After Election to Fill a House Vacancy, Fighting to Keep the Seat in Existence (Bob Turner, NY 9 CD)

NY Times ^ | February 24, 2012 | RAYMOND HERNANDEZ

[neverdem]

Not long after winning a big upset in September in a special election for Congress, Bob Turner flew hundreds of miles away from his New York City district to a federal prison in North Carolina.

There, Mr. Turner walked past the guards, through the metal detectors and gates and into a visiting room, where he met Prisoner No. 09185-016 — also known as Jonathan Pollard.

To many Americans, Mr. Pollard is a dreadful character, having pleaded guilty in 1986 to spying on behalf of the Israeli government. But back in Mr. Turner’s heavily Jewish district, his life sentence has become a cause célèbre and Mr. Turner has joined the effort to secure his clemency.

The visit captures what life has been like for Mr. Turner for the past five months: a constant campaign to establish a deeper connection with his constituents and keep the House seat that he, a Republican, was never expected to win.

It is not an easy task. Because Mr. Turner is not serving a full term in office (he took over a seat that became vacant unexpectedly), he has a short time to establish a profile and a record of accomplishment before facing voters all over again in November.

And he has an important audience beyond his local constituents: political leaders in Albany who must eliminate two Congressional districts this year to reflect population shifts. Many in the political world expected that Mr. Turner’s seat would be on the chopping block, under the political equivalent of the last-hired, first-fired principle.

But it appears Mr. Turner’s prospects of preserving the district, which stretches from southern Brooklyn to southern Queens, are improving.

Just last week, he went to Albany and made his case before Dean Skelos, who, as the Republican majority leader of the State Senate, is a...

[darrellmaurina]

Wow.

Those who know the history of this district recognize that it is a historically Jewish district and a Republican may be able to make a case that it's important to preserve the district, just as a black district would be preserved.

Having a Republican serve the district for now means having a gentile in the post-Weiner era. Long-term, however, if this district remains in existence it's going to be held by a Jewish congressman.

Imagine a right-wing Sabbath-keeping Orthodox Jewish Republican member of Congress excoriating Democrats for breaking faith with Israel.

This could get very interesting.

[neverdem]

IIRC, Jews are only about 40 % of NY 9 CD voters.

[MplsSteve]

“To many Americans, Mr. Pollard is a dreadful character... But back in Mr. Turner’s heavily Jewish district, his life sentence has become a cause célèbre and Mr. Turner has joined the effort to secure his clemency.”

I wonder if Rep. Turner really believes that Pollard is really worthy of clemency - or whether he’s trying to curry favor with Jewish voters?

[darrellmaurina]

Fair point. However, it is not true that his has historically been viewed as the “Jewish seat?”

It's been more than two decades since I lived in New York City, and while I used to visit regularly I haven't been back in a decade, so you're likely a lot closer to the action than I am. How long has it been since this area was represented by someone who was not Jewish?

These aren't “gotcha” questions — my info on current on-the-ground realities is limited to the New York Times and that's obviously not always the best source for information on conservative trends that may be “under the radar” of mainstream media scrutiny.

[denydenydeny]

(he took over a seat that became vacant unexpectedly),

Gotta love the Times's blushing modesty. They use the passive voice to avoid mentioning that Democrat Anthony Weiner got caught making multiple attempts to pick up underage girls.

[neverdem]

How long has it been since this area was represented by someone who was not Jewish?

In order to accommodate surrounding districts with majority African-American or Hispanic populations (the 6th, 10th, 11th and 12th), it has been drawn to consist primarily of middle-class white neighborhoods (the district as a whole is 71% non-Hispanic white, 14.5% Asian, 13.6% Hispanic and 4% African-American). The district includes large Jewish, Italian, and Irish populations.

The district gained national attention in 1984 when Rep. Geraldine Ferraro became the vice presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. Current U.S. Senator Charles Schumer represented the district prior to becoming a U.S. Senator.

Pardon the Wikipedia reference, but I remember reading about Geraldine Ferraro having the seat. The boundaries of the district were probably changed after 1990 and 2000 due to the census.

[darrellmaurina]

Thank you... much appreciated. These statistics are useful. Based on what you're showing here with Ferraro, it looks as if the district’s history as a “Jewish seat” is of relatively recent vintage. However, Schumer is Jewish and was in Congress for two decades before being elected to the Senate, representing different districts as follows:
New York's 9th District (1993-1999)
10th District (1983-1993)
16th District (1981-1983)

My guess is that even though the district numbers have changed, it's the same neighborhoods involved.

I would be interested in seeing what percentage of the district's “non-hispanic white” voters are Jewish.