US Rep. Jerry Nadler emerged on Tuesday as victorious over former ally in Congress Carolyn Maloney as they ran against each other in a hostile battle for the court-mandated newly redrawn 12th Congressional District of New York in the Democratic primary — a district believed to be the most Jewish in the country.
Jewish Congressional stalwart Nadler, 74, is now all but certain to win the November general election and remain in Congress come January given the district’s immense Democratic tilt. The results also mean Maloney's political career has come to an end after three decades. The 76-year-old congresswoman chaired the House Oversight and Reform Committee, while Nadler was one of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s nine chosen managers for the impeachment process, along with fellow Jewish reps. David Cicilline, Jamie Raskin and Adam Schiff.
Nadler, a member of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun on the Upper West Side, is New York City's last remaining Jewish representative in the House. His previous district, NY-10, stretched from the Upper West Side to Brooklyn’s Borough Park, encompassed the most Jews in New York.
Well New York…we did it!I’m so deeply grateful for your continued support and trust—I promise to keep on fighting for New Yorkers in Congress. Onwards!
— Jerry Nadler (@JerryNadler) August 24, 2022
A bitter race between former longtime colleagues
The Maloney-Nadler race turned bitter as the onetime House colleagues, both ushered into Congress in 1992, squared off in New York's heavily Jewish and pro-Israel neighborhoods.
Nadler told The New York Times that he had told Maloney during a private conversation that he was going to win the seat and suggested she run for a different seat. “She said basically the opposite, and so it was an impasse,” Nadler said, “and we left it at that.” Earlier this month, the Times endorsed Nadler.
“In the history of redistricting, Manhattan has always been divided east-west. There was no reason to flip Manhattan from east-west to north-south. None at all.”
US Rep. Jerry Nadler
He was vocal about his disapproval of the redistricting. “In the history of redistricting, Manhattan has always been divided east-west,” Nadler said in a statement last month. “There was no reason to flip Manhattan from east-west to north-south. None at all.”
Before being pitted against each other, Maloney and Nadler saw some of the same donors give to their respective campaigns. The new maps left New York Jews, many of whom previously supported both representatives, lamenting the end of the career of one of the veteran politicians.
Leading up to election night, an AIPAC spokesperson declined to endorse a specific candidate but told The Jerusalem Post that, “before the new redistricting placed them in direct competition, AIPAC PAC contributed to both representatives Maloney and Nadler in recognition of their support for the US-Israel relationship.”