic outcomes from the off-year elections, there’s been renewed attention to the possibility of some red-state upsets in 2026. Already, political strategists from both parties are mulling over which seats are the most likely to get competitive, in preparation for an unpredictable midterm election.

On paper, Ohio looks like it’s the best opportunity for Democrats to play offense. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a populist, battle-tested Democrat won three statewide elections in Ohio even as the state trended in a more conservative direction. He eventually lost in 2024 to Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) by five points, but ran well ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ double-digit defeat in the state.

With the national environment tilting back in the Democrats’ favor, Brown is seeking a comeback against appointed Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), Ohio’s former lieutenant governor. A September poll of the race conducted by the respected Democratic firm Hart Research found Brown narrowly ahead over Husted, 48-45%. Among independents, Brown held a substantial 25-point lead (56-31%).

Of all the five “reach” states for Democrats, Ohio was the closest in the presidential race, with President Donald Trump winning by 11 points. That should make it the best opportunity for Democrats to win a third seat — even as it underscores how many Trump voters Democrats will need to convert in order to win.

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

MANHATTAN MOMENTUM

Crowded field of Democrats seeks to win over Jewish voters in race to succeed Nadler

An increasingly crowded race for a coveted House seat in the heart of Manhattan is shaping up to be among the most vigorously contested Democratic primary battles in next year’s midterms, with half a dozen — and counting — contenders now jockeying for the chance to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY). In a district home to one of the largest Jewish constituencies in the country, the open primary next June is likely to center in part on Israel as the candidates signal where they stand on an issue that has grown intensely charged over the war in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. 

Exception to the rule?: Even as the far left now seeks to ride momentum from Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory — which elevated an unabashed socialist to executive office — experts suggested the primary could largely serve as an exception to the anti-Israel sentiments that became a trademark of his stunning rise. The district, which includes the Upper East and West Sides of Manhattan, “is more moderate and pro-Israel than” another heavily Jewish House seat in Brooklyn where Mamdani performed well, Chris Coffey, a Democratic strategist who is not involved in the race, told JI on Thursday.

Read the full story here.

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PRIMARY POSITIONS

Military veteran, Rockland County pol emerge as front-runners in Dem primary against Rep. Lawler

The withdrawal of nonprofit executive Jessica Reinmann from the Democratic primary in New York’s 17th Congressional District — a top-targeted swing seat currently held by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) — is bringing the top contenders in the wide field into focus. Reinmann, who endorsed military veteran Cait Conley upon her exit from the race, was one of eight — now seven — challengers aiming to take on Lawler in next year’s midterms. A Democratic strategist in the district said he believes Conley, along with Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson and potentially former Briarcliff Manor Mayor Peter Chatzky, comprise the top rung of candidates in the crowded race, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.

Top three: Those three candidates also led the field by a wide margin in fundraising as of the end of September. Conley had raised $1.3 million, Davidson $1.2 million and Chatzky $1 million. However, the vast majority of Chatzky’s war chest — $750,000 — comprises a personal loan to his campaign. Davidson and Conley were invited to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Candidate Week event in Washington earlier this month, where they received additional training and media preparation — a sign the national party sees the two women as the strongest contenders to take on Lawler. 

Read the full story here.

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SAUDI SIGHTS

Trump-MBS meeting poised to advance defense pact and F-35 deal as Israel normalization stalls

President Donald Trump is slated to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday in a meeting that experts told Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea is expected to move forward a U.S.-Saudi defense pact and sale of F-35 fighter jets to the kingdom — yet normalization with Israel, once tied to the prospect of such deals, remains elusive. U.S. and Saudi officials have been holding intense negotiations to finalize a defense agreement ahead of the visit, according to reports. 

Security assurances: Since an Iranian attack on Saudi oil refineries in 2019, Riyadh has sought to formalize American security guarantees, according to Ghaith al-Omari, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Saudi Arabia is an important American security partner,” said Brad Bowman, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “The United States and Saudi Arabia have been working toward a regional security architecture for years.” The agreement is expected to be modeled after the assurances Trump gave to Qatar in a September executive order, which stated that the U.S. will regard “any armed attack” on Qatar “as a threat to the peace and security of the United States.” 

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BOWING OUT

Heritage Foundation legal expert resigns in continued fallout over antisemitism

Adam Mossoff, a law professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, resigned on Thursday from his position as a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation in response to the organization’s president refusing to disavow Tucker Carlson for his platforming of neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports.

Tipping point: In an email to Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts and John Malcolm, director of the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at Heritage, Mossoff cited Roberts’ Oct. 30 video lashing out at Carlson’s critics and his “subsequent interviews, videos, and commentary” on the subject as the reason for his resignation from the Meese Center. Mossoff wrote in the email, obtained by JI late Thursday, that the video, in which Roberts called out the “venomous coalition attacking” Carlson, and the Heritage president’s comments after the fact “reflects a fundamental ethical lapse and failure of moral leadership that has irrevocably damaged the well-deserved reputation of Heritage as ‘the intellectual backbone of the conservative movement’ (your words in your October 30 video).”

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TRANSITION

Paul Ingrassia tapped for new role after withdrawing nomination over antisemitic, racist text messages

Paul Ingrassia, the Department of Homeland Security’s White House liaison who withdrew his nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel late last month after antisemitic and racist text messages of his were unearthed, has been appointed to serve as deputy general counsel at the General Services Administration. Ingrassia, 30, has served in multiple roles in the second Trump administration. Prior to his most recent role at DHS, Ingrassia briefly served as the liaison to the Department of Justice but was reassigned after clashing with the DOJ’s chief of staff, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. 

New role: The “far-right” activist revealed his new position in an email to fellow DHS staff on Thursday announcing his departure. Ingrassia wrote in the email, obtained by Politico, that Trump had called him into the Oval Office on Wednesday evening to offer him the job. Reached by JI, a White House official confirmed that Ingrassia had taken on the deputy general counsel role at GSA, but did not provide additional comment. The official told Politico that Ingrassia was a “very helpful addition to GSA and will successfully execute President Trump’s America First policies.”

