115th Congress - 20/22 Rep. & 8/8 Sen. are Jewish Dems, GOP so poor - Why?

[Devout Centrist]

Of course, open anti-semite Jimmy Carter won a plurality of Jewish votes in 1980, so who knows.

Lol

[justfollowingtheelections]

Most of us aren't too keen on dog whistles. And most of us find the Republican Israel obsession to be not only creepy, but more than a little anti Semitic.

How so?  I'm just curious.

Not Jewish but as a catholic there is something in the bible about Jews returning to Israel and then being destroyed in the opening stages of the second coming. So maybe this is know in Jewish circles so my hey see the Israel love as less genuine and more "make sure they are in place for JC to show up".

Oh I see.  That's creepy indeed.

[Mr. Morden]

In any case, among elected officials, it's absolutely the case that Democratic Jews are overrepresented compared to Republican Jews, relative to their numbers among the broader electorate.

But there are many such cases like this.  E.g., back in 2008, when McCain picked Palin to be his running mate, I believe she was actually the only (under age 70) female sitting governor *or* Senator in the country who was pro-life on abortion.  There are plenty of pro-life women among the ranks of ordinary Republican voters, and yet (until recently) the Republican women being elected to major office were folks like Collins, Hutchison, Murkowski, and Snowe.

That's because there are cultural differences between the kinds of people who run for office and the people found among the general electorate.  It's possible that these kinds of splits on the Republican side may actually start to grow a bit now that the Trump era has given us this big education gap, with the Republican electorate being populated more by people without a college degree.....though it's hard to say.

[Devout Centrist]

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Catholics, sure, but Evangelicals quite literally want to start the end of the world by allowing the building of another Temple in Jerusalem. They care very little about Jews and their culture. It's only meant to usher forth the Second Coming.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

My theory is that there are not that many non-Orthodox Jews who are socially conservative enough to run as Republicans, even if they are willing to vote for Republicans.  And Orthodox denominations tend to live in liberal areas, but there also could be something else- that they don't pass for WASPs (or being a member of the mainstream culture, if you will).  There are very few Republican politicians that are not culturally WASPs (even the Mormons, Catholics, Jews, and Hispanics in the GOP caucus don't seem culturally any different from your average WASP- and, really, neither does Tim Scott or Mia Love).  Notice that almost all successful GOP Jewish politicians do not have Jewish last names.

[Xing]

Since Jews as a whole skew Democratic, it makes sense that more Jewish Senators/Representatives are Democrats. As for why it's that lopsided... I'm guessing it's just because of how small a sample size 8 is.

[Figueira]

Again, people are missing the point of this thread. It isn't "Why are Jews so liberal?" It's "Why are there so few Jewish Republicans in Congress?"

But you've already been answered. Because there aren't many Jewish Republicans to begin with

There are enough Jewish Republicans that there should be more in Congress than there are, if the proportions were the same.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Is this really a difficult question to answer? The overwhelming majority of Jews are Democrats; of Jews that aren't Democrats, most tend to be Haredim or Orthodox and/or relatively recent immigrants from the Soviet Union. The majority of the Jewish demographics listed live in Los Angeles or New York, which are not exactly known for electing Republicans.

Asking why so few Jewish congressmen are Republicans is like asking why so few Mexican-American congressmen are Republicans.

[ag]

3. Russian Immigrant Jews: This group will honestly be the future of Jewish Republicans in America, but not right now. These people immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s (and in some cases, 2000's). So the older generations were "too immigrant" to run for office and the younger generations are only now starting to get to the ripe age of potentially running for office.

There is a problem even with that: it is the older generation that is Republican. The younger generation (those who were born and/or grew up in the US) either remain "too immigrant" or assimilate into the mainstream liberal secular Jewish community of the big cities. Even those of my age (fourty-somethings) tend to be indies or Dems (though, perhaps, somewhat more conservative than most other big-city Jewish Dems). You go younger, and you are more likely to find a Russian-speaking Bernie type than a conservative Republican.  Might be different among the Bukharans - that I do not know. But Ashkenazic Russian Jews are not going to stay a distinct community long enough to make a difference for the Republicans in this respect.

[King of Kensington]

Another thing is that Jewish Democrats have an easier time getting elected in districts or states with very few Jews because Democratic voters care far less whether their representative or senator is a Christian.

[ag]

Another thing is that Jewish Democrats have an easier time getting elected in districts or states with very few Jews because Democratic voters care far less whether their representative or senator is a Christian.

