D

uring their junior year of high 
school in the summer of 1998 at 
the Michigan Chapter of Boys 
State, a model government leadership pro-
gram for teens, John James, who is Black, 
and Jeffrey Green, who is Jewish, became 
fast friends. 
During the program, Green, a delegate 
from Okemos High School, was elected sec-
retary of state, and James, a delegate from 
Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield 
Township, was elected governor.
Though the program only lasted a week, 
James and Green’
s friendship has endured 
several decades; each has served as best 
man in the other’
s wedding, and James is 
now the godfather to Green’
s children.
And this year, as James makes a run for 
Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters’
 seat, 
Green is reminded once again of the duo’
s 
early high school political ambitions.
“We wanted to change the world and had 
all the plans to do so,
” said Green, who now 
lives in Sylvania, Ohio. “So, it’
s really fun to 
see what he is doing now.
” 
The current race is not James’
 first 
encounter with politics since high school. 
In 2018, he ran against U.S. Sen. Debbie 
Stabenow and lost by 6.5 points.
This race is tighter: Some polls show 

James trailing Peters by only three points. 
But as police brutality protests and the 
COVID-19 pandemic preoccupy the coun-
try, James, the Iraq war veteran and Detroit 
businessman, is campaigning in an unex-
pected political battleground.
James believes his message of unity for 
all races, creeds and religions will speak 
to Michiganders. And though the Jewish 
population doesn’
t typically comprise much 
of the Republican vote in Michigan, some 
make generous donations to the GOP
, and 
several belong to James’
s inner and cam-
paign circles. 

BRIDGING THE GAP?
Bipartisanship often permeates James’
 
Jewish friendships. In Farmington Hills, 
James lives next door to Florine Mark, a 
prominent Jewish businesswoman and CEO 
of the WW Group. James says although 
Mark is a staunch Gary Peters supporter, 
she has him over for family dinners and 
invites his children to swim in her pool. He 
says his many connections to the Jewish 
community don’
t strike him as “weird or 
different.
”
“I’
m honored to count members of the 
Jewish community among our grassroots 
supporters at all levels,
” he told the JN in his 

election interview. “The community is well 
represented, not just in my campaign but in 
my normal everyday life.
” 
James, a West Point graduate raised by 
Democratic parents in Detroit, returned 
to Michigan after serving eight years in 
the U.S. Army during the Iraq War. There, 
he flew the Apache helicopters that now 
famously adorn his campaign signs. 
In 2012, James joined his family’
s busi-
ness, James Group International, a logistics 
and supply chain management firm in 
Detroit. For two years, Green worked for 
the company as well.
And when James decided to run for 
senate in 2018, Green, despite being a 
Democrat, was an obvious pick for the role 
of informal campaign adviser. 
“Our relationship transcends politics,
” 
said Green. “It’
s important to always have 
somebody on your side who knows who 
you are, someone who understands you and 
cares for you, and I’
m that for John.
”

THE JEWISH VOTE
Historically, the majority of the Jewish com-
munity votes overwhelmingly Democratic 
in Michigan and the country. This year, 
66% of Jews identified as Democrats, 
according to the Jewish Electorate Institute. 
While Jewish Republicans in Michigan 
are smaller in number, Stu Sandler, a gener-
al political consultant who works with the 
James campaign, and the former deputy 
executive director of the Republican Jewish 
Coalition, believes a sizeable sect of the 
Jewish community is open to voting for 
James.
Some of James’
s prominent supporters 
are Jewish, including former Michigan 
Republican Party Chairs Robert Schostak 
and Ron Weiser, and Michigan business-
man Sheldon Yellen. 
James also has the potential to connect 
with Jewish voters through his pro-Israel 
stances, according to Sandler. James says he 
supports the current administration’
s pro-
posal for a two-state solution and opposes 
all forms of the Boycott, Divestment, 
Sanctions (BDS) movement.
“There must be no space between the 
United States and our ally Israel,
” James 
said. “We must protect our allies.
”
Recently, the Jewish Democratic Council 
of America, a Democratic partisan PAC, 
released an advertisement labeling James 
as an antisemite, referencing an incident 

MADELINE HALPERT CONTRIBUTING WRITER

14 | OCTOBER 15 • 2020 

The Senate candidate shares some 
links with the Jewish community.
Th
S
did
h

John James
 Jews
and 
the

Republican U.S. Senate candidate John 
James was the best man at Jeffrey Green’
s 
Jewish wedding. The two have been close 
friends since high school.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JEFFREY GREEN