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UNION BLUES

Brandeis Center wins settlement over anti-Israel union activity

The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, a union representing over 3,000 legal workers, has acknowledged “inappropriate” communication around Israel and antisemitism as part of a settlement reached on Thursday brought on behalf of three union members who sued to block an anti-Israel resolution proposed weeks after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports. 

Under the agreement: ALAA, part of Local 2325 of the United Auto Workers, will pay the plaintiffs $315,000 in monetary damages and will refer all disciplinary charges brought against members to the union’s outside counsel for review. The union also agreed to implement mandatory training for its executive board to understand its obligation to ensure its members rights are being protected. “The training is not on antisemitism per se, but the expectation is that there will be discussions about how discriminatory animus could motivate violations of union members’ bill of rights,” Rory Lancman, director of corporate initiatives and senior counsel at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, told JI.

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Scoop: More than 60 attorneys and heads of Jewish legal organizations gathered on Monday in Manhattan for an inaugural legal summit, hosted by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, to discuss questions including: how to effectively present a case to a judge that may not have experience with antisemitism or anti-Israel issues; how to determine when free speech turns into harmful conduct; and how lawsuits might change now that the Israel-Hamas war has ended, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.  

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Worthy Reads

MBS in the Oval: Jason Greenblatt, Middle East envoy in the first Trump administration, writes in Newsweek that the upcoming White House visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a “pivotal moment for U.S.–Saudi relations and the future of the Middle East.” “Together, [the U.S. and Saudi Arabia] safeguard the Red Sea and Arabian (Persian) Gulf, counter drone and missile attacks from Iran-backed militias and help prevent nuclear proliferation. A formal defense pact — linking U.S. technology and intelligence with Saudi reach and resources — would cement this cooperation for the long-term. It would show that Riyadh is ready to share the burden of regional security and that Washington remains a reliable ally. … For Israel, a secure and forward-looking Saudi Arabia is especially significant. It reduces tensions and opens the door to deeper cooperation in intelligence, missile defense and maritime security. For the rest of the region, it helps maintain balance and sustain diplomatic and economic progress. When the U.S.–Saudi partnership is strong, the entire region benefits.” [Newsweek]

Tending Your Garden: Conservative Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen argues that conservatives must “keep our own house in order” and reject figures like neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes to constitute an effective opposition to the political left. “As for the argument that we should focus our attention on the left, we can’t effectively oppose the left if we don’t keep our own house in order. Conservatives can’t complain that Democrats call us fascists if we let actual fascists into our movement. If we want to persuade the American people to support our cause, then we need to be clear about what conservatism stands for — and what it does not. That requires we keep out Nazis, along with their enablers. These cranks want to hijack the MAGA movement for their own vile purposes. We need to stop them from doing so. There can and should be vigorous debate among different factions inside the conservative tent. But we must draw a line somewhere — and it should be self-evident that fascism is over that line. If conservatives can’t agree on that, then we will end up like the left — beholden to antisemites in our midst.” [WaPo]

Fever Pitch: Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz draws the connection between antisemitism and anti-Zionism through antisemitic rhetoric used by protesters at last week’s soccer match in Birmingham, England, between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv. “The fact is, however, that if the prime, or in most cases the only, focus of your human rights activism is to target Israel — if you don’t take to the streets in support, for instance, of Gazans being murdered by Hamas, or masses being slaughtered in Sudan or any other of the world’s innumerable combat zones, and, needless to say, would not dream of taking a placard onto the streets in support of Jews and other Israelis being slaughtered by Hamas — then, that’s antisemitism. … The ‘If you see a Zionist, call the anti-terror hotline’ slogan does more than equate Zionism with terrorism; it seeks to legitimize the targeting of all who live in and love Israel, by branding us all terrorists. Its dissemination, largely unremarked upon, its malevolent, incendiary rebranding of Zionism as a force of evil, crosses yet another red line in the international effort to achieve Israel’s demise. And it will doubtless reappear along with ever more vicious anti-Zionist, anti-Israel, and, yes, antisemitic words. And deeds.” [TOI]

Word on the Street

Israel is seeking a new 20-year memorandum of understanding with the U.S. when the current 10-year one expires in 2028, U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios, including new propositions meant to emphasize U.S.-Israel cooperation and make the deal more attractive to the “America First” GOP…

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that Israel “prefer[s] that Turkey not receive F-35 [fighter jets]s from the U.S,” but said that “there’s no indication that Israel’s qualitative edge will be compromised” if Saudi Arabia were to acquire them…

George Soros’ Open Society Foundations philanthropic organization gave the left-wing media organization Drop Site News $250,000 last year, the Washington Free Beacon reports, for it to establish a Middle East desk to “bridge a critical information gap in independent journalism”; over the past year, Drop Site has repeatedly produced anti-Israel coverage, including a series of interviews with Hamas leaders to provide “deeper insight” into the terror group’s decision to launch the Oct. 7 terror attacks…

A group of 25 Senate Republicans led by Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) urged the State Department to “ensure that [the U.N. Relief and Works Agency] play[s] no role in any efforts to stabilize, govern, and rebuild Gaza,” given UNRWA’s ties to terrorism, and urged the U.S. to work instead with trusted international and regional partners and NGOs…

Indonesia’s defense minister said the country has trained up 20,000 troops for health and construction-related tasks as part of the proposed international stabilization force for postwar Gaza…

The body of Meny Godard, who was killed and kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri by Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, was returned to Israel on Thursday night…

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was hospitalized after suffering a “ventricular fibrillation flare-up” and subsequent fall and face injuries, but is doing well, his spokesperson reported…

The anti-Israel IMEMU Policy Project organization is running an ad targeting Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who is visiting New Hampshire today, criticizing him for appearing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year and for voting against blocking arms sales to Israel…

