Jonathan Jacobson defeated incumbent Connecticut state representative Anabel Figueroa 62.6% (600 votes) to 37.4% (358 votes) in the Democratic primary for the state’s 148th District on Tuesday night, per unofficial results posted on the website of the Connecticut secretary of state.
Jacobson, who is Jewish, faced an antisemitic attack from Figueroa that an Anti-Defamation League staffer called “chilling.”
“The Hispanic vote is going to determine on Aug. 13 who will win to represent or who will continue to represent you,” Figueroa said in Spanish during an interview. “We cannot permit a person who is of Jewish origin, of Jewish origin, to represent our community. It’s impossible.”
“Chilling to hear a state legislator in Connecticut openly say: ‘We cannot permit a person who is of Jewish origin to represent our community,’” wrote Jonathan Allen, who works in government relations at the ADL. “She just lost her primary with only 37% to her Jewish opponent, Jonathan Jacobson, who received 63% of the vote.”
“It’s a bad night for antisemites in Connecticut,” wrote Rabbi Elchanan Poupko, an educator and writer. “Hate doesn’t win.”
“Rep Figueroa’s statement was outrageous and her apology equivocal,” the ADL Connecticut office said. “To accuse Jewish politicians of being unable to represent all constituents is unacceptable.”
The Stamford Advocate reported that the remarks from Figueroa, who is a member of the Democratic City Committee, “circulated after a supporter, Stamford DCC member Eva Padilla, described Jacobson in Spanish as ‘the Israeli lawyer’ or ‘the Israelite lawyer,’ depending on the translation, in a Facebook post Monday.”
Earlier in the day, the committee’s executive board called on Figueroa to resign.
“The use of this blatant antisemitic and anti-democratic language is abhorrent, unacceptable and contrary to our shared values as Democrats. The sentiments expressed by Rep. Figueroa in that video contradict the statement she issued yesterday in response to the antisemitic Facebook post shared by a DCC member, who is also one of her supporters,” the committee said.
“This shameful behavior not only demonstrates a lack of integrity and character but makes Anabel Figueroa unfit to serve in office, and we call on her to resign immediately as a member of the Stamford Democratic City Committee,” it added.
