The U.S. Senate is now without any Jewish Republicans, following a Minnesota Supreme Court decision last week that declared Democratic comedian Al Franken the new junior senator from the state. The unanimous decision removed Republican incumbent Norm Coleman from office and left the Senate without a Republican Jew for the first time in more than 50 years.
There had been constant Jewish Republican representation in the Senate since 1957, when Jacob Javitz entered Congress as a Republican senator from the State of New York. During the Nixon years in the mid-1980s, Jewish Republicans boasted three Senate seats, and later had eight.
Outgoing Senator Coleman not only was active in Jewish causes but also aided the GOP in its recruitment of Jews to the Republican Party.
The situation of Jewish Republicans in the House of Representatives isn't much better, where the only Jewish member of the party is minority whip Eric Cantor, from Virginia.
On the Democratic side, the newly elected Franken, a Jewish liberal satirist, will take up his senatorial duties after the July 4th break and become the 11th Jewish Democratic Senator. A supporter of a Palestinian Authority state, Franken has written books that show him to be a strong supporter of pro-choice on abortion, pro-gun control and pro-legalization for same-sex marriages. He has also been a vocal critic of the Iraq war.
The other Jewish Democrats in the Senate are Barbara Boxer, Russ Feingold, Ben Cardin, Herb Kohl, Dianne Feinstein, Frank Lautenberg, Carl Levin, Charles Schumer, Arlen Specter (who switched over from the Republican Party two months ago) and Ron Wyden. There are two Jewish independents, Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders.
There are currently 30 Jewish Congressmen in the House of Representatives.
Republican and Democratic Responses
Matt Brooks, the executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, mourned the loss of Coleman's seat to the Democrats but negated the idea that a Jewish Republican was a thing of the past. "You will see … Republicans winning elections all across the country," he said.
Ira Forman, the CEO of the National Jewish Democratic Council, said that the election results had brought “the end of an era” which reflects the poor state of the national GOP.
Other commentators believe that the lack of Jewish Republicans in the Senate is just a symptom of the lack of Jewish Republican representation all around the country, even in highly Jewish areas.
According to Jewish-targeted opinion polls, the GOP's failure in attracting more Jews to its ranks stems directly from its political views on the separation of church and state, taxes, gay rights, social spending, abortion, anti-poverty programs, affirmative action and the Iraq and Iran wars.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who received 78 percent of the Jewish vote in November, brought many Jewish Democrats into office on his coattails. With the election of Franken, Obama now has a 60-40 Democratic majority in the Senate.