A federal jury recently convicted a neo-Nazi for hate crimes after he mailed antisemitic threats to Georgia state Rep. Esther Panitch, the state’s only Jewish legislator, and Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar of Temple Beth Israel after both women publicly supported the passage of legislation codifying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism…

Puck profiles Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, Vice President JD Vance’s longtime friend and Pentagon reformer, as he navigates Washington politics while building a reputation as a rising star…

The New York Times reports that Pakistan spent millions on Trump‑linked lobbyists — including his former business partners and bodyguard — in a high-stakes effort to influence U.S. policy…

Venture capitalist Elad Gil has doubled the target size of his new fund to nearly $3 billion, which, if successful, would be the largest known fund raised by a solo general partner, according to the Information…

Harriet Schleifer, former chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, was elected to the board of directors of Democratic Majority for Israel, the group announced…

Pic of the Day

Some 400 people gathered on Wednesday evening at a private estate in Beverly Hills, Calif., for the American Friends of Magen David Adom gala, celebrating the work of MDA — Israel’s national emergency services organization. Actor, singer and writer Jonah Platt hosted the evening’s program, which honored Elizabeth Goldhirsh-Yellin with the Humanitarian Award for her leadership and commitment to the cause of saving lives in Israel. An ambulance was dedicated in memory of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, the two Israeli Embassy staffers who were killed in a terror attack in May outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. Their parents, Nancy and Robert Milgrim and Ruth and Daniel Lischinsky, delivered remarks honoring their children. A second ambulance was dedicated in memory of Sami Liber, a member of the Brentwood community. Carla and Rodney Liber, Sami’s parents, honored her with remarks. 

Pictured, from left: Platt, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. and MDA’s Global President Gilad Erdan, AFMDA CEO Catherine Reed and MDA Director-General Eli Bin.  

Birthdays

After 15 seasons in the NBA, he became an owner and player for Hapoel Jerusalem and led the team to an Israeli League championship, Amar’e Yehoshafat Stoudemire turns 43 on Sunday…

FRIDAY: Cellist, Natalia Gutman turns 83… Former professional bodybuilder who played for two seasons with the New York Jets, Mike Katz turns 81… Los Angeles businessman, community leader and political activist, Stanley Treitel… Retired member of the U.K.’s House of Lords, Baron Jeremy Beecham turns 81… Former British Labour party MP who resigned in 2019 in protest of Jeremy Corbyn, Dame Louise Joyce Ellman turns 80… Television director and producer, her neurotic text messages to her daughter are the subject of the CrazyJewishMom Instagram page, Kim Friedman turns 76… Editor-at-large for Bloomberg View, Jonathan I. Landman turns 73… Former Democratic member of the New York state Assembly from Brooklyn, his 22-year term was completed at the end of 2022, Steven H. Cymbrowitz turns 72… U.S. secretary of state during the last four years of the Bush 43 administration, now on the faculty of Stanford University and the director of the Hoover Institution, Condoleezza Rice turns 71… Senior advisor to President Barack Obama throughout his eight-year term in the White House, she is now CEO of the Obama Foundation, Valerie Jarrett turns 69… Detroit-based communications consultant, Cynthia Shaw… President of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Laurie L. Patton turns 64… Partner at the Santa Monica-based law firm of Murphy Rosen, Edward A. Klein… Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and professor of political science at George Washington University, Sarah A. Binder… Vice chairman of The Atlantic and managing director of media at Emerson Collective, Peter T. Lattman… and his twin brother, SVP at Forman Mills, Brian Lattman, both turn 55… Businessman with interests in real estate, gambling software, payments processing and digital advertising, Teddy Sagi turns 54… Member of the Colorado House of Representatives until last year when she became a Colorado state senator, Dafna Michaelson Jenet turns 53… Former deputy national security advisor for President Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes turns 48… Head of public policy and government affairs for Lime, Joshua Meltzer… Actress and comedian best known for her eight years as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” Vanessa Bayer turns 44… Senior advisor at Clarion Strategies, Jacob Freedman turns 43… Rabbi of the Sha’ar Hashamayim Synagogue in Indonesia, Yaakov Baruch turns 43… Israeli conductor and pianist, he is a conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Nimrod David Pfeffer turns 41… Executive director of the One Percent Foundation, Lana Talya Volftsun Fern… Actress and producer, she is a daughter of Bette Midler, Sophie von Haselberg turns 39… First baseman and second baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball, he played for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Spencer Elliott Horwitz turns 28…

SATURDAY: Author of dozens of children’s books and young adult fiction, frequent NPR guest, Daniel Pinkwater turns 84… Pianist and conductor, formerly music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim turns 83… Boca Raton, Fla., resident, Stephen Wolff… Former Chairman and CEO of Film and Music Entertainment, Lawrence (Larry) Lotman… NYC-based consultant for nonprofit organizations, Perry Davis turns 77… Retired immigration and nationality attorney in Southern California, Michael D. Ullman… Past president of Gratz College in Melrose Park, Pa., he is the author or editor of more than 50 books, Paul Finkelman turns 76… Executive vice president at Aish and former executive director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museums of Tolerance, Rabbi Meyer H. May turns 73… Executive producer and director of television programs, including “Friends,” one of the most popular TV programs of all time, Kevin S. Bright turns 71… Member of the Knesset for the Yesh Atid party, Meir Cohen turns 70… Partner in Toronto-based accounting firm Fuller Landau, he is a past president of Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation (BAYT), Jeffrey M. Brown… Senior project manager at T-Mobile, Michael A. Lewine… Member of the Florida House of Representatives, Michael Alan Gottlieb turns 57… Former member of Knesset for the Likud party, Nava Boker turns 55… Founder and chairman of Perilune Capital and co-founder of Harspring Capital Management, Carey Robinson Wolchok… Mortgage executive, Joshua Shein… CEO of the Riverdale Y in the Bronx until 2022, she is now a leadership coach, Deann Forman… As a 12-year-old baseball fan in Yankee Stadium, he interfered with a ball batted by Derek Jeter in the 1996 ALCS that was ruled to be a game-tying home run, Jeffrey Maier turns 42… Professional golfer, he won the gold medal at the 2013 Maccabiah Games, Ben Silverman turns 38… Deputy Washington bureau chief for The Associated Press, Zeke Miller… Press secretary for Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Ben Goodman… Talent Acquisition Partner at Engine, Alison Borowsky… Recent graduate at Harvard Law School, now serving as judicial law clerk for a federal judge in California, Micah Rosen… Military legislative assistant in Rep. Wesley Bell’s (D-MO) office, Ethan Sorcher…

