As State Representative (Dem.) Sheldon Wasserman vacates his seat in Wisconsin’s 22nd Assembly District, four Democratic candidates are rushing to fill the spot, which encompasses part of the East Side and most of the North Shore suburbs.
Those Democrats include three members of the Jewish community, plus the former president of Shorewood, Guy Johnson. They are Andy Feldman, Dan Kohl and Sandra Pasch.
(Wasserman is challenging State Senator Alberta Darling in the 8th Wisconsin Senate District.)
Three Jews on the ballot for one seat begs the question: What about the Jewish vote? Is there a Jewish vote?
Yes and no, said Mordecai Lee, a former state representative, state senator and now an assistant professor of governmental affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
In the sense that the 22nd District “has a higher proportion of Jewish residents than any other district in the state” and because the Jewish community has three of the characteristics that correlate with strong voter turnout — high age, income and education — Lee said he thinks it’s fair to talk of a Jewish vote in this limited context.
On the other hand, “The Jewish population has graduated beyond ethnic politics,” he said.
“When you have multiple Jewish candidates it becomes more of a game of who has more high school friends, or a stronger synagogue network … which is known [in political science] as ‘the friends and neighbors effect.’”
Those personal relationships are especially critical in Milwaukee, Lee said, which has “a very powerful culture of door-to-door campaigning. Voters here expect to have the chance to have a one-on-one conversation with each of the candidates.”
Lee said that when he was running for office, going door-to-door was “a life-altering experience. Here I was, a policy wonk and I was talking to real people for the first time. It was wonderful, I learned so much.”
“But with affluent, well-educated, discriminating voters, it’s not enough just to ring their doorbells,” Lee said. “You have to make a good impression on them. We are talking about politics at an evolved stage.”
Since all of the these three candidates are more or less in the same place, ideologically; their campaign issues are mainstream, left-of-center, Lee said, “probably, the one who will win will be the one who makes the best impression while ringing doorbells and who has the strongest friends and neighbors network.”
The Chronicle spoke with each of the three Jewish candidates to learn about their backgrounds, opinions and goals. Though they differ in many ways, each of the candidates refers in his or her campaign materials to three issues as major priories: education, health care and the environment.
The youngest of the three candidates, Feldman, 34, is a Shorewood resident. He was born and raised in Glendale for 10 years. His family then moved to Whitefish Bay, where he graduated from high school.
Feldman grew up at Congregation Sinai, where he is still a member. He said he was just thinking about the theme of his confirmation class at Sinai, which was “Why be good?”
“It was all about ethics and civic involvement. When I think back to why I took [a career path] in public service, I know that one important influence was my upbringing in the Jewish ethical tradition.
“It was such a good idea to talk about public service and ethics. Those Jewish values of improving the world are great ones.”
What distinguishes him from the other candidates, he said, is that he has worked in state and federal government and has a doctorate in public policy. “I also taught public management at Harvard [University] in 2006 and 2007 to mid-career graduate students.”
During one summer, while a graduate student at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Feldman worked on an initiative to promote innovation in state government. The project resulted in more than 500 recommendations “to save money and do things better,” said Feldman, who spent a year working on it.
Feldman’s campaign theme is “reviving our progressive tradition in Wisconsin,” he said. “We were known among the states for less partisan, [more] forward thinking, clean government. But that tradition has eroded over time. We do need people who can get along with others and get things done.”
Among his top goals is “attracting more young people to the area,” he said.
“Milwaukee and Wisconsin are off the map as a destination for young professionals. When they get here, they realize what a great place to live it is. I decided to lead with action and return after graduate school. Now, I want to encourage more young people to come.”
Creating more good jobs in the state is something that’s going to take “a smart, active partnership between the private sector, the universities and government.”
The candidate with the most name recognition is Dan Kohl, nephew of U.S. Senator (D-Wis.) Herb Kohl.
A River Hills resident, Kohl, 42, is married to real estate agent Stacey Kohl and has three children ages 13, 11 and 9.
Active members of Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun, Kohl and his family have had ties with a number of area synagogues.
“My grandparents were founding members of Temple Beth El and I remember the powerful sermons of Rabbi Louis Switchkow. We have also been members, over the years, of Congregations Beth Israel, Beth Jehudah and Sinai.”
Kohl is president of the Milwaukee Jewish Day School and a board member of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and the Milwaukee Area Jewish Committee and thenational American Jewish Committee.
“I am a regular at Jewish events around town and I will continue to be, long after this election,” he said.
Kohl holds a law degree from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s in history from UWM. He 14 years with the Milwaukee Bucks in a variety of positions, including that of assistant general manager. After that he worked for the Seed Foundation, the project started by the late Martin F. Stein, as director of new schools development for Wisconsin.
When asked what distinguishes him from the other candidates, Kohl said:
“The combination of my background, experience and involvement in the community differentiate me from my opponents. Unlike them, I have worked in a business and I have a wide range of experience in the North Shore, the general community and the Jewish community.
“I do talk about issues I think the voters of the 22nd district care about, including the future of the city of Milwaukee.”
“I get a positive response to my involvement in the SEED Foundation, which plans to build a college preparatory boarding school for at-risk students, primarily from the city of Milwaukee. It has really good momentum — I am hoping for a commitment for state funding,” Kohl said.
“I talk a lot more broadly about education,” he said.
Pasch, 54, has long worked as a community advocate. A Whitefish Bay resident since 1986, she is a nurse with master’s degrees in psychiatric-mental health nursing and bioethics.
Pasch has been involved in the Jewish community’s mental health project, Creating a Caring Community.
She coordinated Milwaukee’s Crisis Intervention Team training law enforcement officers; founded the Crisis Intervention Partner program connecting law enforcement with hospitals, group homes, and other community organizations; and is a member of the Community Justice Council.
She served as president, for four terms, of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Greater Milwaukee. This week, she left Columbia College of Nursing, where she was assistant professor for 15 years, to devote more time and attention to campaigning.
Pasch converted to Judaism in 1980 and is an involved member of Congregation Shalom, where she is active “with the tikkun olam group [doing everything] from meals for St. Ben’s to coordinating a mitzvah day project.”
Her husband, Allan Pasch, is a surgeon and Whitefish Bay native. They have three adult children, the youngest of whom is a sophomore in college.
Pasch said her work and experience in the community distinguish her as a candidate.
“With health care being one of the highest priorities of the community, I am the only candidate with health care experience. I understand the issues from the inside.
“And those issues can’t be analyzed only from the perspective of policy analysis. You have to understand patients and providers to start to understand the ways [to improve health care],” she said.
“Another thing that differentiates me is that I have a background in working to bring people together. I have often helped people coming from various backgrounds — law enforcement and health care workers, for example — and if it’s not done right, it can be harmful to all parties,” said Pasch, who has been endorsed by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm.”
“I’m running because I truly care about the health and well being of this community,” Pasch said.
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The Chronicle is writing about members of the Jewish community in the coming elections. If you or someone you know of is running, send us an e-mail with “candidate” in the subject line.
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