Updated Nov. 7, 2024
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — Jews, both on and off the ballot, were winners and losers Tuesday, Nov. 5, with former President Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. When he returns to the White House on Jan. 20, 2025, Trump will go down in history as the nation’s 45th and 47th President. Only one previous President, Grover Cleveland, also served two non-consecutive terms as the 23rd and 25th President. Similarly, historians will compare President Joe Biden to President Benjamin Harrison, whose single term was bracketed by Cleveland’s two terms.
Trump’s victory will return his Jewish daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner to their unofficial positions as “First Daughter” and “First Son-in-Law.” It also precluded Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Harris, from stepping up from “Second Gentleman” to “First Gentleman.”
Republicans capturing a majority in the U.S. Senate will demote Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, from Majority Leader to Minority Leader, assuming the Democratic Caucus reelects him to his leadership role for the next term of Congress.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California) easily won his U.S. Senate race against Republican baseball legend Steve Garvey, and Elissa Slotkin, another member of the House of Representatives, eked out a victory over Republican Mike Rogers to become the next U.S. Senator from Michigan. Meanwhile, Jacky Rosen, an incumbent U.S. Senator from Nevada, and her Republican challenger Sam Brown were neck-and-neck as ballot counting continued Wednesday morning, but by Thursday, it was apparent that Rosen had eked out victory. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, was overwhelmingly reelected to a fourth term over the challenge of Republican Gerald Malloy.
The Senate lost one of its Jewish members with the retirement of Ben Cardin of Maryland, but Jewish senators whose 6-year terms stretched beyond this Election Day include Democrats Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Schumer, and Ron Wyden of Oregon. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado is the son of a Jewish mother and Christian father but he says he doesn’t identify with either religion.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein brought to five the number of Jews who are governors of their states, winning election over Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. Other Jews serving as governors are two Joshes — Josh Green of Hawaii and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania — and curiously enough, two others whose names (or initials) start with the letter “J” — Jared Polis of Colorado and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois. All five are Democrats.
Republicans and Democrats contested for control of the House of Representatives, with Democrats needing to have a net gain of four seats to wrest control of the House from the GOP, which seemed increasingly unlikely as ballot counting continued beyond election day. Among Jewish members, four did not seek reelection to the House — Schiff and Slotkin because they were running for the U.S. Senate; Dean Phillips of Minnesota because he ran for President; and Kathy Manning of North Carolina who chose to retire rather than run in a district reapportioned by her state’s Republican legislature. California Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, a Democrat, won Schiff’s old Los Angeles-area House seat, defeating Republican Alex Balekian.
A Jewish casualty in Tuesday’s election was Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pennsylvania), who lost to Republican challenger Ryan Mackenzie. In Colorado, Adam Frisch, who lost narrowly in 2022 to Republican Lauren Boebert, appeared to be narrowly losing again, this time to Republican Jeff Hurd. Here in California, Rep. Mike Levin (D-San Diego and Orange Counties) was ahead in a tight race with Republican car dealer Matt Gunderson. Levin has a Jewish father and a Catholic mother, whose religion he follows.
Elsewhere in San Diego County, Rep. Sara Jacobs cruised to victory over the Republican challenge of El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells.
In Texas, meanwhile, Craig Goldman who won an open seat, became the third Jewish Republican who will serve in the next Congress, joining incumbent Reps. David Kustoff of Tennessee and Max Miller of Ohio. Democrat Eugene Vindman was leading Republican Derrick Anderson for the seat left open when Democrat Abigail Spanberger decided to become a candidate in Virginia’s 2025 gubernatorial race. Vindman declared victory on Wednesday, but Anderson declined to concede until final results are in.
Democratic congressmembers winning reelection were Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts; Becca Balint of Vermont, Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon, Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Lois Frankel of Florida, Daniel Goldman of New York, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Greg Landsman of Ohio, Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island; Jared Moskowitz of Florida; Jerrold Nadler of New York, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Brad Schneider of Illinois, Kim Schrier of Washington, Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida; and Brad Sherman of California (Los Angeles).
In races for the California Legislature, incumbent Democratic State Senators Scott Wiener, Josh Becker, and Henry Stern won reelection, while incumbent Josh Newman (D-Orange County) was defeated by Republican Steven Choi. Democratic State Sen. Steve Glazer was ineligible for reelection due to term limits, and Democratic State Sen. Ben Allen‘s term extends beyond this election. In the 23rd Senatorial District, Republican Suzette Martinez Valladares defeated Democrat Kip Mueller.
Meanwhile, in Assembly races, these Jewish Democrats were reelected: Dawn Addis, Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Marc Berman, Jesse Gabriel, Matt Haney, and Josh Lowenthal. In the 6th Assembly District, Maggie Krell, a Democrat, defeated Nikki Ellis, a Republican. In the 26th District, Patrick Ahrens defeated Tara Sreekrishnan in an all-Democratic runoff. Democrat Christy Holstege in the 47th District finished ahead of Republican Greg Wallis in semi-official results that will be augmented by mail-in and provisional ballots. Assembly Districts are numbered from north to south, with District 1 adjacent to the Oregon border and District 80, in San Diego County, adjacent to the Mexican border.
Local races in San Diego County found County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer winning reelection over former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer. Lawson-Remer is a Democrat and Faulconer a Republican although county supervisor is a non-partisan office. Similarly, Republican Supervisor Joel Anderson turned back a challenge from Democrat Gina Jacobs. Meanwhile, San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera was reelected in the 9th Councilmanic District, defeating challenger Terry Hoskins.
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World