SUNDAY: Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada until he retired in 2013, Morris Jacob Fish turns 87… Professor of mathematics and statistics at Concordia University in Montreal, Abraham J. Boyarsky, Ph.D. turns 79… Milwaukee-based founder and co-managing director of A.B. Data, Ltd, he is the past chair of the Pincus Fund for Jewish Education, Bruce A. Arbit turns 71… Director of programs at IKAR, Susan Brooks… Writer and producer for television and film, Jeff Pinkner turns 61… CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Jewish Policy Center, Matt Brooks turns 60… TV producer and president of Keshet Studios, Peter Traugott turns 55… Former senior vice president at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, Rabbi Justus Baird turns 53… Israeli singer-songwriter, author and travel documentarian, known professionally as “Passerby,” Gilad Segev turns 51… Author of several novels, he was the science fiction and fantasy book columnist for The Washington Post until 2022, Lavie Tidhar turns 49… SVP at The D. E. Shaw Group, he was previously a special assistant to President Obama for energy and economic policy, Michael A. Levi turns 48… 1994 Olympic gold medalist in figure skating, she first discovered that she was Jewish when she was 25 years old, Oksana Baiul turns 48… Stage, film and television actress, Margalit Ruth “Maggie” Gyllenhaal turns 48… Israeli actress, model, film producer and TV host, Adi Ezroni turns 47… VP at Jetro Restaurant Depot, he is a former NFL placekicker and punter, Hayden Scott Epstein turns 45… Snowboarder for the U.S. Olympic team in 2014 and 2022, he competes in the halfpipe, Taylor Gold turns 32… Chief of staff at Lightricks, Aaron Kalman…

Sergio Gor’s expected departure from a key role in the White House, where he has vetted thousands of candidates for political jobs as the influential leader of the Presidential Personnel Office, is raising some questions about how his litmus tests and isolationist views will compare to his newly announced replacement, particularly with regard to national security hires.

Gor, 38, was nominated by President Donald Trump last week to be U.S. ambassador to India. If confirmed by the Senate, Gor, who was also tapped as special envoy for South and Central Asian affairs, will leave behind a powerful post at which he built a reputation as an ideological gatekeeper. 

Throughout his time in the White House, Gor has drawn attention for his unyielding focus on loyalty to Trump and — more singularly — a fierce commitment to elevating national security and foreign policy hires who share his skepticism of American engagement abroad.

His successor, Dan Scavino, as the White House confirmed this week, is likewise a longtime Trump confidant who now serves as White House deputy chief of staff. But unlike Gor — whose background suggests an interest in imposing ideological litmus tests on job applicants  — Scavino, 49, “has no ideology other than Trump,” according to a former top administration official.

Even as Gor has won plaudits from a range of high-ranking officials in the administration, the former official, who spoke anonymously to address a sensitive subject, suggested his approach to the White House role has been driven by his foreign policy worldview as well as his allegiance to the president, a tension that is unlikely to be replicated by Scavino.

“Sergio brought his own world with him to the job, not just Trump’s,” the former official told Jewish Insider on Wednesday. “Loyal to Trump, yes — loyal to a Paul-Tucker-Koch world ideology, I think yes as well,” he added, referring to Gor’s former boss Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), podcast host Tucker Carlson and the activist network linked with Charles Koch, a leading conservative donor who has opposed Trump.

By contrast, Scavino, a former Trump golf club manager who has previously run the president’s prolific and unfiltered social media, seems to have few, if any, competing interests at stake. “There’s a reason Dan has a seat in the Situation Room when the toughest decisions are made,” the former Trump official elaborated. “Sergio never did. This should be a positive development for vetting and placement.”

It remains to be seen which positions Scavino will still need to help staff when he fully assumes Gor’s duties — especially with “over 95%” of departments and agencies now “filled,” according to a statement from Trump last week, which could not be verified.

“There is much still to be done, and Dan’s leadership will ensure the highest quality, most dedicated workforce ever,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in a statement, calling Scavino “one of Trump’s most trusted and longest serving advisors.”

In his tenure, Gor, a former top aide to Paul, the libertarian Republican from Kentucky, has helped weaken the National Security Council and worked to install Pentagon officials who have pressed for a reduced U.S. military presence in the Middle East — fueling concerns among pro-Israel leaders who have questioned if such views were aligned with Trump’s approach.

The personnel chief, whose efforts highlighted an intra-party battle between warring traditional and MAGA Republican factions that has recently grown less fractious as the administration has taken shape, also promoted officials affiliated with the libertarian Koch network, in spite of a directive from Trump upon his reelection to avoid “people who worked with, or are endorsed by” the Charles Koch or his political advocacy group.

More recently, Gor has prominently clashed with some top Trump allies, including Elon Musk and Michael Anton, the State Department’s director of policy planning who served as a technical lead amid failed nuclear negotiations with Iran. Anton, who is now expected to leave the administration soon, has reportedly grown frustrated with Gor’s rejections of his proposed hires, among other sources of tension first detailed by Politico on Wednesday. 

“He has the power to can people and for them not to get through,” one Trump official who has interacted with Gor and was not authorized to comment on the record said of his current role.

Meanwhile, Gor has advanced some officials widely criticized for espousing racist and antisemitic views, including Darren Beattie, who was fired in Trump’s first term for speaking at a white nationalist event and is now a top official in the State Department.

