News U.S. Jewish minyan grows in Senate Jew elected to House Facebook Twitter Email SMS WhatsApp Share By J. Correspondent | November 8, 2002 Sign up for Weekday J and get the latest on what's happening in the Jewish Bay Area. WASHINGTON — With Frank Lautenberg's triumphant return to the Capitol and Norm Coleman's victory in Minnesota, the Senate's Jewish minyan is safe for the next two years — and even a little more crowded. In the House of Representatives, one new Jewish face emerged after Tuesday's national elections — Rahm Emanuel, a former Clinton adviser. In an indication of the spectrum of Jewish political views, Emanuel (D.-Ill.) will join Eric Cantor (R-Va.), a staunch conservative and the only Jewish Republican left in the House. Overall, the Jewish presence in Congress stayed almost the same, with 11 senators and 26 representatives. The 107th Congress had 10 senators and 27 representatives, but one senator and one representative died in office. Four Jewish candidates were vying for seats in the Senate, 36 for seats in the House of Representatives and two for their states' governor's mansions, both of whom were successful. In the Senate, venerated Jewish lawmaker Lautenberg, a Democrat, beat his Republican opponent, Doug Forrester, in New Jersey. Lautenberg joined the race in October replacing incumbent Sen. Robert Torricelli, who quit following charges of ethics violations. Lautenberg, who served in the Senate from 1982 to 2000 and formerly was chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, is seen as a strong supporter of foreign aid to Israel. He voted against the 1991 Persian Gulf War and he urged caution on moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Exit polls indicated that 79.9 percent of the Jews who votedTuesday selected Launtenberg.. The one Jewish senator up for re-election — Carl Levin (D-Mich.) — easily defeated his Republican challenger, Andrew Raczkowski. The victories by Levin and Lautenberg ensured that there would still be a "minyan" in the Senate. However, the minyan grew by one as former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman defeated former Vice President Walter Mondale. Mondale, who entered the race following the sudden death of Sen. Paul Wellstone on Oct. 25, was seen as the candidate whose positions would resonate more with Jewish voters, especially on domestic issues. But Coleman also presented strongly pro-Israel positions during the campaign. The fourth Jewish candidate for Senate, Idaho's Alan Blinken, lost to the Republican incumbent, Sen. Larry Craig. The Jewish incumbents in the Senate are Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Russell Feingold (D-Wisc.), Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). In the House, Jews are losing a longtime friend on Capitol Hill with the retirement of Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-N.Y.). Gilman voted to increase aid to Israel over the years, worked on behalf of Israeli soldiers missing in action and addressed many other areas of Jewish interest. His strongly pro-Israel positions earned him praise from Jewish groups. With Gilman's departure, Cantor, who won re-election, becomes the lone Jewish Republican in the House. Cantor has taken hawkish positions in support of Israel, co-sponsoring legislation that would cut off all U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority and another bill calling for an end to aid to the Palestinians until they stop unauthorized excavations on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Cantor's domestic positions — he is pro-life and co-sponsored a bill to permit churches and other houses of worship to engage in political campaigns — are at odds with the majority of American Jews. In the House Emanuel defeated Mark Augusti for the open seat in Illinois' 5th District. All Jewish incumbents up for re-election Tuesday retained their seats. In California's 27th District, Democratic incumbent Brad Sherman easily won the only "Jew vs. Jew" race in the House, beating Republican challenger Robert Levy, a family law attorney and past president of his synagogue's men's club. The seven other California Jews in the House, all Democrats, cruised to comfortable victories despite running in redrawn districts. In the San Francisco area, Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor serving in Congress and a strong pro-Israel voice, easily defeated two opponents with pronounced pro-Palestinian views, Republican Michael Moloney and Libertarian Maad Abu-Ghazalah. The latter is a native of the West Bank and a former president of the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee. In the Los Angeles area and Southern California, incumbents Howard Berman, Susan Davis, Bob Filner, Jane Harman, Adam Schiff and Henry Waxman all retained their seats. Several new Jewish candidates failed to win congressional seats. Among them: *Harry Jacobs, an attorney and past president of the Orlando Jewish federation, lost to Tom Feeney in Florida's 24th District. *Jan Schneider lost to Katherine Harris, the former Florida secretary of state, in Florida's 13th District. *Roger Kahn, a businessman active in Atlanta's Jewish community and former president of a Jewish nursing home in the Atlanta area, lost to a state senator, Phil Gingrey, in Georgia's new 11th District. *Democrat David Fink could not pull off a win in Michigan's 9th District, losing to incumbent Joe Knollenberg. Fink is pro-Israel but had said domestic issues would decide his race. There also are two new Jewish governors: Democrat Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania and Republican Linda Lingle of Hawaii. Rendell stirred up controversy several weeks before the election when he told a reporter in Allentown, Pa., that his father had thought all religious Jews were crooks. But his father also taught him to try to help Jews in every way he could, Rendell said. Rendell's bluntness didn't appear to hurt him, as he cruised to victory over state Attorney General Mike Fisher. Rendell, the former mayor of Philadelphia, was expected to receive a hefty share of the Jewish vote. In Hawaii, Lingle defeated Mazie Hirono. A moderate Republican who is pro-choice and against prayer in schools, Lingle thinks she will relate well to the Jewish community and to a lot of Democrats. "I can't think of anything we'd be differing on,'' she told JTA in an interview earlier this year. Lingle, 49, is a member of a Jewish congregation on the island of Maui and attends Lubavitch services in Honolulu. Lingle has a pro-Israel stance and says her Jewish heritage has given her a better understanding of diversity, helping her political career in Hawaii. In Alabama's gubernatorial race, Democratic incumbent Don Siegelman claimed a narrow victory over Rep. Bob Riley for a second term, though state Republicans disputed the result. Siegelman is Catholic but his wife, Lori, is the first Jewish first lady in Alabama's history. Their son celebrated his bar mitzvah at Montgomery's Conservative congregation last year. The Republican victory in the Senate and its continued hold on the House, could affect domestic issues that are important to the Jewish community. Parts of the Bush administration's agenda, such as the faith-based initiative, which calls for opening up more funding to religious groups to provide social services, might be advanced. Congress has moved slowly on the initiative, pushing the White House to pursue change through means other than legislation. But political analysts do not foresee dramatic legislative moves since the Republican majority in the Senate is so small. Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report, believes the Republican agenda has been thin, focusing mostly on tax cuts, and the GOP now will look for other administration messages to push. The main difference will be more of a "psychological factor" now that Republicans can dictate the flow of legislation, Rothenberg said. J. Correspondent Also On J. Bay Area Berkeley Law dean on what free speech is, and is not Organic Epicure Their grandmothers’ notes became a Mexican Jewish cookbook Local Voice Many politicians today love to make a scapegoat of others Film Lamb Chop and Israel star in Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival Subscribe to our Newsletter I would like to receive the following newsletters: Weekday J From Our Sponsors (helps fund our journalism) Your Sunday J Holiday Bytes