Jewish Democrats energized in Pennsylvania, rally for Harris victory in looming election

SOUTH HAMPTON, PENNSYLVANIA — Volunteers with the Jewish Democratic Council of America gathered outside of the Harris campaign's Bucks County canvassing center on Sunday morning doning "First Mensch" shirts and "Don't Kvetch, Vote" buttons, armed with voter information material and ready with lists of hundreds of doors to knock on. 

Volunteers from up and down the East Coast, largely from New York and Washington, D.C., have been packing Philadelphia suburbs to ensure Harris wins the critical state.

An energized Eva Wyner, the Pennsylvania Director of Jewish Outreach for the Harris campaign, said Saturday was the campaign's biggest voter contact day in Pennsylvania with more than 600k doors knocked. 

"Now, let's pump up the volume and do even more today. Thank you for coming from near and far to knock doors in Pennsylvania. In 2020, President Biden won by five votes per precinct," Wyner said. "The voters you connect with today will ensure that we send Vice President Harris to the White House as Madam President. We all will play a role as the first Mezuzah is placed on the White House doors."

JDCA CEO Halie Soifer said she'd never been so excited to elect someone in her life. Soifer, who served as then-Sen. Harris's national security adviser, recounted the 2017 trip to Israel with Harris where she told a friend that Harris would be president one day. 

"I saw in her what we all see: this amazing commitment to our country, to our values, to being a leader that women, especially, look to admire, respect," Soifer said. "She respects us. We stand with her. She shares our values."

Soifer said she's looking forward to not only the Jewish community, but the whole country standing with Harris. 

Jill Zipin, founder and chairwoman of Democratic Jewish Outreach PA, told The Jerusalem Post she thinks Pennsylvania's Jews are feeling really good and that the polls don't reflect the excitement of the battleground state with the largest number of Jewish voters. 

"Historically, Jews have voted anywhere from 68-82% Democrat, averaging around 70-72%. That's where the polls show it is in Pennsylvania and other battleground states," Zipin said. 

What do Jewish voters care most about?

While the Jewish community cares about Israel and antisemitism, Zipin explained the vast majority of Jewish voters, and Jewish women voters, generally care about democracy and abortion. 

Republicans are losing focus on democracy and the real importance of abortion being health care for their daughters, their granddaughters, and themselves. 

She emphasized how the Jewish community has shown up to door-knock and phone banks throughout Philadelphia and its suburbs.  

"This election is an existential threat to American democracy, and they know Jews don't do well unless we have a democracy," Zipin said.

Zipin is broadly concerned that Republicans will try to void the election results come Wednesday if Trump loses. 

But she's also concerned that Trump will repeat antisemitic rhetoric, placing blame on the Jewish community for his loss. 

"He already blamed Jews if he should lose, so I am sure he will do it again," Zipin said. "If he did it before the election, when he hasn't won or lost, if he loses, he's clearly going to do it again."

Though Zipin doesn't expect to see violence from Republicans within the Jewish community if Trump loses. 

"The Jewish community, even when we disagree, don't turn on each other in violent ways," she said. 

For a Harris win, Zipin borrowed the phrase that she's "nauseously optimistic."

"I think we all have a sense of optimism," she said. "I think the women are going to save us, and in particular, the Jewish women are going to save us, particularly in Pennsylvania."

Pam Wexler, an attorney who now lives in West Chester County, New York, grew up in Bucks County where her family remained active in the Jewish community until her mother's passing in 2019. 

Wexler told The Post she wanted to make a difference in this election, and indicated it was a given for her family to do so through a Jewish organization. 

"Quite honestly, most things we do in our life, we do through a Jewish lens," she said. 

Wexler traveled to Bucks County with her husband and adult daughter on Sunday just to canvas for the day. 

"I can help by coming back to the county where I grew up and tell people, I grew up here and I lived here," she said. 

Wexler believes that Harris represents Jewish values and that "she will do the most for the Jewish community."

She is also proud of how Harris encouraged the Second Gentleman Dough Emhoff to become involved in combating antisemitism, which is work she's also heavily involved in in her community. 

Harris is also the best person to unify and get the country "back on track," according to Wexler. 

"We do want to get back to treating people civilly and with kindness, respect and compassion for all human beings," Wexler said. "And that is really the strongest of the Jewish values, B'tzelem Elohim."