New York Republicans make pitch to Jewish voters: ‘You have a home with us’

NEW YORK — The Republican Party in New York State launched an outreach campaign to Jewish New Yorkers on Wednesday, as hostility to Israel and its supporters in the Democratic party has unnerved many mainstream Jews.

The New York State Republican Party’s campaign told the Jewish community, “You have a home with us,” accusing Democrats of discriminating against Jewish New Yorkers.

“We watch with sadness as the Democratic Party, which alleges to stand for marginalized groups, spirals into that ugliest and oldest hatred, antisemitism,” the campaign said, alongside links to change party affiliation.

Jews in New York and in the US are largely Democrats, although Orthodox communities are more politically conservative.

But mainstream Jewish leaders in New York have clashed with Democratic party representatives, such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who have increasingly embraced anti-Israel views that many Jews view as dangerous to the community.

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The Republican campaign focused on a Mamdani speech last month that likened AIPAC to “monsters.” Hundreds of rabbis said the comments endorsed anti-Jewish tropes and were dangerous, but Mamdani has doubled down.

“Mamdani’s statement calling AIPAC and its members ‘monsters’ has no place in American political discourse. It is the worst kind of antisemitism,” Edward F. Cox, the chairman of the New York State Republican Party, said in an open letter to the Jewish community.

Cox’s letter linked other New York Democratic party leaders to Mamdani, including Governor Kathy Hochul, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“We stand with our fellow patriotic Americans at AIPAC, as they work to strengthen the American-Israeli relationship and fight the scourge of antisemitism that has found a home in the Democratic Party and is championed by New York City’s mayor,” Cox’s letter said.

“You are told you are no longer welcome,” the letter said. “Unlike the Democratic Party, the New York State Republican Party values you and would be proud to have you among our ranks. You have a home with us.”

The campaign also the highlighted the Congressional primary win by Darializa Avila Chevalier, a Democrat who attended a celebratory anti-Israel rally the day after Hamas’s October 2023 slaughter in southern Israel.

Cox also likened Mamdani and his far-left Democratic Socialists of America party to Nazis, calling them “modern-day Brownshirts” who have made “hostility not only to Israel but also to everyday Jewish Americans a litmus test.”

The party said in a statement that the campaign will include print and digital advertising and was funded by the New York Republican State Committee.

The advertisements will appear in Jewish weeklies, mostly in the New York City area, and online on news and social media applications.

Hostility to Israel and “Zionists” is more prominent on the left in New York, but Republicans have also had some antisemitism scandals in the past. A leaked chat from the state’s Young Republicans organization last year showed members joking about gas chambers, praising Adolf Hitler and using racist, antisemitic and homophobic slurs.

Most areas of New York City are overwhelmingly Democratic, meaning many elections are largely decided in Democratic party primaries. New York’s closed primary system means that only registered Democrats can vote in the party’s primaries.

The closed primary system disincentivizes changing party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, because Republicans in those areas have little say in their local representation.

Some areas of the city are Republican or more mixed, such as south Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Other areas of New York State that have significant Jewish populations, such as parts of the Hudson Valley and Long Island, are politically mixed or conservative.

If significant numbers of Jews changed affiliation from Democrat to Republican in areas with large Jewish populations and competitive elections, it could have an impact on local, state and Congressional races.