SAN DIEGO (SDJW staff) — Reactions from Jewish organizations and politicians almost immediately began to hit our email box after Vice President Kamala Harris announced she wanted Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket.
Halie Sofer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, had this to say: ” Vice President Harris has selected her running mate – Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota. The Vice President was looking for a partner with a proven record of fighting for the middle class, bringing people together, and getting things done, and that’s Gov. Tim Walz. Currently serving his second term, Governor Walz previously served six terms in Congress. He is a military veteran who has a strong record on every issue of importance to Jewish voters, including Israel.
“Walz is a champion of our Jewish values. Under his leadership, Minnesotans have benefited from historic legislation that safeguarded abortion rights, expanded gun violence prevention, restored voting rights, combated climate change, and protected American workers. He has stood with Israel in Congress and as governor, including since the horrific Hamas attack on October 7, and has been an outspoken advocate in the fight against antisemitism.
“Governor Walz is an exceptional choice.Don’t take our word for it. Read more from those who know him best, the Minneapolis Jewish community, and our very own Minneapolis-based Board member, Beth Kieffer Leonard, who stated: ‘As a Minnesotan, I can attest to the fact that Governor Tim Walz has always stood with the Jewish community. Walz has built strong ties and partnerships with Jewish Americans, and he has fought for our shared values, first as a member of Congress and now as governor.
‘We are confident he will continue to do so as vice president and are proud of his strong record supporting Israel and combating antisemitism. Governor Walz has stood with the Jewish community on every key issue and supported Israel at every point while in public office.’
“JDCA’s Chair, former Rep. Ron Klein, who served with Walz in Congress, said: ‘Having been elected at the same time and served in Congress with Tim Walz, I can attest to the fact that Tim Walz has taken on Republican extremists before and won, and we’re confident that he and Vice President Harris will do so again this November with the strong support of Jewish American voters.’
Vice President Harris and Governor Walz align with the vast majority of Jewish voters on every key issue, and we deeply admire Gov. Walz’s impassioned defense of our values, including reproductive rights and defending our democracy, from attack by MAGA Republicans led by Donald Trump and JD Vance.
“Over the next 89 days, the Harris-Walz ticket will make the case to the American people about their record of results and vision for the future. For Jewish Americans, the choice in this election could not be more clear. We’re confident that overwhelming support from Jewish American voters will make the difference in ensuring their victory in November. ”
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J Street — Jeremy Ben-Ami, President of J Street, said: “With his good humor and fighting spirit, Tim Walz is an excellent choice. We know he’ll be a powerful and energizing messenger in the fight to protect democracy and defeat Donald Trump and JD Vance.
“JStreetPAC shattered our political fundraising record on the day we endorsed Kamala Harris, with our community coming together like never before to support her campaign.
“We know the Harris-Walz team will stand up for our shared values, protect our community, and pursue smart, pro-Israel, pro-peace leadership abroad. We’re all in.”
Note: As Congressman, Rep. Walz was a J Street endorsee.
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Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California): “I know Governor Tim Walz well from our service together in Congress. He is tough, smart, principled, and effective. As a veteran, Walz worked to support military families and veterans during his time in Congress. He has been a strong leader for Minnesota and has made a profound difference in people’s lives, and is always focused on delivering real results for people. He will never shy away from standing up to MAGA extremists and calling out Donald Trump and JD Vance on their backward policies and hateful rhetoric.
“Governor Walz has made progress even when it’s hard, from fighting to cut child poverty and ensuring that all kids have access to healthy school meals, to establishing a child tax credit for all Minnesota families, to delivering new investments in education.
“Governor Walz will be a perfect complement to the Harris ticket, and hugely effective on the campaign trail in key states. With his plain-spoken demeanor, he knows how to advocate common sense policies that improve the lives of all Americans.
“Harris-Walz will be well equipped to deliver a clear vision for the future, and contrast that forward-looking message with the dark and shambolic horror show that is Trump-Vance. The Democratic Party is energized, unified, and ready to mobilize to elect our two incredible leaders.
“I look forward to doing my part to elect the Harris-Walz ticket – and to banish Donald Trump to the dustbin of history once and for all. Let’s go win this thing.”
Note: Schiff is a runoff candidate in California’s U.S. Senate contest against Republican Steve Garvey.
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Republican Jewish Coalition — RJC CEO Matt Brooks said: “The chaos swirling around Kamala Harris’s selection of her running mate has laid bare the serious fissures in the Democratic Party. The loud and ascendent voices on the hard Left of today’s Democratic Party should terrify every Jewish American. For weeks, various Democrats have attempted to derail PA Governor Josh Shapiro’s nomination to the national ticket – some going so far as to invoke vile antisemitic tropes. They succeeded: Josh Shapiro was too Jewish and too pro-Israel for today’s Democratic Party.
“By selecting MN Governor Tim Walz instead, Kamala Harris has confirmed what many of us already knew: the Democratic Party is being held hostage by the progressive, anti-Israel Left. What a shanda.”
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SDJW staff report
I find it hard to believe that Shapiro wasn’t chosen because of his religion.
I, the lowly individual am also more than discouraged by Harris shuning 19 electoral votes in a swing state because Mr. Shaprio is Jewish. I would not surprise me if the anti Semitic mayor of Chicago “Couldn’t guarantee safety” at the convention if Harris picked Shapiro. Harris caved. Iran, Hamas and many others know it. While I like Harris on the environment, the destruction to our planet left by war is a large factor. I can’t vote for Trump. While he is the best for Israel, I fear his environmental policies and Project 2025.
For those old enough to remember, I was immediately reminded of how my family (my father a distinguished rabbi and first principal of Flatbush Yeshiva High School, and my mother who served as assustant principal of Beth Riivka in the 1950s) felt when President Johnson cajoled Associate Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg to leave his venerated position on the US Supreme Court to serve as US Ambassador to the UN on the pretext that he was urgently needed to effectuate an ending to the Vietnam War. Everyone in the Jewish community knew that getting Arthur Goldberg to step down from his eminent position on the US Supreme Court was to rid the Court of a Jew. It’s a given that with all our advances we still maintain the handmaiden status in the US. We are an appurtenance, an assistant, but never first place. It’s painful for me to write these words. Our “minority” status appears inexorable. Josh Shapiro had leadership, drive, charisma, congeniality —all the qualities that one would assume would have allowed him to break the glass ceiling. But he couldn’t. This is a truism that is both perplexing and perturbing to me because as a sociologist I struggle for answers to why American society allows Jews to rise but quickly presses the “shutoff valve” right before ascension to the highest levels of leadership. We have a Jewish Attorney General and a Jewish Secretary of State. Hope for a Jewish VP with ambition to one day become our first Jewish president was shattered on Tuesday morning, a day that harkens back to 1965 when Arthur Goldberg was pressured to step down from US Supreme Court. I’m deeply saddened by what happened to Governor Shapiro. But I’m even more saddened by its sociological implications for us as a nation that is based on freedom and equality for all men (and women) including Jewish men.
Amy Neustein, Ph.D.