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Jewish Democrats Pick Up 5 Seats — Led By Big Gains In Suburbs

By Dave Goldiner November 7, 2018

Jewish Democrats were poised to make major gains in the House of Representatives, eying at least five pickups from Republicans.

Led by a shocking upset win for veteran Max Rose on Staten Island and wins across suburbs nationwide, Jewish candidates were set to take 28 seats in the House, compared to 23 now. That’s a historic 23% boost.

Jacky Rosen, who retired from her House seat to run for Senate, was locked in a tight battle in Nevada.

Elaine Luria pulled off a major upset to win a narrow victory in a Virginia Beach-based district.

Dean Phillips, whose grandmother was advice columnist Dear Abby pulled off a comfortable win in the Minneapolis suburbs.

Susan Wild won a thumping victory in the Lehigh Valley, and Andy Levin captured his father’s Michigan seat.

Mike Levin was considered a shoo-in to grab a seat in Southern California after the GOP incumbent Darrell Issa condeded he would win.

Pediatrician Kim Schrier opened up a big lead in polls in her suburban Seattle seat. But mail-in votes can still be counted Wednesday or later.

Elissa Slotkin grabbed a lead late in her fight to grab a Michigan seat from incumbent GOP Rep. Mike Bishop.

All Jewish Democratic incumbents won their seats by wide margins, including stalwarts like Debbie Wasserman Schultz in south Florida and Jerry Nadler in New York.

Meanwhile, Kathy Manning fell short in a North Carolina district. Dana Balter, whose grandparents were Holocaust survivors, was trailing in a Syracuse area seat.

Two Florida Democrats — Lauren Baer in a district north of Palm Beach, and David Shapiro on the Gulf Coast — fell to GOP incubents by about 10% margins.

Two Republican Jews were set to return to Congress, with Lee Zeldin pulling ahead by a fairly wide margin over Jewish Democrat Perry Gershon on Long Island’s East End.

One Jewish Republican, Lena Epstein, failed in her bid to replace hold onto a Republican seat in Michigan. She took a torrent of bad publicity for inviting a Messianic Jewish “rabbi” to pray for the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack at a campaign rally.

Dave Goldiner is the Forward’s director of digital media. Dave is a veteran journalist who has spent two decades working at newspapers in the United States and Africa. A native New Yorker, Goldiner wrote for the New York Daily News, where he covered some of the biggest stories of our time, including the attacks of September 11, along with thousands of stories of hope and heartbreak. He also studied and worked in Southern Africa and has written for publications in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He holds masters degrees in journalism and public administration from Columbia University. Dave can be reached at [email protected], or follow him on Twitter @davegoldiner

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