While Jewish Americans digest the news of another Donald Trump presidency after overwhelmingly supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, here are the results from several regional races of interest to the Jewish community.
Update: This story was updated on Nov. 19, 2024, with new information about candidates in Walnut Creek and San Anselmo.
Berkeley
Jewish volunteers went door-knocking for the Berkeley council and mayoral candidates in a city that is still roiled by calls — so far, unsuccessful — for a cease-fire resolution in Israel’s war with Hamas.
“We published a voter recommendation page that reached thousands of Berkeley voters, and we organized dozens of volunteers who put in hundreds of hours knocking on doors, handing out flyers, making phone calls, writing postcards and hosting house parties in order to ensure that the Jewish community continues to have local office holders who will stand by our side,” said Itamar Landau, an organizer of the Jewish Coalition of Berkeley, which formed in the past year over concerns about antisemitism.
The effort seems to be paying off.
Although not all votes had been counted as of Wednesday morning, Sophie Hahn, who was backed by the Jewish coalition, was leading Berkeley’s ranked-choice voting for mayor with 52.7% after the fourth and most recent round, according to Alameda County’s registrar of voters.
If elected, Hahn would replace current Mayor Jesse Arreguín, long considered a stalwart against a cease-fire resolution pushed by Palestinian supporters. He looks set to win his bid for the state Senate and will no longer be a player in Berkeley’s local politics.
Amid a tense climate that has spilled over into the schools, local Jewish grassroots organizations were stumping for Hahn, a Jewish councilmember who has represented North Berkeley since 2016. Rival Kate Harrison said she would support a cease-fire resolution but didn’t make it past the third round in ranked-choice voting.
Four Berkeley districts had elections for city council. Hahn gave up her seat to run for mayor and will be replaced by newcomer Shoshana O’Keefe, according to Berkeleyside. Susan Wengraf, who is Jewish and did not support the council voting on cease-fire measures as proposed, has retired after 16 years on the city council. She will most likely be replaced by Brent Blackaby, whom she endorsed.
Projections indicate challenger Jenny Guarino did not manage to unseat Terry Taplin, who has been quoted as saying “Israel has a right to defend itself.” Ben Bartlett, who has supported a federal cease-fire resolution that has the backing of progressive members of Congress, looks likely to keep his seat against challengers.
The makeup of the Berkeley City Council could determine the fate of a cease-fire resolution scheduled to come before the body later this month. Discussion of the resolution, which originated with the Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission, a council advisory group, could be postponed until after the new city council is installed.
Oakland
Two Jewish Oakland councilmembers are stepping down: Dan Kalb and Rebecca Kaplan. Kalb was in the news in December 2023 when he was disinvited from giving a classroom talk about environmentalism at UC Berkeley after students discovered some of his social media posts they deemed pro-Israel. Kalb will be replaced on the council by Zac Unger, a former firefighter and labor leader, who is also Jewish and sailed to victory with a strong majority.
Five seats were contested overall. Carroll Fife, who introduced a cease-fire vote before the Oakland City Council in November 2023, looks to be keeping her seat. She was endorsed by the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, an advocacy group known for its anti-Zionist activism and staunch support of cease-fire resolutions.
This election also marked the first time that 16- and 17-year-olds in Berkeley and Oakland voted for their school board members. School boards have been under pressure over the past year to address antisemitism in schools and how teachers respond to the conflict in Gaza, both in lesson planning and in defusing classroom tensions. Four seats were in contention in Oakland.
AROC made no endorsements in Berkeley, where two school board seats were up for a vote. But in Oakland it endorsed incumbent Vancedric Williams, who looks set to narrowly retain his seat, saying that he “has been a consistent advocate for Arab and Muslim students and families within the Oakland Unified School District. He supported the ceasefire resolution introduced by students, teachers and community.” AROC also endorsed Sasha Ritzie-Hernandez, who looks unlikely to win.
