New York Jewish Week: Jewish Vote ‘Could Be Pivotal’ In Closely Watched Florida Races

November 1, 2018

By Stewart Ain

The belief by many Jews that President Donald Trump was insensitive in his response to the mass murders in a Pittsburgh synagogue last Shabbat may help galvanize Jewish voters in Florida to get out the vote for Democrats in Tuesday’s midterm elections.

That’s the belief of Halie Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, who told The Jewish Week that a poll of Jewish Democrats in early October found that 70 percent disapprove of Trump’s handling of anti-Semitism, a figure that she believes has likely increased after the synagogue murders.

“All signs indicate that that number is even higher in the aftermath of this event and a widespread recognition in the Jewish community that Donald Trump’s dangerous rhetoric — which has emboldened neo-Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites — has contributed to this problem,” she said.

But Ronald Krongold, a board member of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said he does not believe Trump — whose first comment to reporters after the shooting was that had the synagogue had an armed guard the “results would have been far better” — was insensitive.

“He has a Jewish son-in-law and daughter and Jewish grandchildren,” he said. “He certainly was sensitive to what happened in Pittsburgh. We should be concentrating on the anti-Semitic act. This is only one of a number of anti-Semitic acts that have occurred going back years. … Jews should be talking about anti-Semitism and not trying to win an election by beating up on President Trump.”

Ron Klein, chairman of the JDCA, said Trump has made himself an issue in the midterms because he has told Republican rallies, “I’m not on the ticket, but I am on the ticket because this is also a referendum on me.”

“In a close election like this, anything could happen,” Klein said. “We’re talking of a relatively small number of undecideds. … It could be a Jewish vote that is mad about Pittsburgh and the pipe bombs that were sent from here in Florida to [Jewish billionaire George] Soros and others. There is definitely a lot of anxiety in the Jewish community and whether that motivates them to come out and vote, we will see. We think it will.”

Polls for statewide races for governor and the U.S. Senate are so close that they are considered toss-ups by Real Clear Politics. With one week before Election Day, Democrat Andrew Gillum had a three-point lead over Republican Ron DeSantis in the gubernatorial race, and Democrat Bill Nelson was ahead of Rick Scott by just two points.

“Florida is so closely divided that a ‘blue wave’ by the Democrats would mean a win by only two or three points,” said Joshua Scacco, assistant professor in the communications department at the University of Florida.

“We have two known quantities in Scott [the current governor] and Nelson [the incumbent senator] and the polls have them deadlocked,” Scacco said. “For many we are no longer in the persuasion but mobilization part of the campaign. Republicans and Democrats are pretty evenly split in the state and [one week before Election Day] more Republicans than Democrats have voted. Early voting started here last week and so far more than three million votes have been cast, with 60,000 more Republicans voting than Democrats.”

Because both elections are so close, the Jewish vote “could be pivotal,” according to Kevin Wagner, a professor and chairman of the Political Science Department at Florida Atlantic University.

“That’s the reason both Gillum and DeSantis are aggressively supporting Israel and the reason DeSantis went to Israel for the opening of the American Embassy in Jerusalem,” Wagner said.

Gillum, the current mayor of Tallahassee, is being labeled by DeSantis as a “radical” who has “anti-Semites around him” due to his association with the Miami-based social justice organization the Dream Defenders.  One TV ad by the Republican Governors Association claims the Dream Defenders supports open borders and that its website calls police racists who have no place in society. And DeSantis has said the group compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to an “apartheid system.”

But Gillum has a whole section on his website devoted to his ties to Israel through an 11-year sister city partnership between Tallahassee and the Israeli city of Ramat HaSharon, and he has made several trips to Israel over the years.

“I don’t think there would be a candidate in Florida who would run on a statewide platform who would be anti-Israel,” said Wagner.

The gubernatorial election got off to a rocky start when DeSantis, in a Fox News interview immediately after his primary win, suggested that voters should not “monkey this up” by electing Gillum, who would be the state’s first black governor.  He said later that his remark had “zero to do with race.” And Florida voters have twice been hit with racist robocalls from an Idaho-based white supremacist group.

“It’s difficult to know how widespread” the calls are, said Oren Segal, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. “We heard from a Jewish institution that it received a call, but is unclear how many people have received them. It is not a very expensive tactic to employ. … It’s possible some people realize it is not legitimate, but others might not. But the impact of picking up a phone and hearing somebody in a minstrel voice making racist and anti-Semitic comments is still a concern for those who receive it.”

Those receiving the call hear jungle sounds and chimpanzee noises in the background as a man says: “Well, hello there! I is the Negro, Andrew Gillum, and I be askin’ you to make me governor of this here state of Florida.” At one point, the speaker claims “it was the Jews who owned the slave trade” and that Jews will be “puttin’ Negroes in charge over the white folks.”

The call concludes: “All the Jews gon’ vote me, Andrew Gillum, governor of this here state of Florida.”

