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Clockwise, from top left:
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, right,
celebrates her re-election with Rep.
Nancy Pelosi, D-Cali f, at the
Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
Democratic Rep. Charles Schumer,
flanked by his daughter Jessica, left,
and his wife Iris, right, claims victory
in his race against incumbent Sen.
Alfonse D'Amato (R-N. }9.
Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold waves
to a crowd at his victory party.
Victories by Schumer, Feingold
and others came as Jewish voters returned to the Democratic fold.
JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
jr
ewish incumbents in
Congress, like their non-
Jewish colleagues, fared well in
Tuesday's elections. And, in
the biggest seismic shock of the night,
gained the New York Senate seat of
three-term Republican Senator Alfonse
D'Amato.
Rep. Chuck Schumer, a Jewish
Democrat from Brooklyn, won a con-
test marred by mudslinging that stood
out even in this particularly dirty elec-
tion year.
Political observers expected
D'Amato, a pro-Israel loyalist who
became the leading Senate advocate for
Holocaust victims and heirs seeking
restitution, to get at least 40 percent of
the Jewish vote. But exit polls indicat-
ed that the tough-talking Republican
11/6
1998
10 Detroit Jewish News
was chosen by only about 21 percent.
D'Amato was hurt by his slur of
Schumer before a group of New York
Jewish activists — he called the chal-
lenger a "putzhead," and ridiculed
another Jewish Democratic legislator
because of his weight — and by a
recent campaign appearance with
Holocaust survivors, which earned him
criticism for trying to score political
-
points on the sensitive issue.
Schumer is "poised to project a very
formidable voice for the Jewish com-
munity in the Senate," said political
scientist Gilbert Kahn. "After 18 years
of leadership in the House, the move
to the upper chamber is a natural
transition for him. He knows the
issues the Jewish community cares
about, both on the internal and
domestic scenes."
Schumer's victory and the survival
of the four incumbent Jewish senators
.
bring the Jewish total in the upper
house up to 11.
In one of the most closely watched
races, Sen. Russ Feingold, one of two
Jewish senators from Wisconsin,
retained his seat for a second term by a
slim margin.
The leading Senate advocate of cam-
paign finance reform, he refused to take
political action committee money or
large out-of-state contributions while
Republicans poured big money into the
campaign of his opponent, two-term
congressman Mark Neumann.
In California, Democrat Barbara
Boxer struggled to retain her seat
against state treasurer Matt Fong, who
ran an effective, centrist campaign. But
Boxer, with help from Bill and Hillary
Clinton and a last-minute negative
advertising blitz, came out ahead, defy-
ing the conventional wisdom that her
liberalism and aggressive personality
were out of step with California voters.
The two other Jewish senators up for
reelection, Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and
Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), coasted to easy
victories.
In the House, incumbency proved a
similar advantage. Most of the 24
Jewish members — including Rep. Ben
Cardin (D-Md.), Rep. Gary Ackerman
(D-N.Y.), Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.),
Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), Rep. Robert
Wexler (D-Fla.), Rep. Peter Deutsch
(D-Fla.), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.),
Rep. Norman Sisisky (D-Va.) and Rep.
Ben Gilman (R-N.Y.) — won reelec-
tion; most by big margins and several
without any opposition. Anthony
Weiner, a Jewish Democrat, cruised to
victory in the race to replace Schumer.
Jewish politicos were watching three
closely contested contests with special
interest.
In Michigan, Rep. Sander Levin