Sacramento
Kevin McCarty has a strong lead in his bid to replace Sacramento’s two-term Jewish mayor, Darrell Steinberg, who is stepping down after a decadeslong career in politics, according to the Sacramento Bee. Steinberg made headlines in May 2023 when he shut down an antisemitic speaker during council public comments: “OK, see you later pal,” Steinberg said. “We don’t want to hear any more from you. We don’t want to hear any more of your shit.”
In March of this year, Steinberg somewhat controversially brought forth a compromise cease-fire resolution that said “Israel remains the hope that Jews can live safely and freely and never again face threats to their very existence.”
McCarty, an outgoing state Assemblymember, got “100%” on a scorecard of California legislators put out by the Jewish Public Affairs Committee, the lobbying arm of the organized Jewish community.
San Francisco
Daniel Lurie, a philanthropist from a prominent Jewish family and an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, was leading the mayor’s race in San Francisco by 12 points on Wednesday morning.
Lurie led incumbent Mayor London Breed, 56% to 44%, after 14 rounds of ranked-choice voting, according to the S.F. Department of Elections. All other candidates were eliminated after 13 rounds, including Aaron Peskin, who is also Jewish and serves as president of the S.F. Board of Supervisors. His current term runs through Jan. 8.
Myrna Melgar, who is Jewish and represents district 7 on the S.F. Board of Supervisors, appears to have held her seat with 56.6% of the vote after three rounds. Dean Preston, another Jewish supervisor, appears to have lost his bid for re-election in district 5, with 47% of the vote after the fourth round.
Silicon Valley
Sam Liccardo is leading Evan Low in the race for the 16th district congressional race. Both candidates courted the Jewish vote in a tough race.
State Assemblymember Low said he wore a yellow wristband in support of the hostages held captive in Gaza. In July, he posted on X about the “vile hate” from pro-Palestinian protesters who interrupted legislators in the Capitol building.
Most recently, he posted Yom Kippur wishes on Facebook, while Liccardo posted Rosh Hashanah greetings. The Jewish Democratic Coalition of the Bay Area endorsed Low; the liberal Israel advocacy organization J Street endorsed Liccardo.
California
The race has been called for state Sen. Scott Wiener, who represents San Francisco, and for state Assemblymember Matt Haney, who represents a large swath of the city’s east side. Both are Jewish. Wiener has been a frequent target of scurrilous antisemitic and homophobic attacks both online and in person. Last Month, he hosted a pumpkin patch event in San Francisco’s Noe Valley where he faced protesters from both the left and right.
Other winning Jewish politicians, all incumbents, include state Sen. Josh Becker, who kept his seat covering parts of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan had 63% of the vote on Wednesday for her district, which includes Walnut Creek and Livermore. Assemblymember Marc Berman, whose district includes Los Altos Hills and Atheron, was the expected winner in his race. Also retaining his Assembly seat was Jesse Gabriel, who represents portions of L.A. County; he co-chairs the California Legislative Jewish Caucus in Sacramento.
The race has also been called for U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, who will step into the Senate seat formerly occupied by Dianne Feinstein. He won with 57% of the vote over former L.A. Dodger Steve Garvey.
Schiff, who is Jewish, grew up in the East Bay and celebrated his bar mitzvah at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette. He is a Stanford graduate. Schiff has represented his congressional district in Southern California for 12 terms and is an established Washington insider. In Congress he chaired the House Intelligence Committee and led the successful first impeachment effort against Trump.
Update
J. has learned about two more politicians who have won their races. In Walnut Creek, Kevin Wilk held on to his city council seat, having served since 2016 (he was also mayor in 2021; the yearlong position is selected by the city councilmembers from among themselves). Wilk has spoken out about white supremacists taking over council meetings by abusing the public comment periods.
In San Anselmo, Yoav Schlesinger will serve for the first time on San Anselmo’s city council. An AI expert at Salesforce, he ran on a platform of boosting housing, supporting small businesses and ensuring public safety.