DeSantis denounced the calls, saying through a spokesman: “This is absolutely appalling and disgusting — and hopefully whoever is behind this has to answer for this despicable action.” 

Segal said this is “just one of many tactics in which technology is used to spread and promote hatred at a time where there is divisive political discourse and hate is in the news every day. This underscores this moment in which we are living.”

He added that similar racist calls have been used in other parts of the country to support candidates who hold anti-Semitic views.

“The goals of the calls are to create fear and anxiety in those communities by leveraging political campaigns or news events to spread anti-Semitism, racism and bigotry,” Segal added.

Susan MacManus, professor emeritus in the Department of Government and International Affairs at the University of South Florida, said she received one of the robocalls and quickly hung up “thinking it was a joke. I think every media got one [of the calls].”

Soifer said the JDCA has endorsed 58 senatorial and congressional candidates in the midterm election but that it is “investing more heavily in Florida than anywhere else in the country. We are buying digital and print ads. We know that people under the age of 65 spend two hours a day on their phones on average, so we are contacting people where they get their information. And we have coupled that with print ads in Jewish newspapers, including election supplements.”

She noted that a national poll of 800 Jewish voters taken earlier this month by the JDCA’s Jewish Electorate Institute found that 74 percent of them were supporting Democratic candidates and that 68 percent of those identify as Democrats. That means that the other 6 percent, Soifer said, are either Republicans or independents “because of the overwhelming rejection of Trump’s policies in the Jewish community.”

MacManus agreed that the “Jewish vote in Florida is still solidly Democratic. There have been some inroads, but Gillum will get the Jewish vote. The Jewish mayor of Miami Beach is totally in support of Gillum, and several rabbis have come out for him. … The older you are, the more you vote a straight ticket.”

One issue DeSantis has raised is “how Gillum is going to pay for all the things he wants to do, like Medicare for all, a $15 minimum wage, and a $50,000 minimum salary for teachers,” MacManus said.

But Barney Loiter, 77, of Boca Raton, said he is voting for Gillum because “I like the way he communicates and his focus on the issues. He is also attacking the Republican rationale for how they do things.”
Asked about Israel, Loiter said he is concerned that “as more progressives get into the mainstream of the Democratic Party it will become an issue – but I have not been able to grapple with that yet. … The Republicans do better on Israel, but it is not a litmus test for me. A lot of my support for the Democratic Party is party-oriented as opposed to specifics about the individuals.”

Audrey Atlas, 84, of Boca Raton, said she will be voting a straight Republican ticket.

“The economy is wonderful, the unemployment rate is fabulous, the administration has eased restrictions on businesses and has created an atmosphere of confidence going forward,” she said. “I have not seen anything like this in this country in many, many years.”

Similarly, Lee Fogel, 90, also of Boca Raton, said he plans to vote for DeSantis because “he seems straight forward as opposed to the mayor of a town that is plagued by crime. They had more killings there [Tallahassee] than ever, and if he [Gillum] can’t control his city, how is he going to control the state?”

Antisemitism is a warning sign. Are we listening?

