KNOLLENBERG, LEVIN RE-ELECTED

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
StaFT Writer

Marion Kaminsky of Teitel Jewish
Apartments gets a ride from Sam Williams
to the voting precinct across the street at
Prentis Jewish Apartments. The golf cart
transport for elderly residents was recently
introduced on the Taubman Jewish
Community Campus in Oak Park, here
in Michigan.

Confused Voters

The irony of Buchanan siphoning off
Gore votes did not escape Tammy
Jacobson, who works at the Kaplan
Jewish Community Center in West Palm
Beach. "I'm doubting myself," she said
Wednesday morning at a staff meeting
that turned into a discussion about
Jewish voters concerned about their vote.
"And what about the seniors? Some
people said, 'If you have questions,
you should have asked.' Well, I waited
25 minutes in line, and the people
were sitting behind the desk taking
your name — you didn't feel there was
anyone to ask. And if the seniors
could get themselves to the polling
station, do you think after that, they're
really going to grab someone and say,
`Excuse me, I don't understand?' No!"
In addition, the sample ballot that
was sent in the mail was laid out dif-
ferently from the actual ballot.
It is feared that the confusion may
have spread beyond the elderly.
Rushed parents taking kids to
school, third-shift workers and others
on tight morning or lunchtime sched-
ules might have missed their intended
candidate.
The effect is obvious to Lisa Stoch,
another JCC employee who passed
around a petition at the center calling
for a re-vote.
"Buchanan didn't even get 20,000 in
the whole state of Florida, and he got
3,400 in Palm Beach County —
something's not right," she said.
"What percentage of that 3,400 were
people that thought they were voting
for Gore?"
Meanwhile, concern surfaced
Wednesday that a ballot box in heavily
Jewish Fort Lauderdale had not been
counted, adding to the confusion.

❑

fter an unremitting battle,
Democrat Matthew Fruman's
concession to U.S. Rep. Joe
Knollenberg (R-Bloomfield Hills)
came with both disappointment and
pride in a campaign well-fought.
"I feel good about the race," Frumin
says. "I would like to have won, but
am very proud of the job we did."
Frumin, a 41-year-old lawyer, spoke
after making a congratulatory call to
Knollenberg on Wednesday.
"The win has a lot to do with
Knollenberg being a congressman for all
the people of the district — Republicans
and Democrats," says Paul Welday, chief
of staff for Knollenberg.

Knollenberg had 170,785 votes (56
percent) versus Frumin's 124,061 (41
percent). Frumin found it encouraging
receiving 24,000 more votes than did
his father, Dr. Morris Frumin of
Bingham Farms, in running for the
same seat in 1996. A relative unknown
before moving from Washington, D.C.,
to West Bloomfield in April, Matthew
Frumin says, "We accomplished an
enormous amount in the time we had."
A Michigan native, Frumin moved
back home to challenge Knollenberg,
now a five-term congressman in the
11th District. He is undecided about his
next political and professional moves.
"First I will spend some time with
my family," he says of his wife, Lena
Steckel Frumin, and their children,
Alice, 11; Jophie, 8; and Zoe, 4.

Knollenberg is preparing to return
to Washington in the next few days.
"He is very appreciative of the voters
of the 11th District for putting their
trust in him for another two years,"
Welday says.
"We are thrilled with the win, but we
tip our hats to Matt, who got up and
worked hard during the campaign."

Twelfth District

In the race for U.S. House of
Representatives in the 12th District,
incumbent Rep. Sander Levin (Royal
Oak) will retain the office he has held
since 1982. Levin gained 157,613
(65 percent) of the vote over chal-
lenger Bart Baron (R-Troy), whose
tally was 78,792 (33 percent). Tallies
are unofficial.

❑

STABENOW SUPPORTERS HAPPY

ALAN HITSKY
Associate Editor

A

tired but elated Gary Torgow on
Wednesday savored the U.S.
Senate victory of his candidate, U.S.
Rep. Debbie Stabenow (D-18th
District), from Lansing.
Torgow, a Jewish community activist
from Oak Park who is a Detroit real
estate developer, was finance chair for
Stabenow's campaign. He had stayed
up all night watching the election
returns with members of the Stabenow

campaign, returns that paralleled the
whipsaw ups and downs of the presi-
dential race.
Media outlets early Tuesday evening
predicted victory for Stabenow over
incumbent Sen. Spence Abraham (R-
Auburn Hills). But as evening turned
to dawn, Stabenow's victory margin
narrowed unofficially from 53-47 per-
cent to 49-48 percent (2,042,486
votes to 1,985,698).
Albert Holtz, a Bloomfield Hills
attorney active in many Democratic and
judicial races, said the Jewish vote "had

plenty to do with" Stabenow's victory.
Torgow agreed. "Debbie has a stellar
record during her congressional career
on Israel and [Jewish] community
issues. It was an easy sell to ask people
to support her.
"She has a real sense of balance about
the important partnerships America has
to maintain around the world" and
Israel's value as a strategic partner.
Abraham's record on Israel and the
Middle East was ranked in September
by a Washington magazine as one of the
most pro-Arab in the U.S. Senate.

❑

COALITION HELPS DEFEAT VOUCHERS

DIANA LIEBERMAN
ta Writer
Stall

'

O

nly about 100 people attended
the Jewish Community Coalition
Against Vouchers' Oct. 23 forum.
That meeting alone was not enough
to influence Tuesday's vote, where the
voucher proposal, formally known as
Proposal 1, was defeated by a
statewide percentage of about 70-30.
However, the meeting left a bad taste
in the mouth of Commerce Township
resident Stephen Rosman. He is fur-
ther annoyed that his objections,
voiced in an Oct. 30 letter to Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
President Penny Blumenstein and for-
warded to other leaders of the Jewish
community, have gone unanswered.
The most widely publicized effect of

Proposal 1 would have been to give
students in failing school districts
vouchers allowing them to receive
state funding to attend any private
school that would accept them.
"I am totally thrilled that it was
defeated," said Mindy Nathan of West
Bloomfield, co-chair of the JCAC,
which was made up of about 18
Jewish organizations. The coalition
worked against the proposal primarily
because members felt it would hurt
public education and violated the sep-
aration of church and state.
In his letter, Rosman said the final
JCAC meeting had not presented the
pro-voucher position. In addition,
many coalition-member organizations
receive financial support from
Federation, he said, and yet the vouch-
er issue did not directly represent the

interests of the Jewish community.
David Gad-Harf is executive direc-
tor of the Jewish Community
Council, one of about 20 organiza-
tions on the JCAC planning commit-
tee. He said he hoped Federation con-
tributors would continue their finan-
cial support because of Federation's
overall mission, not because of every
action of every agency.
Judy Rosenberg of Birmingham,
state public affairs chair for the
National Council of Jewish Women,
Detroit Region, explained the coali-
tion was a registered ballot committee.
"We were there for the express pur-
pose of defeating this proposal [Proposal
1]," Rosenberg said. "The Oct. 23
meeting wasn't billed as a debate. There
was nothing to preclude the other side
from presenting its own forum." ❑

QIN

11/10
2000

