Tuesday’s primary races in six states were a mixed bag for Jewish voters, but one thing is certain:
California will send at least one Jew, and quite likely two, to the U.S. Senate in January, with a strong possibility that the two victors will be Jewish women.
In Tuesday’s elections, Rep. Barbara Boxer handily defeated two strong opponents to win the Democratic nod for a six-year Senate term, succeeding retiring Democratic Sen. Alan Cranston.
At the polls in November, Boxer will face another Jewish candidate, Republican Bruce Herschensohn, an ultra-conservative television commentator who made his hard-line pro-Israel stance a major campaign point against his more liberal primary opponent.
In an unusual second Senate contest, to fill the remaining two-year term of the seat previously held by Gov. Pete Wilson, former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Goldman Feinstein easily won the Democratic primary.
She will go up against Republican John Seymour, who was appointed to the Senate by Wilson 18 months ago. Preliminary opinion polls have shown Feinstein beating Seymour by a large margin.
Jewish activists have hailed the victories of Boxer and Feinstein, both of whom have been strongly pro-Israel, as are their Republican challengers, Herschensohn and Seymour.
But some mourned Boxer’s defeat of Democratic Rep. Mel Levine, one of the staunchest advocates of the Jewish state in Congress, who was heavily financed by the organized Jewish community.
Levine’s defeat, coupled with the loss of Democrat Gray Davis to Feinstein, is considered a major blow to the so-called Waxman-Berman machine, which had strongly backed the two losers.
DISAPPOINTMENT IN OHIO
Headed by Reps. Henry Waxman and Howard Berman, the statewide network, which generally backs liberal Democrats, had previously enjoyed an almost unbroken string of successes.
But Waxman and Berman, relying strongly on Jewish support, easily retained their own congressional seats. California’s two other Jewish congressmen, Democrats Anthony Beilenson and Tom Lantos, also won easy renomination.
Elsewhere in the nation, a big disappointment for pro-Israel forces was the survival of Rep. Mary Rose Oakar, who beat back a tough challenge in the Ohio Democratic primary from Cuyahoga County Commissioner Timothy Hagan.
Oakar, who is seen as strongly unsympathetic to the Jewish state, won despite being dogged by questions about her role in the House check-bouncing scandal, where she was listed as one of the 22 worst offenders.
She is considered likely to win a November race against Republican businessman Martin Hoke, who has never before sought public office.
But the fact that Oakar no longer has the clout with the House leadership that she once did is some comfort for pro-Israel groups, say insiders.
Also winning renomination was Democratic Rep. James Traficant, who has been active in the battle to clear convicted Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk.
In another closely watched race, in Ohio’s 19th congressional district, state Sen. Eric Fingerhut won a stunning upset to win the Democratic nomination for the seat being vacated by outgoing Democratic Rep. Edward Feighan, an ardent friend of Israel.
Fingerhut, who is Jewish, has been compared by insiders to Levine of California and fellow pro-Israel Rep. Larry Smith (D-Fla.), who is not seeking re-election.
JEWS LEARY OF PEROT
Tuesday’s primary races, which also took place in New Jersey, Alabama, Montana and New Mexico, clinched the Democratic nomination for Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and put President Bush in an even stronger position for the Republican nomination.
Exit polls taken during the primaries suggest that Jewish voters will not defect from the Democratic and Republican parties in the same numbers as other white Americans to cast ballots for Texas billionaire businessman H. Ross Perot, should he decide to make his undeclared candidacy for president official.
Analysts are interpreting that as further evidence of a decisive Jewish preference for Clinton, which could be pivotal in some of the key electoral states.
Between a third and a half of those surveyed in exit polls Tuesday reportedly said they would have voted for Perot if they had had the chance.
But preliminary data showed that was “much less true” for Jewish primary voters, according to Mark Mellman, a Democratic political consultant in Washington, who would not disclose the numbers.
“It is pretty clear Bush will not do as well in the Jewish community, and neither will Perot,” said Mellman.
“That suggests the Jewish community is pretty solidly behind Bill Clinton.”
Mellman said that could provide a “meaning ful base” in key states, such as California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey, especially important in a three-way race, “where a small group means more to the outcome.”
Both Democratic and Republican analysts agree that Bush will not come close to garnering the 30 percent share of the Jewish vote he enjoyed in 1988, due in large part to anger over his hard-line stance with Israel on the $10 billion in loan guarantees it had sought for immigration absorption.
Analysts say Jews are uneasy not knowing where Perot stands on Israel and other issues of importance to them. They feel more comfortable with Clinton’s more clearly articulated positions.
(Contributing to this report were Cynthia Mann of States News Service in Washington and Marcy Oster of the Cleveland Jewish News.)
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