“‘Squad’ wannabe Summer Lee spooks Jewish voters ahead of Pennsylvania primary,” declared The New York Post about the match-up between progressive State Representative Summer Lee and establishment-backed Squirrel Hill lawyer Steve Irwin. As the race for the Democratic nomination for the state’s 12th Congregational District heated up, more articles appeared in national and local publications across the country, many repeating that same narrative: Jewish voters were rejecting Summer Lee.
Was that true? Is Pittsburgh’s Jewish community that politically united?
Much was made about the outside spending from pro-Israel groups like AIPAC, DMFI, and UDP to attack Lee and promote Irwin. These groups poured more than $3 million dollars into the race, hoping to repeat their success in the 2021 primary in Ohio’s 11th Congressional District.
There, the more moderate Shontel Brown beat progressive Nina Turner after pro-Israel groups spent millions of dollars to attack Turner and mobilize Jewish voters in the suburbs. A Jewish Insider article explained that “the organized Jewish community had coalesced around Brown’s campaign, in large part, because of a perception that Turner would be less supportive of Israel.”
With a population of around 50,000 Jews in the Pittsburgh region (according to a 2017 survey from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh), mostly concentrated in the City and the South Hills, pro-Israel groups saw PA-12 as fertile territory for the same strategy. Did it work?
It’s certainly true that some Jewish voters felt more comfortable with Steve Irwin’s positions on Israel. Julie Paris, an Irwin volunteer, noted the retirement of Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), one of Israel’s strongest supporters in the House. The importance of electing Irwin, she said, “cannot be underestimated by the pro-Israel community. I really see Steve as the next person in line to fill his shoes.”
Some Jewish voters saw an opportunity to elect a member of the Pittsburgh Jewish community to Congress, and to elevate someone who had worked extensively in institutional Jewish life. Others simply felt that Irwin’s politics more closely aligned to their own.
Many of these Jewish Irwin supporters were energized, and they organized accordingly, putting up yard signs and talking to their neighbors. In an election so close, this Jewish activism surely made a difference and boosted Steve Irwin nearly to victory.
But it is also true that Jewish voters were inspired and energized by Summer Lee’s movement for union rights, reproductive justice, a Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and other positions. “My Jewish faith has taught me about the need for solidarity,” said Summer Lee’s campaign manager, Annie Weinberg. “And Summer has embodied the power and possibility of true solidarity throughout her life.”
Many Jewish voters felt that Lee’s more measured approach to Israel would be conducive to building a strong, sustainable peace in the region. And others felt compelled by their Jewish commitment to social justice to support the first Black woman elected in Western Pennsylvania.
“As a Jewish person, my commitment to social justice in my neighborhood is a hell of a lot more important than my commitment to Israel,” said Sophie Rice, a teacher in Pittsburgh. “And the implication that all Jews feel otherwise is an oversimplification and antisemitic.”
These Jewish voters — including myself and many people in my congregation — knocked on doors and got people to the polls. In an election so close, this Jewish activism also surely made a difference and helped put Summer Lee ahead.
Perhaps nothing makes this division clearer than the results in Squirrel Hill. Squirrel Hill is unequivocally Pittsburgh’s Jewish neighborhood, and one of the few concentrated urban Jewish communities in the country. It’s home to 30% of the Jews in the region (according to the 2017 survey from the Jewish Federation), numerous synagogues, and a variety of Jewish schools, businesses, and institutions.
Surely, if the primary’s results were a rejection of Summer Lee, Steve Irwin, a Jewish resident of Squirrel Hill, would have carried his own neighborhood.
He didn’t. Lee won the precincts fully contained within Squirrel Hill by 152 votes. The precincts surrounding Squirrel Hill — also home to many Jewish voters — broke for her as well. Pittsburgh’s Jewish neighborhood didn’t reject Summer Lee, it voted for her by margins that reflect the overall closeness of the race.
It’s clear, then, that the narrative that Jewish voters were uniting against Lee was simply that: a narrative. Pittsburgh’s Jewish community is not a monolith: what makes it so special and so beautiful is its diversity, dynamism, and pluralism. That remained true in the race for Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District.
As the dust begins to settle, and people jockey for the dominant narrative, keep this truth in mind. Anything else is an oversimplification of Jewish Pittsburghers and does our community a disservice.
J.P. Leskovich is involved with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and Dor HaDash Congregation. He lives in Squirrel Hill.
First Published: June 1, 2022, 9:13 p.m.