Beattie’s promotion, along with others who have drawn scrutiny for extreme views, underscores how Gor has been “clearing people who are unclearable,” said a former senior Republican Hill aide, who was granted anonymity in order to speak freely. “Sergio is obviously fine with that,” he said of Beattie’s past comments.

Trump, who in a social media post announcing his nomination last week called Gor’s time in the White House “essential” to upholding the administration’s agenda, said the personnel director would remain in his current role until his confirmation in the Senate, which has not yet scheduled a hearing.

A White House spokesperson confirmed to JI on Wednesday that Gor will stay in his post pending Senate approval for the ambassadorial role, which comes amid growing tensions between the United States and India, a major ally, over Trump’s tariff threats.

As Gor now prepares to leave the White House for a more public role, Danielle Pletka, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, suggested his approach to hiring ultimately demonstrated how he struggled to evolve with the administration on key issues.

“I think that the Trump administration has settled into a routine, and I think that people who are very ideologically rigid are finding less and less space for themselves,” Pletka told JI. “The president is not an isolationist, and those who are are discovering quickly that he does not appreciate being told how his staff have a stronger America first agenda than he does.”

It’s notable that Democrats are still relying on experienced, brand-name candidates a bit past their political prime as top recruits for key Senate races. 

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, now 72, is seeking a political comeback after losing his reelection bid last year in Ohio. Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is pursuing a career change to the Senate at 68 years old. Maine Gov. Janet Mills is being recruited into the Senate race against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) even though she’s 77.

To be sure, these are the strongest challengers Democrats could muster in these three must-win battleground states. All are popular statewide officials with a history of winning support from outside the party base. It’s hard to name any other Democratic candidate more capable of flipping these GOP-held seats than the aforementioned recruits. 

But there’s another more uncomfortable reality that is drawing the Democrats towards their stars of yesteryear. In today’s fractured media environment, it’s incredibly hard for a new face to emerge and get the type of publicity rising stars would generate from “earned media” on television and in the press, as was common in the recent past.  

And given the declining influence of such mainstream platforms, the best way to get attention is by playing to the party’s activist base on social media. It’s how Zohran Mamdani broke through a comparatively dull field of challengers in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary. Going viral is becoming a prerequisite in today’s politics, and the best way to go viral is to play to the extremes — or to, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, emulate President Donald Trump’s online bullying and trolling.

If you don’t have name identification built up from a career in politics, it’s hard to register any other way these days. And it’s exceptionally hard to break through the noise if you’re a thoughtful moderate.

It’s why we’re seeing a slew of Democratic candidates popping up who are looking to capture the anti-establishment mood within the party amid the desire for a younger generation of leadership. At the same time, most of these change-focused candidates also hold political views that are well out of the mainstream. 

Take Democrat Graham Platner, the 40-year-old Maine oyster farmer and former bartender who is disrupting the party efforts to recruit Mills into the Senate race. He exudes authenticity, and is a political outsider who has never run for elective office before. But his support for government-run health care and apparent hostility towards Israel, to name a few issues, would certainly make it harder for him to win over the moderate-minded voters that Collins has easily secured in past elections.

That would be the case in any battleground state or district: Nominate a candidate who captures the imagination of the progressive base, and odds are they’ll be less electable in a general election. 

The 2020 Democratic presidential primary was a case study in this dynamic. There were a handful of talented center-left candidates running, like Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar or then-South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg. But given the party’s alarm about Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) electability, only the universally known Joe Biden had the profile to become the mainstream standard-bearer, even though he was 77 at the time. 

At a certain point, the party’s bench of baby boomers will run out and the more progressive-minded Gen Zers will be stepping into political office. Whether this new generation can capture the public’s attention without being beholden to the ideological extremes will be one of the most consequential tests for the party’s future.

With the entry this week of Derek Dooley, a friend of Gov. Brian Kemp who hails from college football royalty in Georgia, the Republican field in the Georgia Senate race is taking shape.

Dooley, whose father coached the Georgia Bulldogs and who spent several years leading the rival Tennessee Volunteers, announced Monday that he’d be running against Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA) and Mike Collins (R-GA) in the Republican primary to take on Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Republicans’ top-targeted incumbent.

Kemp, a popular Republican governor, was seen as Republicans’ best chance of ousting Ossoff. Some prominent Jewish former Ossoff donors in the state reached out to Kemp late last year urging him to run against Ossoff, frustrated by the senator’s votes last year to block some weapons transfers to Israel. But Kemp ultimately passed on the race. Ossoff has worked to rebuild trust with disaffected Jewish voters, but those efforts were hampered by his vote last week to block a shipment of assault weapons to Israel.

Kemp has family ties to Dooley, who has brought on top Kemp advisors, is likely to receive the governor’s backing and pursue a center-right lane in the race, while portraying himself as a political outsider. All the candidates have been making the pivotal pitch for President Donald Trump’s backing in the race and tying themselves closely to him, hoping that key endorsement will help them clear the field.

With Kemp’s help, Dooley could potentially peel off support from moderate Jewish Democrats still frustrated by Ossoff, though Jewish leaders in the state told Jewish Insider last week that they’re not yet making any commitments in the race. They say they’re waiting to see who emerges from the Republican primary and how Ossoff’s record shapes up over the coming months before they decide whether to support the incumbent next November.

Dooley, for his part, is wasting little time in courting their votes.

“I stand with our ally Israel and firmly believe they should have the necessary resources to defend themselves against terrorists,” Dooley said in a statement to JI. “While Jon Ossoff continues to vote against Israel and American national security interests, I will be a leading voice for a strong America and a strong Israel in the Senate.”

Emanuel Fialkow, a prominent conservative member of Georgia’s Jewish community, said that Kemp’s team connected him to Dooley and the two spoke at length on a variety of issues, including antisemitism and Israel. Fialkow said he was previously part of a group of Jewish donors who urged Kemp to run against Ossoff.

Fialkow said that Dooley had asked him about a range of issues including Israel policy, the war in Gaza and antisemitism, and that he subsequently agreed to help Dooley develop an Israel position paper, which Fialkow described as very strongly pro-Israel. He said that Dooley “will have a backbone” in support of Israel.

