Keep Marching

Lessons from New York, including Broadway.

In the past week, I saw the Broadway show Suffs not once but twice. This isn’t just a form of entertainment; it’s been therapy and a source of inspiration amid a difficult week. This Tony award-winning musical tells the story of the fearless leaders of the women’s suffrage movement a century ago, with clear lessons for today.

The suffragists fought tirelessly for the right to vote. They built a movement around the country, “slow and steady” at times, strategically gaining support in each state, including from unlikely allies. For decades, they remained narrowly focused on a single issue and “kept marching” until passage of the 19th Amendment. Despite political setbacks, disagreements, and differences of opinion within their own movement, their single-issue focus, advocacy, traditional political organizing, and dogged persistence ultimately led to their success.

This degree of focus on a single issue is hard to come by today. For Democrats, one minute we’re concerned about affordability and cost of living, the next it’s the attacks on our democracy and the litany of corruption, injustices, and inhumanity emanating from this White House. Perhaps more accurately, it’s all of the above and more – everything, everywhere, all at once. For Jewish Dems, we’re additionally and rightfully concerned about rising antisemitism and deep divisions, including in our political discourse, about U.S. policy related to Israel.

Last week, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called AIPAC “monsters” who move “millions in dark money” to preserve their power. Earlier this week, New York Congressman Dan Goldman was excoriated and banned from a Brooklyn coffee shop because of his views on Israel. We’re deeply concerned about the blaming of Jewish Americans for the actions of Israel, which is how antisemitism is manifesting in our society and our politics in 2026.

On Tuesday, Israel was used as a wedge issue to divide Democrats, and even Jewish Democrats, in some New York City primary elections. While turnout in these races was relatively low – less than half of what it was in last year’s mayoral primary, with one in six Democrats voting – the defeat of Reps. Goldman and Espaillat, both of whom JDCA supported, stings. It speaks to the strength of the DSA movement in select parts of New York City, but that political influence is not necessarily transferable elsewhere in New York or the country.

A few blocks north in Manhattan, in the largest Jewish district in the country, NY-12, a mainstream Democrat, Micah Lasher, won an election that had little to do with Israel. Elsewhere in New York, strong Democrats won, including JDCA endorsees, Reps. Tom Suozzi (NY-03), Laura Gillen (NY-04), Grace Meng (NY-06), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), George Latimer (NY-16), Pat Ryan (NY-18), Josh Riley (NY-19), and John Mannion (NY-22). All of these incumbents were overwhelmingly re-elected, despite some facing DSA challengers; pro-Israel and progressive champion Rep. Torres defeated a DSA challenger by 50 points.

In NY-17, a 20 percent Jewish district, Cait Conley, a strong centrist Democrat and Army veteran who served six tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, overwhelmingly won her primary. It’s races like NY-17, currently held by Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, that will determine control of the House of Representatives in November. In fact, Lawler tried to subvert Conley in the primary because he knows that she can beat him in this district, which has 80,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans, and was changed from a “lean-R” to a “toss-up” earlier this year.

While Mike Lawler and Donald Trump are doing their best to paint all Democrats as DSA, the truth is, we are not. Here in my home state of Maryland, on Tuesday, a strong pro-Israel Democrat, Adrian Boafo, beat more than 20 challengers in the primary to succeed his former boss, pro-Israel champion and former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. This and many other races demonstrate that DSA’s impact is limited to very specific areas of the country, like parts of New York City.

It’s candidates like Cait Conley in Republican-held NY-17 who will determine whether Democrats win back control of Congress in November. And it’s Democrats in swing districts like NY-17 that we’re primarily focused on at JDCA. We remain focused on a clear strategy to organize and mobilize Jewish voters who can have a critical impact in this election, with a goal of flipping seats in the Senate and House. Our goal is to shift the congressional majorities from red to blue so that Democrats can reestablish guardrails on this White House in November.

We’re going to keep marching toward this goal because so much is at stake in this election. Donald Trump wants to see us divided, distracted, and even myopic in our approach, and we refuse to march to his tune. There are about 130 days until the midterms, and JDCA has endorsed slightly more than 130 Democrats who share our values. Please join our efforts and support our work by donating $130 today (or more), and keep marching with us.

With your help, we can do it. Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom.