Doug Emhoff is Kamala Harris’s envoy for persuading Jewish donors - analysis

When Vice President Kamala Harris suddenly took Joe Biden’s place as the Democratic nominee for president, there were two challenges that stood out.

The vice president needed to get donors who feared the race was lost after Biden’s calamitous debate against Republican nominee Donald Trump to start giving again. And she had to reassure Jewish voters — many of them among the party’s biggest financial backers — that she would fight antisemitism.

In both cases, her husband, Doug Emhoff, has played a crucial role.

A Hollywood lawyer for decades before Biden and Harris won the 2020 election, Emhoff was comfortable rubbing elbows with wealthy elites. After Biden left the race, Emhoff took a bigger role on the fundraising circuit.

Supporters say Emhoff relied heavily on his longstanding ties in Los Angeles — a traditional source of significant funds for Democrats — to help the campaign and the party accumulate a total of $615 million in six weeks.

“The second gentleman has a lifetime of relationships and friendships in this town,” Jeffrey Katzenberg, a former studio mogul and co-chair of the Harris campaign, said in an interview. “He is adored by everybody and so everybody’s turning out to support him.”

Before the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas, Emhoff had also become a key link between Jewish groups and the Biden administration, helping lead its strategy to combat antisemitism. Emhoff, 59, is the first Jewish spouse of a vice president and would make history as the first Jewish and male presidential spouse if Harris wins.

At a fundraiser this month at her 37-room Los Angeles mansion, Patricia Gordon, the founder of a cervical cancer treatment nonprofit and widow of a TV producer, hailed Emhoff to the crowd of donors.

“It means the world to us when we see you fighting to make our kids feel safe on college campuses,” said Gordon, who is a board member of J Street, a liberal Jewish lobbying group, “and when we see you working to get people to understand that Jewish values are American values.”

About two-thirds of American Jews identify as Democrats, according to Pew Research, but the party has been split over Israel and the war in Gaza, creating a challenge for Harris. At this week’s debate, she said Israel has “a right to defend itself,” but “how it does so matters. Because it is also true far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”

Progressive activists and protesters have been critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct in the war. Other voters fear US support for the Jewish state is waning and that antisemitism is rising — concerns Emhoff has sought to allay.

“Us Jews, there’s not many of us,” Emhoff said at Gordon’s fundraiser. “We all need everyone to come together to fight this hate.”

Trump has also been making a play for Jewish votes. The former president has questioned Harris’ support for Israel, where 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage in the Hamas attack. About 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing war, according to health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza. Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the US and EU, doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Fighting back

Emhoff spoke in personal terms at a memorial in Washington this month for Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American who was slain with five other hostages held since Oct. 7.

“This is hard. I feel raw. I’m gutted,” Emhoff said, fighting back tears. “In this moment I’m here as a congregant, as a mourner, as a Jew who feels connected to all of you.”

Emhoff has credited Harris for pushing him to make combating antisemitism his priority. He began speaking out in 2022 after Trump hosted Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, and Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist, at Mar-a-Lago after both had made antisemitic comments.

“I would not be able to do this but for Kamala Harris pushing me and prodding me to use this microphone to fight back against hate and antisemitism,” Emhoff said at a Beverly Hills fundraiser last month that netted $3 million.

In 2023, he visited Auschwitz-Birkenau, a Nazi concentration camp where approximately one million Jews were killed during World War II. During the Olympics last month, he paid tribute to victims of a 1982 attack at a Jewish deli in Paris.

Some Jewish leaders say that at a time when Democrats and Jews are divided over the war in Gaza, Emhoff can be a bridge between different camps and explain Harris’ positions to the public. (Harris identifies as Christian but, as a child, also attended Hindu temples with her mother, a native of India). 

“Doug has a responsibility to make sure that the extremes don’t define the discussion, but also to make sure that the country understands where he and the campaign are generally,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, director of the Anti-Defamation League and a former Obama administration official.

Blue States

On the fundraising circuit, Emhoff has spent time in California and New York, states with large pools of deep-pocketed Jewish donors. An August swing through the Hamptons, where Emhoff appeared with former President Bill Clinton and other well-known Democrats, netted more than $2 million.

At a fundraiser in Sag Harbor, Emhoff introduced himself as “this Jewish kid born in Brooklyn, raised in New Jersey,” and talked about how when he went on a blind date with Harris, he didn’t need to “explain to her what a Jew was.”

As a lawyer, Emhoff has represented corporate clients like Universal Studios, Ford Motor Co., and Walmart Inc. He volunteered for years at Bet Tzedek Legal Services, a justice advocacy organization founded by Jewish LA lawyers. He joined Hillcrest Country Club, once a gathering place for Hollywood moguls and comedians like Jack Benny, George Burns, and the Marx Brothers, which was founded by Jews who were excluded from other clubs.

Emhoff’s appeals to Jews in elite coastal business circles have been highly effective, observers said.

Michael Kempner, a Democratic fundraiser who runs public relations firm MWW, said he pulled together an event in the Long Island town of Water Mill in four days. Excitement ran high, and so did the donations. “It’s kind of like The Beatles showing up in your backyard,” he said.

Emhoff has appealed to donors as a working parent with a blended family who spent Saturdays coaching his kids’ soccer games and remained on good terms with his ex-wife.

“Many people can relate” to the makeup of Emhoff’s family, said Tom Nides, a former ambassador to Israel under Biden and vice chairman at Blackstone Inc. “People in politics don’t normally talk about stuff like that.”

Harris and Emhoff, who married in 2014, share a home in Brentwood, a leafy west LA enclave that abounds with celebrity residents, including basketball legend LeBron James, former California governor and film star Arnold Schwarzenegger and rapper Kendrick Lamar. But the couple has spent limited time there since 2020.

Final Sprint

Emhoff is expected to continue to be an important fundraiser for Harris as the campaign races toward Election Day on Nov. 5. He’s set to appear at an event at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg on Sept. 18 where donors who give $10,000 can get a picture with him.

Jewish advocates are hopeful that Emhoff will help dispel misconceptions that many Americans still hold about their religion and culture. Emhoff has indicated that he plans to carry on his work on antisemitism if he becomes First Gentleman.

Julie Zebrak, a former Justice Department lawyer who authors a newsletter called Kamala News Jews Can Use, said she frequently talks to other voters about Emhoff’s meetings with Jewish college students facing antisemitism.

“I don’t take for granted that somebody at this level of US leadership is looking out for Jewish Americans and has the ear of the future president,” Zebrak said.