He subsequently organized a lunch meeting at his home to introduce Dooley to a small group of others in the state, many of them Jewish, including both traditional Republicans and Democrats. Fialkow said that the group discussed a range of issues and came away seeing Dooley as honest, humble, inspiring, engaging and curious to learn more. He praised Dooley as a proven leader and a “really good guy” who can speak to people from a range of backgrounds, and is interested in listening to and learning from people.

He said other Jewish leaders in the Atlanta area are also in discussions with and about supporting Dooley. Others said they haven’t been in touch with Dooley or his surrogates yet.

Fialkow said that he and some other Jewish leaders in the state see Ossoff’s relationship with them as broken beyond repair, and said they can’t trust him going forward to be a reliable supporter of Israel. He argued that Dooley is the “only chance” for Zionist voters who put support for Israel first. 

Ossoff, for his part, maintains some vocal supporters in the Jewish community.

Cary Levow, a supporter of pro-Israel causes and candidates, told JI last week, “I support Senator Ossoff and know of other Jewish Georgians who understand that Jon’s approach to the Gaza humanitarian issue is genuine.” 

“Senator Ossoff has voted for over $20 billion in aid to Israel, has family living in Israel and has spent a significant amount of time in the country,” Levow continued. “I think Jon has represented the Jewish community well and I have zero concern about a senator who is critical of how [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] Bibi is waging this war.”

Fialkow argued that the only way for a Republican to win is for both Kemp and Trump to be aligned behind the same candidate, and that a hard-right Republican can’t win statewide in Georgia, meaning that Dooley gives Republicans their best chance to beat Ossoff.

Fialkow said he’s spoken to Collins and is confident that he would never vote against U.S. support for Israel, due to his own religious convictions. Collins has voiced the same view in confrontations with anti-Israel activists.

Speaking at an Oct. 7 memorial ceremony in 2024, Collins called the U.S. Israel’s “greatest friend” and said that the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks had only strengthened the relationship between the two partners. He said he would work to make sure Israel receives all the support it needs to defend itself.

“Hamas not only attacked the peaceful people of Israel that day, but they launched an assault against the idea of free and fair democracies in the Middle East,” Collins said.

But some elements of Collins’ record on antisemitism could raise red flags for others in the Jewish community. Last year, he refused to apologize for and doubled down on engaging with an antisemitic, racist Twitter account that was attacking a reporter for being Jewish. And he voted against the Antisemitism Awareness Act, and has a record of engaging in otherwise extremist rhetoric online. 

“Mike Collins has condemned the hate speech seen on college campuses and around the globe, and has been an ardent supporter of Israel in Congress. While Jon Ossoff capitulated to woke activists and voted to cut aid to Israel, Mike Collins has stood strong and protected its right to exist,” a Collins campaign spokesperson told JI, when asked about his online history and vote on the antisemitism bill.

Carter, who is close with some Atlanta-area Jewish leaders, has been a vocal supporter of pro-Israel and Jewish causes in the House, including leading pushes for funding and support for Holocaust education programs, calling on colleagues to address antisemitism in health care, leading legislation to support U.S.-Israel cooperative programs, urging support for the snapback of U.N. sanctions on Iran and calling for Qatar and Turkey to expel Hamas leaders. He also supported the Antisemitism Awareness Act, unlike Collins.

Carter’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Other than Collins’ vote against the Antisemitism Awareness Act, both Carter and Collins have records of supporting legislation backing Israel and combating antisemitism, including voting for supplemental aid to Israel and a resolution describing anti-Zionism as antisemitic.

Donning their foreign policy hats, candidates in New York City’s hotly contested mayoral race were quick to weigh in as violence erupted between Israel and Hamas this week. “I stand proudly with Israel,” former Citigroup executive Ray McGuire pronounced Monday evening in a statement later echoed by Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president. Andrew Yang, the apparent frontrunner who has earned key endorsements from several Orthodox Jewish leaders, also made sure to signal his unwavering support for the Jewish state. “I’m standing with the people of Israel,” he said, condemning “the Hamas terrorists.”

The lone dissenting voice was Dianne Morales, the outspoken former nonprofit executive who, by varying degrees, has positioned herself to the left of every leading candidate in the crowded Democratic primary field. “Our world needs leaders who recognize humanity and the dignity of all lives,” Morales wrote on Twitter early Tuesday morning. “Whether in NYC, Colombia, Brazil or Israel-Palestine, state violence is wrong. Targeting civilians is wrong. Killing children is wrong. Full stop.”

With her statement, rhetorically limp by pro-Israel standards, Morales demonstrated that she is willing to stray from the pack on an issue where most mainstream Democratic candidates in New York, home to the largest Jewish population in the United States, are usually aligned. While the majority of her opponents identify as solidly pro-Israel, Morales has veered in the opposite direction.

During a private virtual event with Jewish high school students last December, for instance, Morales accused Israel of “apartheid” while describing a 2015 mission sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York as “propaganda,” according to leaked audio obtained by The Forward. 

“I’ve been to Israel, and I participated in what would be considered a propaganda trip,” Morales said bluntly in the recording. “The country is beautiful, so I understand why everybody wants a piece of it. That being said, I believe that Israel is an apartheid state. I think that is highly problematic. I cannot advocate for equity and justice in New York City and turn a blind eye to the challenges around those issues in Israel and with the folks living in Gaza and in Palestine.”

Dianne Morales at a march for transgender rights. (Courtesy)

In a recent interview with Jewish Insider, however, Morales seemed hesitant to invoke the same feisty rhetoric. “The first thing that’s really important to say is that I really appreciate the opportunity to have taken that trip,” Morales said of her week-long excursion with the JCRC, which has been leading missions to Israel for more than two decades. “JCRC does really incredibly important work for the community of New Yorkers around leadership development and advocacy for the Jewish community, and I certainly look forward to continuing to support that work as mayor.”