By Eileen Filler-Corn • July 3, 2025
In the nearly two years since Hamas’s brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel, American Jews have watched a disturbing rise in antisemitism take place across America — and crucially, among some of our longtime allies. For decades, Jewish Americans stood at the forefront of progressive causes, marching for civil rights, fighting for reproductive freedom and advocating for immigrants and the marginalized. My Jewish faith is what first drove me to public service. The Jewish concept of tikkun olam — our responsibility to repair the world — is not just a religious tenet but a moral call to action. It’s why we’ve always shown up to defend others. Yet now, as antisemitism surges to record levels, many progressive organizations and leaders who once stood with us have gone quiet; or worse, turned their backs entirely. It’s no longer just about Israeli policy. The line between anti-Zionism and antisemitism has been crossed so many times it’s barely a line at all. “Zionist” has become a stand-in for “Jew,” and the message is clear: Unless you disavow the world’s only Jewish state, your place in many progressive spaces is no longer welcome. The picture is sobering. There have been calls to ban “Zionists” from Pride events. Many women’s groups have shrugged at Hamas’ rape of Israeli women. And the Democratic nominee for mayor of America’s most populous city has a pattern of antisemitic rhetoric and has refused to condemn the hurtful call to “globalize the intifada,” a rallying cry that has been used to incite violence against Jews. This didn’t happen overnight, but the silence from many who claim to fight for justice has been deafening and deeply painful. I know what it feels like to be targeted for who you are. In January 2020, shortly after I became the first woman and the first Jewish Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, the FBI uncovered a plot to assassinate me. Two members of a neo-Nazi domestic terrorist group had targeted me. It was the most serious of many threats I received during my time as Speaker. Thankfully, law enforcement intervened in time. But the threat was real, and it reminded me that hatred knows no single party or ideology. We’ve long seen this kind of extremist hate on the right, but today that same danger is rising on both extremes of the ideological spectrum. Antisemitism spreads under different names but with the same devastating consequences. Now, with the recent war between Israel and Iran, we’re likely to see a fresh wave of anti-Zionism and antisemitism. It is already giving rise to a new round of dangerous conspiracy theories laced with antisemitic tropes: accusing American Jews of dual loyalty; suggesting we control foreign policy; and portraying Jewish political engagement as part of a shadowy cabal influencing Washington. This is a moment of moral testing. Will our leaders speak clearly and forcefully against antisemitism, even when it’s politically inconvenient? Will those who champion diversity and inclusion apply those values to Jews as well? And will we be honest about how bad actors have exploited division, stoked extremism and enabled those who traffic in hate? Just as many Americans oppose President Donald Trump’s leadership while still loving this country and believing in its promise, the same is true for Israel. You can criticize or reject Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government and still support Israel’s right to exist, to defend itself and to thrive as a Jewish and democratic state. That distinction matters. Criticizing a government is not the same as condemning a people; but when it comes to Israel, that line is too often deliberately blurred. We must be able to hold leaders accountable without fueling hatred or questioning a nation’s fundamental legitimacy. Antisemitism is not merely a problem faced by Jews — it is a bellwether for the health of our democracy. When a society tolerates hatred against one group, it gives license to hate others. When threats against public servants go unchallenged, violence becomes normalized. I was reminded of that tragic reality when my friend and former counterpart, former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, was executed in her home along with her husband, Mark. Authorities say her killer was a politically motivated extremist who had compiled a list of Democratic lawmakers. Melissa was a principled leader and a friend. Her death was a heartbreaking loss and a flashing red warning sign for the tolerance of hate in our democracy. We cannot afford to treat this moment as normal. It is time for our allies to rejoin us. To speak up when we are threatened. To see antisemitism for what it is: a growing, dangerous force that must be confronted head-on. Because if we wait until it affects everyone, it will already be too late. Eileen Filler Corn is a JEI Board Member and Former Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, and the only ever Jewish speaker in VA
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Letter to House Judiciary Committee on Anti-Semitism

July 1, 2025
July 1, 2025 U.S. House Committee On The Judiciary 2142 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Now in our ninth year, the nationally and internationally recognized Jewish Electorate Institute (JEI), an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization, continues to serve as the barometer for the Jewish electorate. We are therefore honored to submit the following Comments for the Record to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee in support of its June 24, 2025, hearing on antisemitism - Rising Threat: America’s Battle Against Antisemitic Terror. This hearing, punctuated by the moving testimony of Matt Nosanchuk, reminded us that Jewish safety in America is not a political football - it is a national imperative. Nosanchuk, a former senior official in both the Obama and Biden Administrations and a lifelong advocate against antisemitism, laid bare the stark realities we face. The murder of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, who were attending a Jewish community event just blocks from his home, brought the crisis home - literally and painfully. It also underscored a chilling truth: this could have been any one of us. Antisemitism today does not discriminate based on geography, profession, or even political identity. Nosanchuk rightly challenged both ends of the political spectrum. From the right, we've seen rising indulgence of white nationalist rhetoric, normalization of Nazi imagery, and an embrace of conspiracy theorists. When antisemitism is tolerated—or worse, weaponized—by public officials and influential institutions, it emboldens violence and undermines the rule of law. The example of the pardoning of the person wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” shirt at the riot on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, was not just shocking to the Jewish community – it was symptomatic of a deeper, corrosive tolerance for hate. From the left, antisemitism also too often masquerades as political critique. When Jews are asked to renounce their ties to Israel to participate in coalitions, or when pro-Palestinian activism turns violent against Jews, with intimidating targeted rhetoric and violence, that’s not solidarity – it’s exclusion and scapegoating. Our Jewish identity should never be a precondition for political participation. What we need is not partisan grandstanding, but comprehensive action. That includes implementing the Biden Administration’s well-thought-out National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, restoring funding for civil rights enforcement at the Justice Department, and condemning hate, regardless of its ideological source. Nosanchuk’s call for education, prevention, and cross-community solidarity is exactly right. In closing, it’s our view at JEI that using antisemitism as cover for draconian immigration or university policies erodes the democratic institutions that have allowed Jewish life to flourish. Fighting hate must not become an excuse to violate civil liberties - ours or anyone else’s. Our safety as Jews has always been linked to the safety of others. In this perilous moment, we must demand more than soundbites. We must demand seriousness, solidarity, and above all, solutions. We are grateful to the Committee for having held this vital hearing at a perilous moment for American Jews. Sincerely, Barbara Goldberg Goldman Chairperson The Jewish Electorate Institute

JEI Statement on escalation and Support on Israel Security

June 18, 2025
Washington, DC — As hostilities between Israel and Iran intensify, the Jewish Electorate Institute (JEI), a nonpartisan political nonprofit, is calling on Congress to take all necessary measures to support Israel’s security, halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and help bring the hostages home.