Yep. Which, of course, also goes some way in explaining why so many Jews are Dems.

[King of Kensington]

3. Russian Immigrant Jews: This group will honestly be the future of Jewish Republicans in America, but not right now. These people immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s (and in some cases, 2000's). So the older generations were "too immigrant" to run for office and the younger generations are only now starting to get to the ripe age of potentially running for office.

There is a problem even with that: it is the older generation that is Republican. The younger generation (those who were born and/or grew up in the US) either remain "too immigrant" or assimilate into the mainstream liberal secular Jewish community of the big cities. Even those of my age (fourty-somethings) tend to be indies or Dems (though, perhaps, somewhat more conservative than most other big-city Jewish Dems). You go younger, and you are more likely to find a Russian-speaking Bernie type than a conservative Republican.  Might be different among the Bukharans - that I do not know. But Ashkenazic Russian Jews are not going to stay a distinct community long enough to make a difference for the Republicans in this respect.

Yeah, the second generation is more liberal than the immigrant generation.  But I suspect they're still more conservative than fourth generation American non-Orthodox Jews.

[ag]

3. Russian Immigrant Jews: This group will honestly be the future of Jewish Republicans in America, but not right now. These people immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s (and in some cases, 2000's). So the older generations were "too immigrant" to run for office and the younger generations are only now starting to get to the ripe age of potentially running for office.

There is a problem even with that: it is the older generation that is Republican. The younger generation (those who were born and/or grew up in the US) either remain "too immigrant" or assimilate into the mainstream liberal secular Jewish community of the big cities. Even those of my age (fourty-somethings) tend to be indies or Dems (though, perhaps, somewhat more conservative than most other big-city Jewish Dems). You go younger, and you are more likely to find a Russian-speaking Bernie type than a conservative Republican.  Might be different among the Bukharans - that I do not know. But Ashkenazic Russian Jews are not going to stay a distinct community long enough to make a difference for the Republicans in this respect.

Yeah, the second generation is more liberal than the immigrant generation.  But I suspect they're still more conservative than fourth generation American non-Orthodox Jews.

Yeah, more conservative. So, instead of being leftish liberal Dems, they are more mainstream-to-slightly-conservative Dems (with fond memories of Bill Clinton, who happens to be the first president they remember well). That is if you are talking about my generation. The under-thirties are further left, of course.

[ag]

My theory is that there are not that many non-Orthodox Jews who are socially conservative enough to run as Republicans, even if they are willing to vote for Republicans.  And Orthodox denominations tend to live in liberal areas, but there also could be something else- that they don't pass for WASPs (or being a member of the mainstream culture, if you will).  There are very few Republican politicians that are not culturally WASPs (even the Mormons, Catholics, Jews, and Hispanics in the GOP caucus don't seem culturally any different from your average WASP- and, really, neither does Tim Scott or Mia Love).  Notice that almost all successful GOP Jewish politicians do not have Jewish last names.

I disagree.

Cantor is a Jewish name
Specter is a Jewish name
Boschwitz is a Jewish name *Former MN Sen. Rudy Boschwitz*
Hecht is a Jewish name * Former NV Sen. Chic Hecht*
Straus is a Jewish name * Current TX House Speaker Joe Straus*

Cantor lost the primary. Specter was forced to become a Dem.  Does not sound too good.

[ag]

My theory is that there are not that many non-Orthodox Jews who are socially conservative enough to run as Republicans, even if they are willing to vote for Republicans.  And Orthodox denominations tend to live in liberal areas, but there also could be something else- that they don't pass for WASPs (or being a member of the mainstream culture, if you will).  There are very few Republican politicians that are not culturally WASPs (even the Mormons, Catholics, Jews, and Hispanics in the GOP caucus don't seem culturally any different from your average WASP- and, really, neither does Tim Scott or Mia Love).  Notice that almost all successful GOP Jewish politicians do not have Jewish last names.

I disagree.

Cantor is a Jewish name
Specter is a Jewish name
Boschwitz is a Jewish name *Former MN Sen. Rudy Boschwitz*
Hecht is a Jewish name * Former NV Sen. Chic Hecht*
Straus is a Jewish name * Current TX House Speaker Joe Straus*

Cantor lost the primary. Specter was forced to become a Dem.  Does not sound too good.

And neither lost because they were Jewish or because they had Jewish-sounding names.

That is something that is not at all as clear as you are making it.

[ag]

How so? It would make no sense to claim Cantor lost because he's Jewish. He was  in congress for 13 years when he lost. He has always been clearly Jewish as well. There is no legitimate evidence that he lost because he's Jewish.

