Jacky Rosen, Former Synagogue President, Wins Nevada Senate Seat
Rep. Jacky Rosen
(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
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
