Jewish Voters Could Tip Scales for Hertzberg

Four years ago, Yisroel Kelemer backed James K. Hahn for mayor. This time, he’s for Bob Hertzberg.

“I like his style,” said Kelemer, of West Los Angeles. “He’s a good man. He’s run a good campaign.”

And, added the rabbi, although it’s not his No. 1 reason: “It’s nice that he’s Jewish.”

Whether Hertzberg wins a spot in a runoff election in next Tuesday’s vote may depend on voters like Kelemer.

As the race moves into its frenzied final days, Hertzberg has more support from Jewish voters than other candidates, according to a recent Times poll, although significant numbers also back Hahn and Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa.

Jews make up less than a tenth of the city’s population but account for roughly a fifth of the electorate, as large a slice as African American voters. If the turnout is low in this election, Jewish voters, who historically vote at a high rate, could play an even larger role in electing the city’s next mayor.

“Any election that no one cares about, Jewish voters are so attentive and so likely to vote that their ratio will be even higher,” said Raphael Sonenshein, a political scientist at Cal State Fullerton who has written extensively about Los Angeles politics.

The city’s mayoral candidates, well aware of that political track record, have been courting Jewish voters for the last two months.

Hertzberg frequently drops snatches of Yiddish into his speeches and even posted a guide to Yiddish terms on his campaign website. Lately, Hertzberg has taken to wearing a blue wristband signifying peace, which he said he got from the Israeli consulate.

Villaraigosa has at times peppered his conversation with Hebrew and recently sent voters a mailer trumpeting his support from three well-known Jewish elected officials: Councilman Jack Weiss and U.S. Reps. Howard Berman and Henry Waxman.

Hahn has taken out ads in local Jewish newspapers and trekked with challengers Councilman Bernard C. Parks and state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sun Valley) to synagogues.

Earlier this week, Hahn and Hertzberg showed up at Disney Hall in yarmulkes to mark the end of the 7 1/2 -year cycle of reading the ancient texts of the Talmud.

Los Angeles has elected lots of Jewish politicians, including congressmen, state legislators and city councilmen, but never a mayor. If he wins, Hertzberg would be the first.

Karen Clemens, 48, a homemaker from Woodland Hills, is another Hertzberg fan.

“I liked the way he seemed to have thought through why he felt the way he felt,” she said. “He wants to break up the L.A. Unified [School District], which I would like ... and he seems to know what he’s talking about.”

Still, Jewish leaders, along with many Jewish voters, say that simply because Hertzberg is Jewish is not enough to win their votes.

Sherman Oaks resident Jeff Fried said he was undecided but leaning toward Villaraigosa. The stand-up comedian, who once played a rabbi on “Beverly Hills 90210,” said that he is skeptical of Hertzberg’s plan to break up L.A. Unified and that the fact that Hertzberg is Jewish will not induce him to overlook his concerns.

“If he were running for rabbi, I’d definitely be inclined to vote for him,” Fried said.

Jewish voters typically are highly educated, the single biggest predictor of whether someone is an active voter.

There is also an ethos of civic engagement that goes back hundreds of years in Jewish culture.

But Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, the Western regional director of the American Jewish Committee, noted that although Jewish voters have been deeply involved in politics “for a long time,” that does not mean they vote as a bloc.

“Jews tend to vote for who they perceive to be the best candidate, and they hope that other citizens do as well,” he said.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the city’s Jewish voters rallied around Tom Bradley, helping make him the city’s first African American mayor in his historic win over Sam Yorty in 1973.

When Bradley “campaigned in Westside synagogues, he was greeted as a well-loved member of the family,” Sonenshein wrote in a recent article in Jewish Journal titled “The Westside Vote.”

In general, Jewish voters tend to back Democratic candidates in state and national elections. But as Sonenshein points out, many supported Republican Richard Riordan for mayor in 1993.

Again four years ago, there was no clearly definable Jewish bloc. In the June 2001 runoff election, Jewish voters, who made up 18% of the electorate, split, 54-46, for Hahn over Villaraigosa. Jews in the more conservative San Fernando Valley tilted toward Hahn, while Jews on the Westside, who tend to be more liberal, backed Villaraigosa.

This time, some Jewish voters who live on the Westside say they are again backing Villaraigosa.

“I’ve been a supporter for a long time,” Bobbi Tropp said as she made her way out of Canter’s Deli on Fairfax one recent Saturday. “I think he’s the most progressive person.”

Allan Nemiroff, who has a wholesale food distributing company, said he voted for Hahn last time but now favors Villaraigosa as well.

“It’s time for a change,” he said.

Such sentiments did not surprise Daniel Sokatch, executive director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance, a California-wide Jewish social justice organization. He predicted that many Westide Jewish voters would stick with Villaraigosa, but, he added, “I note a profound lack of passion.”

All five major candidates are moderate to liberal Democrats, he pointed out. From the perspective of many of the city’s Jewish voters, he said, “there is not a terrible scenario that can emerge.”