And we all know why Specter was forced from the GOP. Had nothing to do with him being Jewish. It had to do with the fact that he had been in office since 1981 and GOP voters wanted a new, more conservative voice.

While it is possible for a Jew to win a Republican primary, one would always operate under a disadvantage because a certain proportion of Republican electorate does find Jewishness a disqualifying factor, or, at least, is prone to prefer a Christian other things being equal. I am pretty confident somebody with Cantor's stature would have never lost to a no-name primary opponent had he been Christian.

[Santander]

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Catholics, sure, but Evangelicals quite literally want to start the end of the world by allowing the building of another Temple in Jerusalem. They care very little about Jews and their culture. It's only meant to usher forth the Second Coming.

[ag]

In any case, this is not just the 115th congress. This is the full list of Republican Jewish members first eleected after the end of WWII

Senate

1. Jacob Javits, NY 1957-1981 - lost renomination, would have been Dem today
2. Rudy Boschwitz, MN, 1978-1991, lost reelection to a Dem Jewish candidate (Wellstone)
3. Warren Rudman, NH, 1980-1993, retired
4. Arlen Specter, PA, 1981-2011, but the last two years switched to D
5. Chic Hecht, NV, 1983-1989, lost re-election
6. Norman Coleman, MN, 2003-2009, lost reelection toa Dem Jewish candidate (Franken)

Only 6, of whom 2 (the only two with much seniority) were driven out of the party and 2 were defeated by fellow Jewish Dems.

At the same time there have been 21 Dem or Dem-caucusing Jewish senators (not counting Specter's lat two years)

House (again, just those first elected after WWII)

1. Jacob Javits, NY 1947-1954 (see above)
2. Seymour Halpern, NY 1959-1973 ("one of the most liberal Republicans in the House")
3. Sam Steiger, AZ 1967-1977
4. Ben Gillman, NY 1973-2003
5. Bill Gradison, OH 1975-1993
6. Mickey Edwards, OK 1977-1993 (lost renomination)
7. Marc Marks, PA 1977-1983
8. Bill Green, NY 1978-1993
9. Ken Kramer, CO 1979-1987
10. Bobbi Fielder, CA 1981-1987
11. John Miller, WA 1985-1993
12. Steven Schiff, NM 1989-1998
13. Dick Zimmer, NJ 1991-1997
14. David Levy, IN 1993-1995 (lost renomination)
15. Jon Fox, PA 1995-1999
16. Eric Cantor, VA 2001-2014 (lost renomination)
17. Lee Zeldin, NY 2015 - present
18. David Kustoff, TN 2017 - present

So, if anything, the number of Jewish R congressmen today is  not particularly low historically (except for the late 1970s/early 1990s period, but even then it was never very large).  Throughout that time there have been, of course, over a hundred Jewish Dems in the House.

[ag]

Add to this that out of the 8 Jewish Supreme Court Judges ever, 7 were appointed by Dem presidents (Wilson, FDR, JFK, LBJ, Clinton 2 and Obama) with the only exception (Cardozo) being appointed by Hoover.

Of the elected state governors Greitens (MO, 2017 - ) is only the second Republican  in history (after Lingle, HI 2002-2010). There have also been 20 Dems (including one before the modern two-party system) and 1 Indy.

Not pretty.

[DavidB.]

Not pretty.

Why? Jews are much less Republican than non-Jews.

[tallguy23]

1. Most Jews are Democrats
2. They tend to live in coastal, urban areas (NYC, LA, Miami) that vote Democratic
2. Most are socially liberal, secular, and highly educated. These all point to being mainly Democratic-leaning.

The only Jewish Republicans I personally know are recent immigrants from Israel. They are more socially conservative and security for Israel is their top issue.

[ag]

Not pretty.

Why? Jews are much less Republican than non-Jews.

There is a reason for that.

[ag]

Actually, not restricting oneself to the post-war years very little changes. It is still overwhelming dominance by the Dems. Full list since 1856 - the entire duration of the current two-party system. That is, actually, quite a bit more interesting, given the party drift.

