George Z. Medalie, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, appointed to his office by President Hoover in January of 1931, was named Republican candidate for United States Senator at the State Convention here this afternoon.
Mr. Medalie is the only Jewish candidate on the Republican State ticket.
There have been but three Jews who occupied seats in the United States Senate in the history of the country.
As far back as 1853, Judah Philip Benjamin of Louisiana was elected to the Senate, serving until 1861. A period of thirty-six years elapsed before another Jew won a Senatorial seat. In 1897, Joseph Simon of Oregon became the second Jew to sit in the Senate, holding office until 1903.
Four years later Simon Guggenheim became United States Senator from Colorado, a post he occupied until 1913.
Now, after eighteen years, Mr. Medalie may be the first Jew to represent the State of New York in the Senate of the United States. Another Jew, Gilbert Bettman of Ohio, has also been named a candidate for the Senate.
Mr. Medalie, who is a native of New York City, is forty-nine years old and received his education in the public schools of the city and at Columbia College and Law School.
His appointment as United States Attorney following a long political controversy was hailed by outstanding personalities as one based on merit.
Mr. Medalie has held a number of public offices and achieved a reputation as one of the best prosecuting attorneys in the state.
In 1910 he was appointed Assistant District Attorney, a position he held for five years. From 1926 to 1928 he served as special Assistant Attorney General in the prosecution of election frauds. He received no compensation. He also acted as special Assistant Attorney General in charge of the prosecution of former Secretary of State, Florence E. S. Knapp, for irregularities in connection with the State census. This was in 1928. A year later, he acted as special counsel for the New York City Bar Association and the New York County Lawyers Association in the investigation of Francis X. Mancuso and as counsel for the Bar Association in the ouster proceedings against Magistrate Albert H. Vitale. In 1931, he was counsel for the legislative committee investigating tax and assessment frauds in the city of Albany.
Mr. Medalie is actively interested in a number of Jewish activities. He is vice-president of the New York Zionist Region and a member of the National Executive Committee of the Zionist Organization of America. Mr. Medalie’s father, Aaron Medalie, was the secretary of the first Zionist group in New York City.
Mr. Medalie is the president of the Board of Jewish Guardians and an honorary vice-president of the American Jewish Congress. He is also a trustee of the Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies and the Hebrew National Orphan home as well as a director of the Washington Heights branch of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association.
He occupies membership in the judiciary committee of the Bar Association and is a director of the New York Country Lawyer’s Association with whose judiciary committee he is also affiliated.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
