{"id":275914,"date":"2026-06-24T00:16:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T00:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/275914\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T00:16:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T00:16:38","slug":"new-york-democratic-primary-features-mamdani-endorsed-jewish-lawyer-rabbi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/275914\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Democratic primary features Mamdani-endorsed Jewish lawyer, rabbi"},"content":{"rendered":"

A primary race on New York\u2019s Upper West Side for a state legislative battle pits a rabbi against a Jewish lawyer in a referendum on where Jews stand on Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> and on the right to protest outside houses of worship.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Ruskay would be the first female rabbi elected to state office in US history. Her opponent is the Mamdani-endorsed Eli Northrup, a public defender and the grandson of a Jewish civil rights lawyer who worked on Supreme Court cases to combat antisemitism and racial segregation in the 1950s.<\/p>\n

The hotly contested Democratic primary is for the State Assembly\u2019s District 69, which covers much of the Upper West Side and all of Morningside Heights, including the Columbia University campus, roiled in 2024 by pro-Palestinian protests over Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Endorsements tell a story of two New York establishments vying over prime legislative real estate: Mamdani\u2019s Israel-critical progressives facing off against the city\u2019s storied Jewish liberals.<\/p>\n

Along with Mamdani\u2019s blessing, Northrup has won prized endorsements from left-wing icons who ran now legendary insurgent campaigns: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a>, whose energetic presidential primary run in 2016 helped doom Hillary Clinton\u2019s presidential run; and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose ouster of top Democrat Joseph Crowley in a 2018 primary paved the way for the youthful congressional \u201cSquad.\u201d Mamdani has roiled this election season with endorsements of democratic socialists challenging incumbent congressional Democrats.<\/p>\n

\"CONGRESSIONALCONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE Claire Valdez, Congressional candidate Brad Lander, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier raise their hands during a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) rally at King’s Theater on June 18, 2026 in New York City. (credit: MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO\/GETTY IMAGES)<\/p>\n

Ruskay has been endorsed by leading Jews in New York politics, such as City Council Speaker Julie Menin, City Comptroller Mark Levine, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, and former Borough President Ruth Messinger. She also has the backing of ActJew, a nonprofit focused on combating antisemitism, and the New York Solidarity Network, a pro-Israel group.<\/p>\n

Ruskay and Northrup, who both identify as progressives, are battling in a neighborhood where nearly one-third of households are Jewish. The Assembly seat opened in the fall when current Assembly member Micah Lasher, who is also Jewish, decided to run for Congress.<\/p>\n

The district overwhelmingly supported Mamdani in the 2025 mayoral race, when his sharp criticism of Israel broke with the city\u2019s Democratic establishment and fomented ongoing tensions with segments of the Jewish community.<\/p>\n

Northrup supports Mamdani, Ruskay voices hesitation<\/p>\n

Northrup is a full-throated supporter of the mayor who volunteered for his campaign. Ruskay has voiced more tepid views on Mamdani, acknowledging that many Jewish New Yorkers disagreed with his views about Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we agree, I\u2019ll be very excited to work together, and when we don\u2019t agree or when I know that I represent people who have a very different perspective from what\u2019s happening, then my job is to bring that into the room,\u201d Ruskay told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in December.<\/p>\n

Ruskay joined New York\u2019s annual Israel Day Parade<\/a> in May, while Mamdani skipped it. She said on X that she was \u201cproud\u201d to attend the gathering, which she described as a reminder of \u201cthe deep bonds between New York\u2019s Jewish community and Israel, and of the strength, resilience, and vibrancy of Jewish life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Northrup has resisted the long tradition among Jewish Democrats of identifying as a Zionist. \u201cI don\u2019t know that it\u2019s serving us to be categorizing people as Zionist or anti-Zionist,\u201d he told JTA last month. \u201cI certainly don\u2019t see myself in those terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both candidates have cited their faith and Jewish values as driving their politics. They agree on building more affordable housing, filling the district\u2019s many vacant storefronts, supporting unions, and enforcing labor laws. Both have also voiced their commitment to fighting US President Donald Trump and his crackdown on immigration.<\/p>\n

NYC candidates disagree on protest buffer zones<\/p>\n

One of their rare areas of disagreement is the fight over \u201cbuffer zones<\/a>\u201d to insulate synagogues from protests, a flashpoint in New York politics. The city and state both recently passed legislation that restricts demonstrations outside houses of worship. Some Jewish leaders and lawmakers championed the measures in the aftermath of a string of pro-Palestinian rallies outside synagogues, which were hosting events that promoted migration to Israel and real estate sales in Israel and the West Bank.<\/p>\n

Ruskay supports the buffer zones. She has argued they are necessary to protect Jews from intimidation, saying during a candidate forum in May, \u201cIn the world as we wish it was, I don\u2019t think that you should have [to] have a buffer zone. But in the world that we actually live in right now, I think that we do need one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Northrup, meanwhile, said in the forum that outlawing protest within a certain distance of an institution \u201cwouldn\u2019t pass constitutional muster,\u201d citing Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. He told JTA that buffer zones were more symbolic than effective in addressing rising antisemitism, and that he instead supported multifaith education and building alliances across communities.<\/p>\n

Various civil rights groups and Jewish progressives, such as Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, have said that buffer zone laws infringe on free speech and assembly. JFREJ has endorsed Northrup.<\/p>\n

Northrup\u2019s skepticism of the laws aligns with Mamdani\u2019s views. The mayor resisted signing the City Council\u2019s buffer zone bill pertaining to houses of worship, though it became law with a veto-proof majority, and he vetoed a separate bill implementing buffer zones around schools.<\/p>\n

Ruskay has received $25,000 from the American Centerpoint PAC, which was formed on June 11, according to City and State. The PAC\u2019s sole contributor was Adeena Rosen, a key figure in the Solidarity PAC that boosted pro-Israel candidates in 2024 state races.<\/p>\n

In a race lacking publicly available polls, fundraising is a significant indicator. The candidates were neck-and-neck in fundraising on Election Day, with Ruskay gathering $436,381 and Northrup raising $443,522, according to Transparency USA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A primary race on New York\u2019s Upper West Side for a state legislative battle pits a rabbi against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[25931,3862,858,10881,9,24,55,54,56,11225,9498,82],"class_list":["post-275914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-aclu","tag-antisemitism","tag-congress","tag-democratic","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-planned-parenthood","tag-zionism","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}