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‘BLUE AND WHITE’ WAVE
According to Kenneth Wald, profes-
sor emeritus of political science and
Samuel R. “Bud” Shorstein professor
emeritus of American Jewish culture
and society at the University of Florida,
there was “a ‘blue and white wave’ over
the Republicans.”
Wald said two sets of
data show Jews voted
slightly more than 4-1
in favor of Democratic
candidates, an increase
from 2-1 in the 2014
Kenneth Wald
midterm elections and
up from 3-1 during the 2016 election.
“Jews have been heavily Democratic
for a long time, yet this is still amaz-
ingly lopsided,” said Wald, whose
book Foundations of American Jewish
Liberalism will be published next year.
“It’s hard to see how it could have been
any more Democratic than it was.”
Wald said American Jews have built
a political culture based on the prin-
ciple of equal citizenship in a secular
state. “A significant number of Jews
felt that Trump contributed to the
atmosphere that led to the Pittsburgh
shootings. Underlying that is the
concern about the growth of blood-
and-soil nationalism in the United
States. Trump has, in Jewish eyes, been
responsible for attacking that notion of
equal citizenship.”
It’s a continuation of something
that’s been building since the Christian
evangelicals became the base of the
Republican party, Wald said.
“Evangelicals are as Republican
as Jews are Democratic, and they
believe that public policy should reflect
Christian values. When a state consid-
ers itself Christian, that’s never good
for Jews historically,” he said.

THE RESULTS IN MICHIGAN
“In Michigan, there was something of
a blue wave,” Lessenberry said. “Trump
was never as popular here as he has
been in some places. His tariffs are
hurting manufacturing and agricul-
ture. Still, the Democrats gained more
seats than I thought they would, and
far more Democrats were elected than
Republicans.”
He added he was surprised
Republican John James did so well
against Debbie Stabenow, losing by
only 200,000 votes. The last time
Stabenow was up for re-election, she

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November 15 • 2018

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won by more than 1
million votes.
“I was surprised by
Slotkin’s win, but not by
Stevens’ win over Lena
Epstein, who was seen
Jack
as a fringe candidate,”
Lessenberry
he said.
Sedler said he wasn’t
surprised either. “I looked at Epstein’s
campaign ads in the JN. She had no
endorsements; Stevens did. And Jews
vote about 80 percent Democratic. It
makes no difference if the Republican
candidate is Jewish or not.”
The real question, Lessenberry
said, is whether Slotkin and Stevens
will hang onto those seats. “Michigan
is going to lose a seat in Congress in
2022, and Stevens and Slotkin may
end up being thrown into the same
district.”
The winner of the night, said
Lesseberry, was the passage of Proposal
2 to end gerrymandering. “That may
have more impact than anything else
on the state’s future,” he said.
Sedler said it will be interesting to
see how a Democratic governor will
work with a legislature still under
Republican control. “The governor has
enormous power under the Michigan
Constitution, so expect to see some
heavy dealings between Whitmer and
the legislature,” he said.
Gilda Jacobs, president and CEO
of the Michigan League for Public
Policy, said her organization is looking
forward to more progressive policies
coming out of Lansing.
“I think Gov.-elect Whitmer under-
stands much of the tax cuts in the last
eight years were made on the backs of
working people and wants to make up
for that,” she said. “She has an appre-
ciation for the need to invest in higher
education and childcare, understand-
ing the multi-genera-
tional approach to pol-
icy: that you can’t help
kids if you don’t help
their parents, too.
“Since Republicans
no longer have a super-
Gilda Jacobs
majority, there will
be no more steamrolling of certain
policies,” she added. “Whitmer is a
moderate Democrat who will find
opportunities for conversations across
the aisle. We’re hopeful about what that
means.” ■