Congressional roundup: 3 new Jews, no rabbi

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Congressional roundup: 3 new Jews, no rabbi

http://jta.org/news/article/2008/11/05/1000803/congressional-roundup-three-new-jews-but-no-rabbi

By Eric Fingerhut · November 5, 2008

WASHINGTON (JTA)—

The U.S. House of Representatives is getting three new Jewish members, but Tuesday night’s Democratic tide was not strong enough to sink several favorites of Jewish GOPers or to send Congress its first rabbi, Jewish Latina or Chinese Jew.

The 111th U.S. Congress is slated to have 13 Jewish senators and 32 members of the House of Representatives, with the three first-time victories of Democrats Jared Polis of Colorado, John Adler of New Jersey and Alan Grayson of Florida.

But one of the most hotly contested Senate races, pitting two Jewish candidates against each other in Minnesota, may not be decided for days.

Republican incumbent Norm Coleman led Democratic challenger Al Franken by fewer than 700 votes in the Senate race in Minnesota. The slim margin of less than one-half of 1 percent triggered an automatic recount in the race, in which independent Dean Barkley received 15 percent of the vote. Exit polling data showed Barkley pulling votes equally from the Democrat and Republican.

The recount comes after the two candidates spent more than $30 million, mostly attacking each other. Coleman using Franken’s background as a writer and performer for “Saturday Night Live” against him by highlighting jokes that were insensitive to women, while Franken charged that his GOP opponent was too close to big-money “special interests.”

Some had speculated that the Franken-Coleman race could be the key in determining whether Democrats would acquire a 60-member, filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. But with Democrats holding a 56-40 advantage in the Senate but Republicans ahead Wednesday morning in three other Senate races not yet official, that does not look to be the case.

In the only other Senate race matching two Jewish candidates, Democrat Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey won his fifth term, defeating the former Republican congressman, Dick Zimmer.

The number of Jewish senators will stay at 13—nine Democrats, two independents who caucus with the Democrats, one Republican and one to be determined in Minnesota.

Meanwhile, in the House of Representatives, Polis, Adler and Grayson will bring the total number of Jewish legislators to 32.

They will be part of the most Democratic Congress since Bill Clinton’s first term as president in 1993, when Democrats controlled 258 seats. As of Wednesday morning, the Democrats had a 251-173 margin, with 11 seats still to be decided.

Polis, 33, will make history as the first openly gay, non-incumbent male elected to Congress. He will represent Colorado’s heavily Democratic 2nd Congressional District, which includes Boulder and other Denver suburbs.

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