Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Lone Jewish Republican in Congress Cruising Toward Reelection — Despite Donald Trump

In an election cycle that carries very little good news for Republicans and even less for Jewish Republicans, there’s a glimpse of hope on Long Island.

Lee Zeldin, the only Jewish Republican currently serving in Congress, is on track to keep his seat, according to a recent Newsday/Sienna College poll. Zeldin, according to the poll, holds a 53 to 38 percent lead over his Democratic challenger Anna Throne-Holst.

This is Zeldin’s first reelection campaign since being elected to Congress in 2014. The poll found he is doing a better job than his challenger in attracting voters from his own base and that he is more recognized by voters than Throne-Holst.

Zeldin has been an early supporter of Donald Trump and has thus far rejected calls to drop his endorsement. But while other GOP candidates nationwide had felt that their support for the presidential candidate is creating a drag on their own campaign, Zeldin did not seem to suffer any backlash from his decision to stand by Trump. In his district, which includes central Long Island, Zeldin is outperforming the Republican presidential candidate, who is polling at just 43%.

After the 2014 surprise primary loss of former House Majority Leaders Eric Cantor, Zeldin remained the only Jewish Republican in Congress. However, Jewish GOP activists are hoping that David Kustoff will win a seat in Tennessee to join Zeldin in the House of Representatives.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

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.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.