As a bubbe, Elaine Bloom keeps kosher in the house. And, if all goes according to plan, she’ll continue this practice in another by November. Except this time, she’ll be keeping kosher as a U.S. representative, and the House is with a capital “H.”
A Bronx-born Jewish grandmother, Bloom has been a Miami Beach fixture almost from the moment she arrived in 1962. She’s been a radio talk-show host, regional president of the National Council of Jewish Women and a top United Jewish Communities activist. She recently stepped down after years as chief state fund-raiser for Israel’s Bar-Ilan University.
In her spare time she’s one of the most powerful and longest-serving Democrats in the Florida state legislature. Likewise, the GOP counterpart she is challenging is similarly formidable, ensuring that her run for Congress will be a hotly-watched contest.
Bloom is attempting to unseat another local fixture, 10-term veteran Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr. of Fort Lauderdale. A member of the House Republican leadership, he first entered Congress in 1980 from a district that was largely non-Jewish and strongly Republican.
“She’s in a tough race,” said Miami Herald opinion-page editor Tom Fiedler. “She’s running against a very popular Republican incumbent.”
As a result of a 1992 redistricting, Shaw represents a narrow, 90-mile strip of shoreline, stretching from Miami Beach to just north of Palm Beach. Now in a heavily Democratic district, one of the most Jewish-populated regions in the country, Shaw has remarkably been able to hold on to his seat.
The Jewish legislator is Shaw’s first serious challenger since the redistricting. She’s raised a load of money — more than $1.2 million and climbing — in under a year. Between her campaign cash flow, the district’s demographics and her own record on issues like health care, educational standards and gun control, Bloom figures she’s got a pretty good shot.
“I’m running against an incumbent who doesn’t represent the majority of citizens in this district,” she stated flatly.
That 1992 redistricting is actually a sore point with Bloom, even though it may be beneficial for her political run. Statewide, she explained, the new lines undermined Jewish political clout dramatically. In setting out to boost minority representation by creating new black-majority districts, the legislature “broke up enclaves that were conducive to Jewish representation,” Bloom said.
So despite a boom in Florida’s Jewish population, Bloom says there are fewer Jewish legislators today then when she first took office in 1974. Another result of similar redistricting strategies was the 1996 Republican takeover of Congress.
This year, for the first time since then, Democrats think they have a realistic chance to take the House back. With Republicans in a narrow 222-213 majority, Democrats need to shift only five seats to wrest control.
Most analysts consider about 40 House seats genuinely competitive. Just over half are Republican seats that could turn Democratic. In real terms, then, Democratic hopes rest on 20 or so upstart challengers around the country.
At least five of those challengers are Jews.
Three are in Southern California, facing Republican incumbents considered vulnerable. Two-term GOP Rep. James Rogan of Pasadena, one of last year’s House impeachment managers, faces a well-financed challenge from state Sen. Adam Schiff. Freshman GOP Rep. Steve Kuykendall of Palos Verdes faces former Rep. Jane Harman, who retired from the House to mount a failed bid for governor and now wants her seat back. The third is moderate three-term GOP Rep. Brian Bilbray of suburban San Diego, who faces Assemblywoman Susan Davis.
Two more strong Jewish challenges are in districts where Republican incumbents are retiring. In the northern suburbs of Chicago, longtime GOP Rep. John Porter is quitting after losing a committee chairmanship, touching off a 12-way free-for-all for the Republican nomination. The Democratic nomination appears sewn up by respected state Rep. Lauren Beth Gash.
Then there’s Elaine Bloom, who’s in a class by herself.
Her seniority in state politics, name recognition and fund-raising muscle make her a fierce challenger. The mismatch between incumbent Shaw and his district gives Bloom an edge. Her deep Jewish involvement makes her a powerful symbol of what’s at stake.
But Shaw has a few weapons of his own. Despite his ties to the unpopular House Republican leadership, he’s largely managed to avoid being tarred as an ideological conservative. Most important, he chairs the House subcommittee on Social Security, a valuable perch in a district with more retirees than any other nationwide. In the end, most observers call the match a toss-up, with slight favor to Shaw.
That’s the dilemma Democrats face next fall. Incumbency is a weapon that trumps most everything else. And yet, if a feisty challenger like Bloom can’t defeat a precarious incumbent like Shaw in a liberal district like the South Florida coast, it’s hard to see where the Democrats’ upset will come from.
“But a lot of factors work in her favor,” Fiedler remarked, “not least is the fact that this district has one of the highest concentrations of Jews in the country.
“It’s also the most Democratic-performing district in the country with a Republican in Congress. This could be a real surprise for the Republicans,” he added.