In a low-profile electoral upset that defied the difficult national political environment facing the GOP, a Republican candidate declared victory this week in a down-ballot race for a seat on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in Virginia — for the first time in nearly 40 years.

But while Republicans are now rejoicing over their narrow win, it otherwise largely demonstrated how Democratic leaders effectively sacrificed the seat to the GOP rather than elevate an extremist member of their own party who had claimed the nomination.

The result underscored the extent to which local Democrats had swiftly mobilized to oppose their own nominee, Muhammed Casim, who faced backlash over a series of recently uncovered past social media comments in which he used racist, misogynistic and antisemitic language. The posts, written more than a decade ago, used the n-word as well as demeaning rhetoric targeting women. He also accused Israel of genocide and promoted a conspiratorial post about U.S. financial assistance to the Jewish state, among other extreme comments.

More broadly, the outcome is an atypical example of how the Democratic Party worked to meaningfully confront extremism within its own ranks, even if its efforts came at the expense of an easily winnable local seat that instead flipped to Republicans for the first time in decades. 

Casim apologized for his comments but refused bipartisan calls to drop out of the race, which had motivated a Democratic challenger to launch a write-in campaign that ultimately helped siphon votes away from his embattled bid. He lost to Republican Jeannie LaCroix by a margin of 258 votes. Write-in candidates pulled in 744 votes — a relatively sizable total that appeared to have made a difference in the closely contested race.

“Opposing antisemitism, racism or misogyny isn’t a partisan position,” Marc Broklawski, a Jewish vice chair of the Virginia Democratic Party, told Jewish Insider on Wednesday. “It’s a floor, not a ceiling, and the least we should expect from any party, official candidate or voter. When Democrats hold that floor even when it’s costly, that’s something to be proud of. When we don’t, voters notice that too.”

Casim’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Though some prominent Democrats have sought to reject radicalism in their party, many Jewish party activists have begun to express a growing sense of unease about whether their longtime political home will remain welcoming, amid rising hostility toward Israel that has frequently crossed into antisemitism while producing alliances with controversial figures.

This week, for instance, leading Jewish groups spoke out against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s decision to host Mahmoud Khalil, the campus anti-Israel activist facing deportation who had justified Hamas’ terror attacks, for dinner at his official residence, while Democratic officials largely stayed silent. 

Likewise, a mounting number of Senate Democrats have endorsed Graham Platner in his insurgent bid for Senate in Maine, brushing aside concerns about a recently covered Nazi tattoo whose provenance he has struggled to explain as well as associations with antisemitic conspiracy theorists that have continued to raise alarms among many Jewish party members.

And in Virginia, Jewish Democrats have denounced an anti-Israel state legislator, Sam Rasoul, who has called Zionism “evil” and a “supremacist ideology,” even as high-ranking state party officials have been reluctant to weigh in on his incendiary commentary.

By contrast, several Jewish activists and party strategists said they were encouraged that most Democratic leaders had enforced red lines in the Virginia supervisor election. Even if the party had been forced to endure a short-term hit in losing the seat, they suggested, it was healthy to set standards — particularly in a time of rising extremism on both sides of the aisle.

“Virginia Democratic leaders were clearly repulsed by Muhammed Casim’s racist, misogynistic and antisemitic social media posts,” Sara Forman, a Jewish party strategist who previously worked in the state, told JI. “Their actions, including calling Casim out publicly, should send a strong signal nationally that the entirety of the Democratic Party has not capitulated to the leftist narrative entirely.”

Such opposition was not unanimous, however, as the local party accepted Casim’s apology and said it would stand behind his campaign. “There’s a lesson in there about the integrity of voters and the lack of integrity — and therefore weakened legacy — among some Dem leaders,” Shannon Watts, a gun control activist who has also criticized Platner, wrote in an X post on Wednesday.

“Leadership means speaking out clearly and consistently against antisemitism, racism, misogyny, and not only when it is easy, but especially when it is not — and from whomever,” Eileen Filler-Corn, a Jewish Democrat and former speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates, told JI. “These values should unite us. We can disagree on policy and politics, but standing against hate and discrimination in all forms should never be up for debate. Our credibility with voters depends on our willingness to apply that standard fairly and without hesitation.”

Still, with most Democratic elected officials in the county refusing to support Casim after his posts had surfaced near the end of the race, nonpartisan Jewish leaders and members of both parties voiced satisfaction regarding the strong show of resistance.

“We think it is imperative that both parties call out the fringe and hateful elements in their own parties, so we’re certainly glad to see the Democratic Party do it in this instance — especially when it was hard and cost them a seat,” Vicki Fishman, the director of Virginia government and community relations at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, told JI. “It’s an important lesson for everybody that hate is hate, and when you see the ugly rhetoric in your own house for what it is, it’s important to call it out.”

Gary Katz, a Jewish Republican activist in nearby Loudoun County, said he was “encouraged by the outcome” of Tuesday’s race, “where principled voices within the Democratic Party chose to reject a nominee whose past comments reflected racism, misogyny and antisemitism — even at the risk of losing the seat to a Republican.”

He said the dynamic “mirrors efforts we’ve seen in the GOP, such as in Fairfax County, to keep hateful elements from gaining leadership roles,” referring to a recent election where Republicans beat back an extreme candidate for county chair who had spread antisemitic conspiracy theories. 

