Will we see a record number of Jewish lawmakers? (Round 2)

Two days ago I published the article asking: Will the next U.S. Congress top the current record number of Jewish lawmakers? - and the number of reactions I got both from readers around the country and from professionals (Jewish professionals, political professionals) was quite impressive. Apparently, this question is not important, but it is - as I suspected - interesting.

So now it is time for a second round. Answering questions I received, clarifying confusions, adding new information (that's the most important thing). Again, this is only an addition to the earlier article that you can read here.

A record?

A couple of readers, some of them quite knowledgeable, were not sure whether 43 (30 Congressmen and 13 Senators) was a record number. I checked again, and also consulted a couple of people, among them Rabbi Kurt Stone, author of the authoritative Congressional Minyan.

43, the number of Jewish legislators in Congress, following the 2006 elections, was a record. In the early 90's there were 42, the previous record.

More competitive races?

1. 14 more Democratic candidates were added this week to the Red to Blue program of the Congressional Campaign Committee. This means that the Democratic Party believes these races can become competitive.

One of the races is AZ-03, in which Rep. John Shadegg, seeking his eighth term will be running against Democratic candidate Bob Lord. I did not include this race in the original tally, as the Cook Report still count it as solid Republican. However, other think the race is indeed more competitive. Here is one example from The Hill: "The 3rd district seat of Rep. John Shadegg (R) looks far from safe and may well go to the Democrat primary victor come November. That is John McCain's old House seat, for crying out loud!"

Lord is Jewish, and is even serving on the board of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix.

2. FL-18: Also solidly Republican according to the Cook Report, but a race that some Democrats argue they can win (do you see a pattern here? The Democrats seem pretty confident in their ability to surprise, even shock, this year). Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) is one of the most solid friends Israel has in the House, and she is facing a tougher challenge than the one she used to have in previous races. The Hotline reported that:\

Ros-Lehtinen is thinking "a little breathing room" from Pres. Bush "might be good" as she "faces her first significant reelection challenge." Ros-Lehtinen's camp has "shot out two press releases" 6/3 listing domestic and foreign policy initiatives where she "broke with the current administration." Her office claimed it was "interested in debunking any perception that the generally reliable Republican is a 'rubber stamp'" for Bush.

That's a sign, isn't it?

Her opponent, the Democrat Annette Taddeo is Jewish. Here is the St. Petersburg Times:

Taddeo possibly has the hardest challenge. Ros-Lehtinen, 55, has represented the 18th District, including the Florida Keys and Miami Beach, since 1989, and enjoys a broader base of support. Besides her Cuban base, she is a strong backer of Israel, making her popular with the county's large Jewish community. But Taddeo, a Jewish convert, could pull some of those voters away.

Taddeo was added to a category of "emerging races" by the DCCC.

3. We already included rabbi Dennis Shulman in our initial tally of races, as a long shot. He was also added to DCCC's emerging races. "As these campaigns continue to develop and demonstrate increasing strength, candidates will have an opportunity to qualify for the Red to Blue program".

Alaska

I wrote: "Imagine: a Jewish legislator from Alaska!". I also wrote: "(Apparently, not the first one)". But people noticed mostly the first part of the sentence, and wanted to make sure I heard about Senator Ernest Gruening. I did, and for those who didn't: Senator 1959-69, Alaska, Jewish.

Ethan Berkowitz, if elected, will be first such phenomenon in the House.