Jacky Rosen, Former Synagogue President, Wins Nevada Senate Seat

Rep. Jacky Rosen

By JTA November 7, 2018

(JTA) — Jacky Rosen, a former synagogue president and a freshman Democratic Congresswoman from Nevada, defeated sitting Sen. Dean Heller.

Rosen defeated Heller with 50.8 percent of the vote to Heller’s 45 percent.

Rosen, a former software developer, was talked into running by former Sen. Harry Reid, who believed she was the likeliest challenger to unseat Republican incumbent Dean Heller.

Reid, who retired last year as the party leader in the Senate, remains a powerhouse in Nevada politics and still has a say in whom the party advances.

Prior to her successful congressional run last year, Rosen’s only elective experience was as president of Ner Tamid, a Reform synagogue in suburban Las Vegas.

The focus of Rosen’s campaign has been education — the public school system in Nevada is notoriously underfunded — and the environment. She has taken a centrist pro-Israel line, saying she would have opposed the 2015 Iran nuclear pact.

Following Heller’s phone call to concede, Rosen tweeted: “Thank you, Senator Heller for your many years of public service to our state.”

Thank you, Senator Heller for your many years of public service to our state. https://t.co/BkZwqMl1bs

— Jacky Rosen (@RosenforNevada) November 7, 2018

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO