Friend --
The dust is settling a bit following Election Day and, while control of the House and Senate remain up for grabs, it’s clear that the big winner yesterday was democracy itself.
J Street is proud to have carried the flag in this election for the pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy camp.
With your help, we stood up to dangerous anti-democratic candidates, and I am so proud that the results delivered a clear rebuke to the ideologies, policies and conspiracy theories championed by the MAGA extremists.
We supported 178 candidates across the primaries and general election, raised over $9 million, and rallied our community because our democratic values were on the ballot.
And we couldn’t be more proud of the results:
- A 92% current victory rate, with the overwhelming majority of our 20 most vulnerable pro-democracy House incumbents securing re-election;
- A critical win for our endorsee John Fetterman in the Pennsylvania Senate race;
- A slew of victories for exciting new pro-Israel, pro-peace candidates across the country, including Greg Casar in Texas, Hillary Scholten in Michigan, Becca Balint in Vermont, and Delia Ramirez and Nikki Budzinski in Illinois.
- A resounding win for Democrat Summer Lee in Pittsburgh, overcoming more than $3,200,000 in attack ads from AIPAC throughout the cycle.
J Street Political Briefing | Monday, 7pm Eastern
Join us Monday for a special briefing on both the election results and the findings of J Street’s unique election-night poll of Jewish voters.
We’ll dive into our community’s voting patterns and their views on democracy, antisemitism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and more.
We’ll recap J Street’s electoral impact and assess the broader political landscape, the state of our democracy and what comes next.
Register to join us here >>
This could not be a more critical moment for democracy globally. As you know, it was only last week that Israel too held pivotal elections. Our elections and all those across the globe are part of an epic battle being waged to protect and advance liberal democratic freedoms.
On one side are those carrying the torch of democracy and committed to the rule of law. We in the pro-democracy camp are looking to protect and expand our freedoms and to ensure equality, freedom and justice for all in our societies.
On the other side are those trafficking in tribalism and resentment, ready to undermine the foundations of democracy and the rule of law. These are the forces of ethnonationalism -- who exploit racism, anger and fear to build power.
In Israel, a far-right Netanyahu-led coalition now sits at the threshold of power, threatening our core values and the rights and freedoms of both Israelis and Palestinians. Here in our own country, while we may have staved off the worst last night, we know that the forces of antidemocratic ethnonationalism will try everything they can to win power in 2024 and beyond.
In the midst of this historic struggle for our future, J Street knows which side we’re on.
We will only support candidates who support Israel's security and share our belief in democracy, freedom and equality for all.
As we fight the far-right extremism at the heart of the MAGA movement, we will proudly represent the overwhelming majority in our community who share our values -- those who will never agree to back candidates who deny elections and enable insurrections, simply because they wrap themselves in a “pro-Israel” mantle.
Though a number of races remain to be called, we already know that we’ll enter the next Congress with many new allies and partners across the country, across generations and across the democratic ideological spectrum, ready to stand up to the politics of fear, ethnonationalism and autocracy.
Together, we will meet the challenges here and in Israel and we will unite behind a shared vision rooted in our common values.
Thank you, Friends, for your continuing support. I do hope you can join us Monday as we dive into the results of our 2022 election night survey of Jewish American voters and chart a course forward for our movement.
Register to join us here >>
Yours sincerely,
Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street
PS. At such a critical moment for democracy in the US and Israel, we need to show our movement’s strength at our upcoming National Conference in Washington. Please take a moment to register for our National Conference and Advocacy Day in Washington DC one month from now -- which you can attend virtually or in-person.
