U.S. Elections
From triumph to tragedy, 2018 was a busy year for U.S. Jewry. Take a look at what JNS is naming the top five stories of the year.
“Now, you may not have known this from my name, Lopez-Cantera, but I’m Jewish. My father came from Cuba, but he married a nice Jewish girl in Miami, and I followed suit,” says Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera.
Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York have exhibited anti-Israel sentiment and actions that will influence some, be it their constituents or their colleagues in Congress.
The congressman has been a steadfast supporter of the State of Israel.
Between $500,000 and $600,000 was raised for Republican Denver Riggleman by a “loose functional of pro-Israel donors,” with Democratic House candidate Leslie Cockburn’s anti-Israel past a major factor.
The political action committee of the left-wing Israel group J Street batted just under 43 percent on Tuesday night, as most of their endorsed candidates in competitive races wound up losing their bid.
At the state level, recent polls have shown that Jewish voters are more concerned with domestic issues, such as affordable health care, the economy, education, and social safety-net programs like Medicare and Social Security, than they are Israel.
Considering that the Israel—and increasingly, the rest of the Middle East—has become more of a partisan issue, GOP control of the Senate is key for President Donald Trump to continue his policies, many of which have clearly favored Israel.
Despite the election of certain pro-BDS candidates, the heads of committees significant for furthering policy related to the Mideast and Israel are mainstream Democrats: New York’s Eliot Engel for Foreign Affairs, and Nita Lowey, also from New York, for Appropriations.
As the race for control of Congress heads down the home stretch, many experts and pundits are predicting an end to the seven-year Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
Issues related to Israel have come up on the state level with such as efforts to pass anti-BDS measures, which have been approved by 25 states in recent years.
“Those settlements make it so that it can’t be,” said Antonio Delgado, who is running against Republican Rep. John Faso in New York’s 19th Congressional District.
