November 2021 sent a big message to leadership in local, state and federal governments—that we are not going to stand for the socialist, progressive woke agenda many on the left are pushing.
In Nassau County, every Republican won because of the two words "bail reform". Voters rejected the elected officials, even if popular, that were tied to authoring the bill that allowed criminals to go free easily.
Jews didn’t need endorsements to vote. They came out to vote and brought their neighbors and friends. They used social media to get the word out about where and when to vote and proudly displayed their “I voted, did you?” stickers.
Jews' voices count, whether as candidates, volunteers, donors and voters. We can think for ourselves and our individual votes make the difference. We don’t care how many ads candidates place in newspapers, we care about our income, our safety and their support for Israel and Worldwide Jewry.
Something else started in the primary season 2021. I noticed it when Amber Adler ran for City Council in Brooklyn. New religious voices, especially women's, made their mark.
Although Adler didn’t win, she might have started a trend. She showed that Jews were able to run and have a voice in elections, whether or not every rabbi or Jewish organization backed them. The haredi voters shunned her because they are against women in politics. Their newspapers refused to show her face. She got around that.
The results of the November 2021 elections confirmed my hunches.
As of this writing, the New Jersey Gubernatorial race is still undecided with about 80% of the vote counted, it seems Republican Jack Ciattarelli has a slight lead, but that can change. Reports out of Lakewood are, that despite endorsements from the Lakewood VAAD and askanim, Governor Phil Murphy was unable to gain support from individual voters, many conservative, who had voted for President Donald Trump.
Across the river in New York, Jews came out in record numbers to ignore the leadership and endorsements and support who they felt would best represent them. The results were beyond imaginable.
Mayor-Elect Eric Adams, for example, received the majority of major Jewish endorsements and now has to prove to the Jewish community that he is not just another Democratic politician pandering for donations and votes. When I was honored over three years ago at a Young Israel dinner, he came to garner support for his campaign.
As I mentioned in a previous article, Inna Vernikov was running for City Council in Brooklyn’s 48th district. Jewish Vote GOP did not endorse her because she declined our invitation to be interviewed. We didn’t endorse her opponent, Steven Saperstein either, because of his ties to the UFT. However, almost every major law enforcement union and both the FJCC and the Sephardic Community Federation came out for him.
On Election night, Vernikov received over 60 percent of the vote and after a campaign filled with nasty attacks from both sides, the voters decided on who would help them, not who they were told to vote for.
A bigger surprise to many is the victory of Vickie Paladino for City Council, District 19, in Queens. Many supporting Paladino are members of Jewish Vote GOP. Paladino won despite no help from her county leadership and few endorsements.
The establishment candidates in Nassau and Suffolk counties did very well, with some big upsets.
A common thread for all these winners was one thing. Their victories came with the help of grassroots Jews who don’t care about whoever tells them who to vote for.
While these candidates won because they focused on issues in their communities, they won also because like their supporters, they say with pride they voted for President Donald J. Trump.
I know Republican candidates who would not mention Trump’s name, but Inna Vernikov was proud of her robocalls from Donald Trump Jr. to district voters.
After almost two years of hate crimes, lockdowns, CRT, inflation, tweets of anti-Semitism from public officials, fake news, fake impeachment, attacks on our rights to defend ourselves, freedom of speech, and a decline in our quality of life, people don’t care so much for the establishment's choice, they care about protecting themselves and having a voice. They care about 2022 and 2024.
Here is a good tip for anyone seriously thinking about voting in the future. Get to know your candidates early on. These candidates started out as David and always believed that they would defeat Goliath.
Was this a perfect victory? Time will tell.
Cindy Grosz is the host of Cindy’s Political Corner which can be downloaded through iHeartRadio, Spotify and all major podcast outlets. She is the chair of Jewish Vote GOP. She can be reached at [email protected]