Here is How I am God-Willing Voting this November and Why
At the outset, let’s stipulate that New York and New Yorkers will survive regardless of who wins the following seats. The question is: Who will do a better job than the other person, even if the other is tolerable?
Governor: Violent crime rates in New York have gone up like crazy, and while I don’t blame Governor Kathy Hochul for the laws that compound the problem, the governor has not been strong on this either in action or in words. On Yeshivas, the Governor has been tepid with the excuse that it’s not under her purview. Cool, neither are federal gun and immigration laws, yet the Governor speaks forcibly about those while letting Yeshivas twist in the wind. However, the governor’s office is generally responsive to other Jewish communal needs. Still, due to the two main issues, in addition to Republican Lee Zeldin being strong on those, I will God-willing vote for Zeldin (and for his Lt. Gov. candidate Alison Esposito).
Attorney General: Letitia James politicized her office with her pursuit of former President Donald Trump, but the political climate is so disgusting that any Dem would do it; look at the current and previous DAs of Manhattan. Additionally, AG offices are not that involved in fighting street crimes, so the recent rise in crime is hardly her fault. In standing up to bigotry against – and discrimination of – Orthodox Jews, AG Letitia James has been a champion bar none. Aside from seeing his name on Twitter once or twice, I have no idea who the Republican candidate is. With the Republican being MIA, AG James being good on discrimination, and every other viable Dem would anyway be wrong regarding Trump, I will God-willing vote for AG James.
U.S. Senate: Democrats with 47 seats in the Senate held the line against Trump better than Republicans with 50 seats against Biden. Senator Schumer is simply more effective. While I wouldn’t say I like it on many national issues, his effectiveness comes through on in-state and many – not all – Jewish communal issues, including those that may not fit the brand of Democrats, such as when Senator Schumer and his office went all in to save Alta Fixsler. I have no idea who the Republican is. If he/she is not here now, he/she won’t be here if elected. I will God-willing vote for Senator Schumer.
US House, NY-17: Any candidate or officeholder who wants to be taken seriously needs to study Assemblyman Republican Michael Lawler. He shows up politically like no one I have ever seen. People outside of Rockland County, New York, likely don’t know how candidates and politicians of both major political parties have for years shunned Hasidim by not showing up to events and making campaigns about “us” vs. Hasidim. Yet Mr. Lawler as an Assembly candidate a few years back led the way to change it. Additionally, when he took difficult votes (he will disappoint the GOP base here and there), he addressed them in meetings and calls rather than run for the hills. His office’s constituent services operation is fantastic! His opponent, Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney, who represents a neighboring area on the old congressional map, is also on the move, which means that he won’t be bad locally if he ends up winning. However, with his bad stance on bail, Mr. Lawler’s monumental strengths, and America’s democracy hanging in the balance and, therefore, a need for divided government nationally, I will God-willing vote for Michael Lawler.
NY State Senate District 38: When then-State Senate candidate Elijah Reichlin-Melnick learned that the Orthodox Jewish leadership would back his opponent in the open Democratic primary in 2020, Reichlin-Melnick took to Facebook to criticize his opponent for getting the support that Melnick had just secretly tried to obtain. “My opponent will now be able to count on several thousand votes, but I know I can count on you,” he wrote on June 18th, 2020. His future Dem Senate colleague James Skoufis also noted that the other guy has support from Hasidim; essentially saying, ‘you can’t vote for that guy because they support him.’ In June of last year, State Senator Reichlin-Melnick referred on the State Senate floor to 32,000 Orthodox (mostly Hasidic) Jewish school students in his district as “white,” erasing their ethnicity and stoking racial divide. However, the Senator’s staff generally shows up in the community and they try to help if it’s not too much to ask. His opponent Republican Bill Weber made mistakes in the past regarding Hasidim, but in recent years he has made amends, and he repeatedly stands with Hasidim. Narrowing the Dem State Senate majority may be needed to reverse some of the insane “reforms” that led to more violent crime in the state, and had I been forced to vote, I would choose Mr. Weber for this alone. However, ill rather sit it out as both candidates have more work to do. Let’s see how the next two weeks go.
Thank you for reading. If you are skipping any seat, you can write in Yossi Gestetner 😊
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