Senate

1. Joseph Simon, OR 1898-1903
2. Simon Guggenheim, CO 1907-1913
3. Jacob Javits, NY 1957-1981 - lost renomination, would have been Dem today
4. Rudy Boschwitz, MN, 1978-1991, lost reelection to a Dem Jewish candidate (Wellstone)
5. Warren Rudman, NH, 1980-1993, retired
6. Arlen Specter, PA, 1981-2011, but the last two years switched to D
7. Chic Hecht, NV, 1983-1989, lost re-election
8. Norman Coleman, MN, 2003-2009, lost reelection toa Dem Jewish candidate (Franken)

At the same time there have been 26 Dem or Dem-caucusing Jewish senators (27, if you count Specter)

House. Here the early 1920s were the best for Jewish Republicans - but in every other period Dems strongly predominate. There were 19 Jewish Republicans before Javits and 18 starting with him. The 1921-1923 Congress was the big exception. Still, even in that early period for 19 Republcians there were 33 Dems (and 2 Socialists). And Ignoring the early 1920s the disbalance is almost modern. Since WWII, of course, for 18 Republicans there have been over a 100 Dems.

1. Edwin Einstein, NY 1879-1881
2. Nathan Frank, MO 1889-1991
3. Irving Wanger, PA 1893-1911
4. Israel Fisher, NY 1895-1899
6. Lucius Littauer, NY 1897-1907
7. Julius Kahn, CA 1899-1903 and 1905-1924
8. Montague Lessler, NY 1902-1903
9. Isaac Bacharach, NJ 1915-1937
10. Isaac Siegel, NY 1915-1923
11. Milton Kraus, IN 1917-1923
12. Nathan Perlman, NY 1920-1927
13. Lester Volk, NY 1920-1923
14. Martin Ansorge, NY 1921-1923
15. Benjamin Rosenbloom, WV 1921-1925
16. Albert Rossdale, NY 1921-1923
17. Benjamin Golder, PA 1925-1933
18. Florence Kahn, CA, 1925-1937 (replaced her husband)
19. Daniel Ellison, MD 1945-1947

1. Jacob Javits, NY 1947-1954 (see above)
2. Seymour Halpern, NY 1959-1973 ("one of the most liberal Republicans in the House")
3. Sam Steiger, AZ 1967-1977
4. Ben Gillman, NY 1973-2003
5. Bill Gradison, OH 1975-1993
6. Mickey Edwards, OK 1977-1993 (lost renomination)
7. Marc Marks, PA 1977-1983
8. Bill Green, NY 1978-1993
9. Ken Kramer, CO 1979-1987
10. Bobbi Fielder, CA 1981-1987
11. John Miller, WA 1985-1993
12. Steven Schiff, NM 1989-1998
13. Dick Zimmer, NJ 1991-1997
14. David Levy, IN 1993-1995 (lost renomination)
15. Jon Fox, PA 1995-1999
16. Eric Cantor, VA 2001-2014 (lost renomination)
17. Lee Zeldin, NY 2015 - present
18. David Kustoff, TN 2017 - present

[ag]

So, by Congress, starting after the Civil War (yeah, Judah Benjamin was a Dem )

Senate

46th 1D
47th 1D
48th 1D

55th 1R
56th 1R
57th 1R

59th 1D
60th 1D 1R
61st 1D 1R
62nd 1D 1R

81st 1D
82nd 1D
83rd 1D
84th 2D
85th 1D 1R
86th 2D 1R
87th 1D 1R
88th 2D 1R
89th 2D 1R
90th 2D 1R
91st 1D 1R
92nd 1D 1R
93rd 2D 1R
94th 2D 1R
95th 4D 1R
96th 5D 2R
97th 3D 3R
98th 4D 4R
99th 4D 4R
100th 3D 4R
101st 5D 3R
102nd 6D 2R
103rd 9D 1R
104th 9D 1R
105th 9D 1R
106th 10D 1R
107th 9D 1R
108th 9D 2R
109th 9D 2R
110th 11D 2R
111th 13D
112th 12D
113th 11D
114th 10D
115th 8D

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

If anything, it's surprising that there have been more than a handful of Jewish Republicans in Congress over the past century. Jews, above all other ethnicities, were predisposed to the Democratic Party, with the exception of brief blips in time where Democrats went full Klansmen and, even then, the GOP offered them little. Why was this the case? The Republican Party's central ideology in the early 20th Century, its one unifying theme, was a kind of racialist and nativist nationalism. While there were a few prominent machines that managed to hold onto immigrant voters before the New Deal, these fell apart rather quickly and it took decades for Republicans to make much in-roads with "white ethnics".

If I had to guess, Pennsylvania was the center of Jewish Republican representation; Pennsylvania had a robust Republican machine, particularly in Philadelphia, and, if I had to wager, they probably managed to incorporate many Jews within this machine.