David Orkin won 58.8% of the vote on Tuesday and took a seat in the New York State Assembly from an incumbent who had held it since 2021. Jenifer Rajkumar finished with 40.9% in the Democratic primary for Assembly District 38, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Orkin is an immigrant workers’ rights attorney, a union organizer, a democratic socialist and a self-described anti-Zionist Jew. The district covers a swath of Queens that takes in parts of Ridgewood, Glendale, Ozone Park, Woodhaven and Richmond Hill. Rajkumar, a close political ally of former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, was the first South Asian woman ever elected to office in the state.
Jewish Voice for Peace Action marked the result on Instagram. “Pro-Palestine candidates are sweeping in NYC tonight,” the group wrote. “Palestine was on the ballot, and won. David will be a champion for Palestinian freedom in Albany.”
A campaign on affordability
Israel was not listed on Orkin’s platform, which centered on affordability and immigration. He raised it anyway, repeatedly voicing support for a “free Palestine.” In a May post on X he attacked his opponent: “In the past several years my opponent AM Rajkumar has walked in the Israel day parade but has said NOTHING against the war in Gaza, occupation of Palestine, or Islamophobic attacks faced by the people of New York.”
Rajkumar’s campaign platform promised to combat antisemitism. She was endorsed by ActJew, a new nonprofit focused on fighting antisemitism, along with the Queens Jewish Alliance and Assemblymembers Sam Berger, Kalman Yeger and Chuck Lavine.
Orkin’s backers included Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, JVP Action and NYC Democratic Socialists for America. He took in more than $290,000 in contributions this cycle, including over $156,000 from the state comptroller’s office. Rajkumar raised more than $270,000, including $9,000 from health care executive Daniel Lowy.
Years in the movement
Orkin set up a Jewish Voice for Peace chapter in Tucson, Arizona, in 2014 and stayed active in the group afterward. “I’ve been involved in the Jewish Palestine Solidarity Movement for 12, 13 years,” he told Democratic Left last month. “I’ve dedicated part of my life to making sure that Jewish people are creating religious spaces outside of Zionism, and to making more space for Palestinian organizing to have an impact.”
In an Instagram reel posted by JVP Action earlier this month, he said it was “incredibly meaningful” to run as an anti-Zionist Jew and be “one of the few anti-Zionist Jewish voices” in an elected state seat. If elected, he said, he could tell the legislature that “criticizing Israel for genocide, demanding an end to the occupation, demanding an end to funding war abroad is not antisemitic.”
His win came on a strong night for democratic socialists in the city. Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, all left-wing congressional candidates, also beat establishment-backed opponents. Mayor Zohran Mamdani had endorsed those three, but not Orkin.
“I have dedicated my life fighting for immigrants and workers,” Orkin said in a statement, according to QNS. “I am proud to have earned their support in this election.”
Sources
- Jewish anti-Zionist David Orkin defeats incumbent in NY Assembly primary – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
