By Phil Goldfeder
Thank you for all the kind words and overwhelming emails following my article last week. Your encouragement and support are appreciated! The Far Rockaway Jewish Political Action Committee has announced their slate of candidates and I urge each of you to get out and support these worthy candidates.
I wanted to use this opportunity to discuss additional candidates that deserve our support.
As I mentioned last week, I rarely support a candidate just because they have a ‘D’ or an ‘R’ after their name, and neither should you. Ideology should not be the sole factor in choosing our representatives, because it doesn’t paint the whole picture and is sometimes not representative of the person running for office.
Congresswoman Kathleen Rice was elected to Congress in 2014, and quickly emerged as a leading voice on national security issues. Most importantly, Congresswoman Rice has shown a willingness to rise miles above the politics to make decisions in the best interest of her district regardless of political pressure or label. She has been a constant voice in Washington and across the Five Towns, fighting for the needs of her constituents and has been a tireless and unabashed advocate for Israel.
In 2015, Congresswoman Rice, in only her first term in Congress, came out in strong opposition to the Iran Deal. She stood up for the beliefs of her constituents, but, more importantly, took the vote she believed was right. In her op-ed announcing her opposition, she wrote, “For me, it is a risk I cannot support. It’s a gift of political legitimacy and economic empowerment that requires too little Iranian maturation across too little of its dangerous agenda. For the sake of peace, we can do better.” She stood up to a Democratic leadership and to the president to represent the interest of her constituents.
Congresswoman Rice publicly bucked her fellow Democrats and party leadership in 2017 by being one of only four House democrats to not cast her vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. Congresswoman Kathleen Rice is a tenacious advocate for the Five Towns, a leading voice in Washington, a staunch supporter of Israel, and Democrat who deserves our overwhelming hakaras ha’tov and support. Election Day is this coming Tuesday, November 6. Please take just a few minutes to go and vote!
