Orkin’s victory sends a signal to Albany’s Democratic majority
Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Queens did more than unseat an incumbent. It injected a clear, contested voice into the state legislature — one that explicitly opposes the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. David Orkin, a 38-year-old attorney who focuses on immigrant workers’ rights, will likely be the next Assembly member for District 38.
With 58.8% of the vote, he defeated Jenifer Rajkumar, who held the seat since 2021 and had the backing of the Queens Democratic Party establishment. The district covers Ridgewood, Glendale, Ozone Park, Woodhaven, and Richmond Hill — a patchwork of neighborhoods that residents describe as deeply diverse.
Orkin ran as a democratic socialist and an anti-Zionist Jew. That pairing is rare in elected office. He made Palestinian freedom the centerpiece of his campaign.
“Criticizing Israel for genocide, demanding an end to the occupation, demanding an end to funding war abroad is not antisemitic,” Orkin said during the race. His win gives that position a platform in Albany that it did not have before.
The reaction from activist groups was immediate. Jewish Voice for Peace Action posted on Instagram that “Pro-Palestine candidates are sweeping in NYC tonight” and that “Palestine was on the ballot and won.” The group celebrated Orkin’s victory as part of a broader trend. Several other democratic socialist candidates also won their primaries across the city on Tuesday.
What happens next is less clear. Orkin will face a Republican challenger in November, but the district is heavily Democratic. The primary result is effectively the final result.
That means Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and the Democratic conference will have a member who does not share the party’s traditional pro-Israel consensus. Orkin has said he wants to be a champion for Palestinian freedom in Albany.
That could mean legislation, budget fights, or resolutions that challenge state support for Israel. For Rajkumar, the loss is a sharp reversal. She was elected in 2020 as a rising star, a former state official under Governor Andrew Cuomo.
She had the party line, union endorsements, and name recognition. None of it held.
Orkin’s campaign leaned heavily on the war in Gaza and the Democratic establishment’s refusal to break with Israel. It worked. The district itself is not uniformly liberal.
Parts of Glendale and Woodhaven lean more conservative, and the area includes a significant population of Orthodox Jewish voters. Orkin is Jewish himself, but his anti-Zionist stance is a minority position within the broader Jewish community. How he navigates that tension in office will be one of the early tests of his tenure.
Orkin’s victory also puts pressure on other Democratic elected officials. If a first-time candidate can unseat an incumbent by running on Palestinian rights, the calculus for every member in a safe district shifts.
The issue is no longer a fringe concern. It delivered a win. For now, Orkin is one of the few anti-Zionist Jewish voices in any state government in the country.
His campaign framed that as a point of pride. “It’s so incredibly meaningful to me to be running this race as an anti-Zionist Jew,” he said.
The meaning will be tested when the legislative session starts in January.
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