J Street Hires Former Obama Official As Political Director
Coming of Age? J Street and its leader Jeremy Ben-Ami have spent five years trying to gain traction for their dovish message on Israel. Does this year?s conference show it has finally won a spot at the communal table? Image by j street
(JTA) — J Street has hired a former senior Obama administration official to serve as its national political director.
Aaron Davis worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, in its Congressional Affairs Division for five years.
The liberal Jewish Middle East lobby announced the hiring on Tuesday.
Davis will oversee JStreetPAC’s efforts to elect J Street-endorsed candidates to Congress in the 2018 midterm elections.
Prior to joining FEMA, he held several positions on Capitol Hill, including as legislative director for former U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa.
Davis succeeds Ben Shnider, who is running for a seat on the Montgomery County Council in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.
In 2016, JStreetPAC raised an organizational record of over $3.5 million and endorsed 126 candidates.
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