But Morales admitted to harboring “really complicated feelings” about her visit. “I see myself as a champion for equal rights and protections under the law,” she said, without making mention of  “apartheid.” “I don’t think any child should be denied the right to a home or to their full potential and that everyone deserves to be free of state violence.” 

Even having softened her views somewhat, Morales’s public and private comments would almost certainly have come at a cost in previous mayoral races. Instead, it is Yang who has drawn intense feedback for his pro-Israel views. After his Monday night tweet, Yang found himself uninvited from a Ramadan event as pro-Palestinian activists disrupted a campaign stop in Queens. “Utterly shameful,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said of Yang’s comments.

By Wednesday morning, Yang had clarified his initial statement, sending out a white flag of contrition to his 1.9 million Twitter followers. “I mourn for every Palestinian life taken before its time as I do for every Israeli,” he said in a lengthy statement. 

“I’ve been to Israel, and I participated in what would be considered a propaganda trip,” Morales was recorded saying. “The country is beautiful, so I understand why everybody wants a piece of it. That being said, I believe that Israel is an apartheid state. I think that is highly problematic. I cannot advocate for equity and justice in New York City and turn a blind eye to the challenges around those issues in Israel and with the folks living in Gaza and in Palestine.”

Adams, too, has faced some criticism for defending Israel in the conflict with Gaza. Earlier this week, the Muslim Action Network announced that it was pulling its endorsement of Adams, claiming he had “failed to take a principled stance.”

For her part, Morales appears to be gaining a modicum of momentum as she slipstreams behind New York’s ascendant far-left, which has carved out prominent footholds at the state and federal levels in recent years. “We’ve been defying all kinds of expectations and also bucking the traditions as to what criteria you need to have in order to be considered viable or a contender,” she told JI. “This campaign is, in fact, resonating with New Yorkers.”

That boast comes with some supporting evidence. Having lagged behind her opponents in most polls, Morales suddenly found herself in third place with 12% of the vote, just four points behind Adams, who topped the list, according to a survey commissioned by the Hotel Trade Council’s political arm and released earlier this week. Those numbers suggest that the June 22 Democratic primary remains in flux as underdog candidates like Morales and Kathryn Garcia, the city’s former sanitation chief who received a surprise endorsement from the The New York Times on Monday, show signs of life. 

Further scrambling the dynamics, Scott Stringer, the city comptroller and until recently the leading progressive candidate in the race, was rocked by allegations of sexual assault that have hobbled his once formidable campaign. Morales, who has called for Stringer to withdraw his name from the ballot, believes his embattled position has likely pushed some voters to her side as she notches new endorsements that would otherwise have gone his way. 

“I think it’s freed people up who might have felt indebted to him to feel like they can back me or support me or be louder about supporting me,” Morales said, while making sure to add that her grassroots campaign would be cresting with or without the scandal. “We’re just starting to surge,” she said. “The groundwork for that has been laid over the course of the last year.”

***

Morales, a resident of Bedford-Stuyvesant, announced her campaign last November with the hope of becoming New York’s first Afro-Latina mayor. A former employee in the city’s Department of Education, she served for a decade as the executive director and CEO of Phipps Neighborhoods, an affordable housing nonprofit in the Bronx, before seeking office as a first-time candidate. “I spent my entire career actually working on the ground,” said Morales, casting herself as a candidate of the people, “helping communities that have just been historically disenfranchised, underserved, marginalized.”

“She was the most believable, transparent candidate that I met,” said Harvey Epstein, a state assemblyman in Manhattan who endorsed Morales in March. “She had a plan that was achievable and she had a track record that proved she could get things done.”

The platform Morales puts forth is unapologetically progressive, including a municipal Green New Deal, a public bank for underserved New Yorkers and a plan to provide free college education through the city’s public university system.

“She is predictably consistent on the left side of the spectrum,” said David Bloomfield, a professor of education at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, “opposing screens in school admissions, looking toward a highly collaborative form of school governance that gives greater weight to community education councils and parents than most other candidates have indicated.”

Perhaps most notably, Morales is the only candidate in the race who wholeheartedly supports defunding the police. “I understand that the language of defunding is scary to some,” she acknowledged. “But what it really means is that we need to be investing in alternative services and supports for our community members.”

After a shooting in Times Square last weekend, most candidates struck a balance in their messaging on public safety, calling for robust policing while emphasizing a need for reform. But Morales rejects such rhetoric, notwithstanding a violent crime surge that has put many New Yorkers on edge as the city emerges from a destabilizing pandemic. “We’ve seen the escalation in violence despite the fact that there actually has been no real decrease in policing, despite the fact that Times Square is one of the most heavily surveilled communities in the city,” she argued. “I think that we have to debunk the idea that the police are actually creating safer communities.”

Morales advocates for a “multi-pronged” response amid an uptick in hate crimes against Jews and Asian-Americans. “I think antisemitism, anti-Asian violence, anti-Black violence, all of these things are rooted in white supremacy,” she said, while advocating for a humanistic approach to public education that embraces differences. “From a social perspective, I think we need to meet the needs of communities,” Morales continued. “I think the systems right now pit communities against each other and fosters this sort of us-them dynamic, and we need to actually counter that and really sort of lift up this perspective of solidarity and combating these things together.”

Dianne Morales at a rally for Breonna Taylor. (Courtesy)

“I truly believe that all communities that have been historically marginalized or oppressed or harmed deserve to be centered and prioritized moving forward, and to me, that includes the Jewish community,” Morales said, adding: “I understand the history of oppression and discrimination and exclusion and the fear that so often can instill in people. I’m committed to actually creating a safe city for all of us to coexist peacefully and with dignity.”

Morales’s message appears to be falling on receptive ears. Her coalition, she says, represents a diverse patchwork of New York City’s voting populace, including teachers, LGBTQ voters and Hispanic women. Unemployed workers, according to Morales, make up 30% of her donor base. Morales has also been buoyed by a passionate young fan base of volunteers as well as digitally savvy supporters who are enthusiastically promoting her campaign on social media.

