Assembly Candidate Berger Endorsed by 24 Queens Leaders

By Reuvain Borchardt

QUEENS — Two-dozen rabbis and community activists will endorse Democrat Samuel Berger in next month’s special election for an open Assembly seat, the first Orthodox Jewish endorsements in the race that will feature two Orthodox candidates, Hamodia has learned.

Berger is squaring off against Republican Dovid Hirsch, in the Sept. 12th special election for the 27th District Assembly seat. The seat — which includes the Queens neighborhoods of Flushing, Kew Gardens Hills, Whitestone and College Point — was vacated this summer by Daniel Rosenthal, who stepped down to take a position as vice president of government relations at UJA.

The endorsements will be made official on Wednesday, when a letter signed by twelve rabbis and 12 lay leaders is set to run in Jewish newspapers. Hamodia has obtained the letter in advance.

The race between a conservative Republican and moderate Democrat, both first-time political candidates, in a center-right district with a large number of Orthodox Jews, may well come down to voters’ preference as to which party they wish to have representing them in Albany, as opposed to clear differences between the two candidates’ policies.

Some Orthodox Jews prefer to be represented by a Republican — who more closely shares their values, which he can promote staunchly and proudly. But others feel that, because the minority party in the State Assembly has little power, the district is better off represented by a Democrat, who can advocate for its priorities and funding requests as a member of the party that holds a super-majority, even if he may have to compromise with Democratic leadership and vote for some bills he and the community disapprove of.

The letter indicates the endorsers were swayed by the latter argument, saying the community should be represented by “someone who can lead by prioritizing our community’s specific needs and issues over nationally related hot-button rhetoric.”

“We deserve an Assemblyman who … can make the connections to deliver the results we need,” the letter continues, saying Berger would be positioned “to work from the inside to ensure that our priorities are not overlooked simply because our representatives are in the wrong political group. He will be in a position to develop the relationships central to achieving success in our goals of promoting Yeshiva education and relieving the tuition burden on our families.”

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie himself alluded to this earlier this month, speaking at a fundraiser for Berger.

“This is politics and representation matters,” Heastie said. “All of the decisions that happen in the Assembly are made within the Democratic conference. So you want to have your representative in that room when the decisions are made.”

That fundraiser also included the participation of by Queens Democrats including U.S. Rep. and Queens Democratic Party chairman Gregory Meeks; Assemblymembers Stacey Pheffer Amato and David Weprin; Councilman James Gennaro; and former Assemblyman Rosenthal, all of whom endorsed Berger. But this week’s 24-signee letter represents the first endorsements in the race by non-politicians (with the exception of the retired Rosenthal.)

“I have such hakaras hatov (gratitude) to my rebbe’im (religious teachers) for supporting my candidacy in this special election, and expressing their confidence that I am the right person to represent our community’s interests,” Berger told Hamodia on Monday. “Da’as Torah (the Torah viewpoint, as transmitted by rabbis) is an integral part of how each and every member of our kehilos (communities) live their lives, which is why this endorsement by the poskim (halachic experts) and menahelim (deans) of Queens means so much.”

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rborchardt@hamodia.com