Election 2004
House Divided
With attention on the presidential race, congressional races fly under the radar.
MATTHEW E. BERGER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Philadelphia
erhaps it makes sense that Allyson
Schwartz's campaign headquarters sits
above a Russian Jewish market in a small
strip mall. After all, Schwartz is considered to .
have the best chance of any candidate to join the
Jewish caucus in Congress.
The Democratic Pennsylvania state senator is
running to replace Rep.
Joe Hoeffel, D-Pa., who is trying to win a
Senate seat.
Schwartz is running against Republican oph-
thalmologist Melissa Brown in the state's 13th
district. The two have been attacking each other
with negative advertising.
Brown accuses Schwartz of having "radical
views," such as opposing the death penalty in all
cases and supporting tax increases. Schwartz
counter-charges that Brown committed insurance
fraud with her husband when they founded a doc-
tor-owned HMO.
The race also has focused on health care and the
war in Iraq.
A Keystone poll taken late last month had
Schwartz leading Brown by 45 percent to 32 per-
cent.
p
Hot Races
Democrats have a chance to take control in the
Senate, which could help funnel through social
policy programs that have stalled in the
Republican-controlled Congress.
The House is likely to stay Republican, but
Democratic gains there also could help the Jewish
social agenda, analysts say.
Currently, there are 26 Jewish representatives,
most of whom do not face serious challenges for
re-election, and 11 Jewish senators, five of whom
are up for re-election.
Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Charles Schumer,
D-N.Y., and Ron Wydtn, D-Ore., do not face
strong challenges this year. Two — Sen. Russell
Feingold, D-Wis., and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
— are in tough races.
The most closely watched race in the Jewish
community involves Rep. Martin Frost, D-Texas,
the second-longest serving Jewish Democrat in
the House, who is up against Rep. Pete Sessions,
R-Texas, in a redrawn district that heavily favors
Sessions.
Jewish Democrats from across the country have
been aiding Frost. Sheldon Cohen, a former IRS
commissioner, hosted a fund-raiser for Frost in
the Washington area.
"He's been a leader of a lot of
good things, certainly every-
thing the Jewish community
could want," Cohen said of
Frost.
A recent Dallas Morning News
poll showed Frost trailing
Sessions by 6 percentage points.
The only Jewish House mem-
ber not seeking re-election this
year is Rep. Peter Deutsch, D-
Fla., who unsuccessfully ran for
the Democratic nomination for
Florida's open Senate seat.
Allyson Schwartz
Partisan Fights
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who
also is Jewish, is seen as
Deutsch's likely successor in a
heavily Democratic district.
David Ashe's chances in
Virginia have risen since Rep.
Ed Schrock, R-Va., got out of
the race amid an Internet-based
rumor campaign. Ashe, a veter-
an of the 2003 Iraq war who is
Jewish, is up against Thelma
Drake, a member of Virginia's
House of Delegates.
Democrats also are looking at
Rep. Frost
two other challengers: Jan
Schneider, who faces an uphill
battle to unseat Rep. Katherine
Harris, R-Fla., who beat
Schneider in 2002; and Paul
Hodes, an attorney challenging
Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H.
In the Senate, eyes are focused
on Specter, who seems likely to
defeat Hoeffel to win his fifth
term. Specter is leading in the
polls by almost 20 points.
Jews also are watching Senate
races in Oklahoma and
Colorado. Democrats believe
those states may be the best
places to pick up Senate seats
Sen. Specter
currently in Republican hands,
and Israel activists from both
sides of the aisle are looking for
candidates that will support Israel.
In Oklahoma, pro-Israel activists have been sup-
porting Rep. Brad Carson, D-Okla., against
physician Tom Coburn, a former congressman.
The race is considered close, with recent polls
divided as to who is ahead.
"We've helped him," Morris Amitay, treasurer of
Washington PAC, said of Carson. "He
has a good record."
Some Jewish leaders are concerned
about Coburn's pro-life platform.
Coburn also has been plagued by recent
comments suggesting "lesbianism" is
rampant in state schools.
In Colorado, concerns about conserva-
tive positions from beer magnate and
Republican candidate Pete Coors have
led Jews to support Democratic candi-
date Ken Salazar, the state attorney gen-
eral. The race has focused on national
issues, such as the Iraq war and the
Patriot Act. Polls show Salazar with a
small lead.
Republican Jews have been focusing
their attention on unseating Senate
Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.,
and have been giving money to his chal-
lenger, former congressman John Thune,
in a tight race. Recent polls are divided
as to who is ahead.
In Spotlight, Toos
Some are also watching Wisconsin,
where Feingold holds a solid lead over
Republican challenger Tim Michels. But
as a liberal lawmaker in a state that is
growing more conservative — and which
is considered a toss-up in the presiden-
tial race — Feingold will have to work
hard right up until election day, Jewish
advocates say.
The latest poll shows Feingold, the
only senator to oppose the Patriot Act,
more than 20 points ahead of Michels.
There also is disappointment in the
Jewish community that Rep. Cynthia
McKinney almost certainly will return to
Congress. McKinney was unseated by
Rep. Denise Majette, D-Ga., in 2002,
with the American Jewish community
heavily backing Majette because of
McKinney's strongly anti-Israel posi-
tions.
Majette shocked many earlier this year,
giving up her House position to run for
an open Senate seat that many assume
will go Republican next month.
McKinney won a primary for her old seat and
does not face a strong challenge in the predomi,
nantly Democratic district. Yet Jewish leaders sug-
gest McKinney may curtail her anti-Israel rhetoric
if she returns to the Capitol in January. El
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2004
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