Last month, Morales notched an endorsement from the Jewish Vote, the political arm of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, whose 6,000 members live mostly in New York. “We want to make sure that the next New York City mayor is fighting to really transform New York City and fighting for people who are working-class and fighting for racial justice,” Sasha Kesler, who sits on the Jewish Vote’s steering committee, told JI in an interview. “Dianne fit the bill.”

“We want a mayor who takes a firm, principled stance against forms of state violence, militarism and abuse,” Kesler added, expressing her appreciation for Morales’s recent comment on the conflict between Israel and Gaza. “That’s what she said in her message.”

JFREJ says it remains neutral on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, only opposing efforts to criminalize BDS on free speech grounds — and Morales echoed that view in conversation with JI.  “We should not create an environment that penalizes people’s right to organize and protest,” she said, adding: “That being said, that doesn’t mean I support hate or fear mongering or antisemitism. I don’t think that those two things are one and the same.”

“I truly believe that all communities that have been historically marginalized or oppressed or harmed deserve to be centered and prioritized moving forward, and to me, that includes the Jewish community.”

Asked for her personal stance on the BDS movement — which is rejected by almost every mayoral candidate in the race as well as by a number of the most progressive candidates now running for public office across the country — Morales was noncommittal. “As a candidate and the mayor of New York City, it’s less important what I believe than what I’m going to uphold for New Yorkers,” she said. “I am going to uphold that it not be criminalized.”

Morales was equally hesitant to weigh in on a controversial questionnaire, distributed last summer by the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, asking that City Council candidates pledge not to visit Israel. “I never actually saw the questionnaire,” she said. “But what I understood was that it was just poorly worded.”

Morales said she was open to visiting Israel again if she is elected —  something of a rite of passage for New York City mayors. Bill de Blasio, the outgoing two-term mayor, toured the Jewish state on a 48-hour trip in his second year in office. But Morales made clear that any future visit would likely be on her own terms. “I’m not opposed to visiting Israel,” she said. “I would want to do that independently rather than through any kind of sponsored trip because I think it’s important to being able to maintain my own sort of independence, judgment and decision-making.”

Ultimately, Morales was reluctant to discuss such issues in much depth, despite her apparent readiness to speak out on social media and in at least one private forum. “I don’t want to distract from the race that I am in,” she said. “If I had wanted to get mired in the international stuff, I’d probably run for a different thing.”

But while New York City mayors wield no direct influence over foreign policy, Morales may discover that the scope of the job is broader than she expects. 

“There was a time in New York City politics, years back, that if you ran for mayor you had to go immediately and visit the three ‘I’s: Italy, Ireland and Israel,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic consultant in New York. “Now the ethnic population has shifted, so what’s left? Just one ‘I,’ and that’s Israel.”

On Tuesday, 16 candidates will battle to appear on the November ballot to fill an open seat in California’s 53rd congressional district. Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA), who has represented the San Diego-area district since 2001, announced in September that she would not seek reelection.

The candidates: Frontrunners include San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez and Sara Jacobs — a former Hillary Clinton campaign aide and State Department contractor. Jacobs, who ran in the nearby 49th district in 2018, is the granddaughter of billionaire Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs. California’s “jungle primary” means that only the top two candidates — regardless of party — will advance to the general election.

What to expect on Tuesday: It’s “really a two-way race” between Jacobs and Gomez, Thad Kousser, a political science professor at the University of California San Diego, told Jewish Insider. “But right now [Gomez] looks like the underdog” to Jacobs, who has benefited from a large budget and name recognition from her previous run. A strong Republican challenger could capitalize on a split Democratic field to snag a general election spot, but the party has not united around one candidate, Kousser said, adding that Tuesday’s results will likely be a strong predictor of the general election.

Fundraising: Jacobs has raised more than $2 million — over $500,000 of it self-funded. Gomez comes in second, with over $660,000, followed by Marine veteran, activist and public policy consultant Janessa Goldbeck, who has raised approximately $248,500 — more than double what the next competitor has pulled in.

Jacobs’ Foggy Bottom experience: “I felt like it was important we had someone who’d had the experience that I’ve had making and implementing public policy at the federal level representing us,” Jacobs said in an interview with Jewish Insider. In Congress, Jacobs, a supporter of Medicare for All, said she would prioritize gun violence and lowering the high cost of living in San Diego.

Learning tikkun olam: “I was taught from a young age that it was my personal responsibility to do everything that I could to repair the world, and that’s really something that has informed and guided my career decisions,” Jacobs said.

When it comes to Israel: “I understand from a very personal level, the need for a safe and secure Israel and, personally, I think that the biggest threat to Israel’s security long term is the lack of a negotiated settlement,” Jacobs, who has family in the country and has visited on multiple occasions, told JI.

Gomez’s priorities: Gomez hopes to “go to D.C. to bring more money to our region so we can address some of the inequalities we’re facing,” she said at a recent candidate forum, listing housing and the climate crisis among her core issues.

Working toward peace: “Achieving a two-state solution, something I strongly support, means the U.S. playing a central role in working towards peace, safety, and self-determination for both peoples,” Gomez wrote in an op-ed for the San Diego Jewish World, which also addressed conditioning aid to the Jewish state. “Threatening to withold aid from Israel, or the Palestinian Authority… jeopardizes Israel’s ability to defend its security, promotes instability and extremism, and undermines U.S. credibility,” she said, adding that she opposes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

Goldbeck’s candidacy: “I believe that San Diego deserves a representative in Washington who has a proven track record of getting things done on Capitol Hill, and has the courage to stand up to corruption and special interests in Washington,” Goldbeck told Jewish Insider. She’s prioritizing the climate, gun violence and healthcare — she prefers a “Medicare for All Who Want It” public option.

Shared values: In a statement to JI, Goldbeck praised Israel’s standing as a U.S. ally. “Israel is a beacon of shared interests and values in a critically strategic region,” Goldbeck said. “She embodies the American values of democracy, pluralism, and the rule of law.”