Special Report Study Shows Jews Sit in 35 U.S. State Legislatures

“A sociological study of Jewish State Legislatures in America” is Albert J. Abrams’ description of his newly published booklet, which he wrote for the National Association of Jewish State Legislators. “There was a big void concerning the subject in political science and journalism,” Abrams, Executive Director of the association, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency regarding his booklet, entitled “Jewish State Legislators in America.”

“The Jewish community has not yet awakened fully to the great force these Jews who are elected by their neighbors can be in combating anti-Semitism, in strengthening Jewish causes, and in promoting social progress,” Abrams says. “However, as we plunge into the 1980s, it is likely that the Jewish legislator will be more numerous, more visible and more influential than ever before in American history,” he asserts.

LEGISLATORS PROPORTIONAL TO JEWS IN POPULATION

Beginning with the first Jew to serve in an American legislature in 1774, the study traces the history of Jewish state legislators until today, when there are 208 of them in the United States. “No clearer evidence of the upward mobility of Jews in United States politics can be adduced than the fact that there are today Jewish legislators in 35 state legislatures,” Abrams says in his booklet. “Today, almost three per cent of the 7600 state legislators in the nation are Jewish, a figure roughly equivalent to the proportion of Jews in the country.”

Abrams lists the 15 states that have no Jewish legislators as follows: New Hampshire, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Indiana, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana and Washington. “Zero-Jewish legislatures are not to be viewed as anti-Jewish or anti-Israel,” he says. “In fact, Israel has many friendly non-Jewish legislative leaders in these states who have traveled to the Middle East for on-site inspection of Israel’s problems.”

Abrams describes “break-through” legislatures as those with one Jewish legislator, and his study reveals that “nine states and one territory have already moved into a developmental phase in American politics by electing a single Jewish solon.” Reasons for the “Break-through,” according to Abrams, include immigration of Jews to different areas of the country or recognition of extraordinary individual ability. “Electing one Jewish legislator is like planting a seed,” Abrams says. This Jewish legislator “is likely by his example to break down political barriers for other Jewish candidates for legislative office.” The legislatures that now have one Jewish legislator, according to Abrams, are: Arkansas, Virginia, Virgin Islands, Delaware, North Dakota, Nebraska, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Alaska.

MOST CONCENTRATED IN NORTH EAST

“Of the 208 Jewish state legislators in the United States,” the booklet says, “II8 of them are concentrated on the northeastern seabord, principally in New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Maine. That 59 per cent of all Jewish solons in our country came from these states reflects not only the migratory phenomenon of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but also the openness of the political systems in these states.”

Pointing out new areas still to be researched, Abrams says, “No roll-call analysis has been done to determine whether Jewish legislators in varying state cultures vote differently on what kind of issues than their non-Jewish brethren. No studies of effectiveness of Jewish solons have been undertaken. No history of the Jewish legislator in American politics has been written. Nor have scholars produced any behavioral studies of the Jewish solon in the political milieu.”