“It’s a reminder that combating the rising scourge of antisemitism requires people of good conscience in both parties to prioritize our shared values over partisan wins,” Katz told JI on Wednesday. “We need more of this vigilance to ensure that extreme fringes on either side never hold power, and that we support responsible leadership, even when we disagree politically, rather than those who align with us but betray our core principles.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism from Democratic leaders over his delayed and muted response to last week’s pro-Hamas protest in Queens that caused nearby schools and a synagogue to close early in anticipation of the demonstration, where dozens of masked protesters chanted “We support Hamas” near the synagogue. 

Democratic elected officials across New York — including left-wing politicians hostile to Israel, like Mamdani ally and former City Comptroller Brad Lander — were quick to release statements condemning the support for Hamas that was on display at the demonstration, which was organized by the group Palestinian Assembly for Liberation, [PAL]-Awda, to protest an event held by CapitIL, a Jerusalem-based real estate agency. 

The event was held at the Modern Orthodox synagogue Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills. 

A flyer promoting the protest, which took place on a residential street about half a block from the synagogue, called the meeting an “illegal event” promoting “blatant land theft and dispossession.” Keffiyeh-clad demonstrators also chanted “There is only one solution, intifada revolution,” “Globalize the intifada,” and “Death to the IDF” for more than two hours while banging on drums. 

“Let’s be crystal clear: this is vile antisemitism,” Lander, who is running to unseat Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) as a Mamdani-endorsed challenger in New York’s 10th Congressional District, said on Friday morning. “This should not have to be said: you can oppose land sales in the West Bank, without supporting terrorism & the mass murder of Jews.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who endorsed Mamdani in the mayoral election, also weighed in on Friday morning, saying, “Hamas is a terrorist organization that calls for the genocide of Jews. No matter your political beliefs, this type of rhetoric is disgusting, it’s dangerous, and it has no place in New York,”  

New York Attorney General Letitia James said Friday midday, “Hamas is a terrorist organization. We do not support terrorists. Period.”

Other New York Democratic leaders who condemned the protest quickly and directly on Thursday and Friday included New York City Comptroller Mark Levine, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Reps. Grace Meng and Ritchie Torres. 

But the newly inaugurated mayor remained silent Thursday night and much of the following day regarding the demonstration, which marked his first major test in protecting the city’s Jewish community. 

His spokesperson did not respond to multiple inquiries from Jewish Insider on Thursday, including one asking whether the mayor’s team had discouraged demonstrators from protesting and another, immediately after the event, asking if he condemned any of the slogans chanted. 

Mamdani broke his silence late in the afternoon on Friday when he was asked about the protesters’ pro-Hamas chant by Politico reporter Jason Beeferman while leaving a campaign event in Brooklyn for Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed candidate Claire Valdez, who is running for a Brooklyn-Queens congressional seat held by Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) 

“That language is wrong,” Mamdani replied while walking to a car after the event. “I think that language has no place in New York City.”

Mamdani later followed up with an additional statement just after Shabbat started in New York: “As I made clear, the rhetoric and displays that we saw and heard in Kew Gardens Hills last night are wrong and have no place in our city,” he said. “My team is in close touch with the NYPD regarding last night’s protest and counterprotest. We will continue to ensure New Yorkers’ safety entering and exiting houses of worship as well as the constitutional right to protest.”

On Saturday, when asked at a press conference why he didn’t “condemn both sides,” Mamdani answered, “I absolutely have an opposition to the sale of land in the West Bank. It’s a violation of international law and that comes from my belief in the importance of following international law.”  

“It’s been a distressing few months for Jews everywhere. I appreciated the mayor’s statement,” Democratic strategist Chris Coffey told JI. “Could it have come earlier? Sure. But being mayor in the first week is pure pandemonium and chaos. The important part is that he got it right.” 

But Mamdani’s eventual response was met with continued concern from Jewish leaders over its delay and neglect to specifically condemn Hamas. In a sign of the far-left character of his political base, he also received criticism from DSA-aligned allies in his own camp for criticizing the protest. 

“It’s a step up from his statement [after the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks in Israel], which failed to even mention Hamas. Still, it’s concerning that it takes the mayor of the city with the largest population of Jews outside of Israel nearly 24 hours to condemn blatant antisemitism when every other major elected in New York found the time,” Democratic state Assemblymember Sam Berger, who represents the district where the protest took place, told JI on Sunday. 

Another Democratic Queens assemblymember, Nily Rozic, told JI, “It shouldn’t take the mayor [nearly] 24 hours to condemn an antisemitic protest layered in antisemitism, let alone one that openly supports terror organizations.” 

Rozic expressed dismay over the timing of the statement after Shabbat.  

“If the mayor were genuine in his concern over Jewish safety he would have acted with urgency and not waited so long, when most of those impacted wouldn’t see his statement until long after,” she told JI.  

“I am a vocal & passionate support[er] of Mamdani’s,” Adam Carlson, founding partner of the polling group Zenith Polls, wrote on X. “But I’ve waited patiently all day for him to forcefully condemn Hamas — watching dozens of other city & state electeds do so — and am still waiting. This is not only hurtful to me, but it’s bad politics & distracts from his agenda.”

New York magazine writer David Freedlander posted screenshots on X of texts sent to him on Friday afternoon from two city political operatives, both “broadly supportive of Mamdani.” 

The messages were identical: “Zohran is completely blowing this pro-Hamas protest thing.”