The top two Senate Democrats in the next Congress may both be Jewish.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), one of 10 Jews in the current Senate, said that he would seek to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) as the Democratic whip, the No. 2 post in the caucus. Durbin announced last week that he would not seek re-election next year.
The current caucus head is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is Jewish.
Schatz, 52, has been Durbin’s chief deputy whip. He is the first senator to announce he would run for the whip position.
He told The Washington Post, which was the first to report that he is running, that he would focus on the work of shaping the floor debate with the majority of Republicans. He said he would be like a basketball player who always dives after loose balls or gets into physical jousting with opponents to get himself in a position to rebound an errant shot.
“Not everybody loves the aspect of politics that occurs on the floor,” he told the Post. “This is where I think I can be most useful.”
Another Jewish Democrat, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), is supporting Schatz’s candidacy, as are Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
Others mentioned for the post, according to published reports, are Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.).
Schatz and Durbin were two of the 14 Democrats who voted with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on the latter’s effort earlier this month to cut off some military aid to Israel.
