Jews need — and deserve — more seats at the table in local politics

Democratic Jewish voters and our allies deserve to have tangible representation in the organizations that represent the neighborhoods in which they live.

The Allegheny County Democratic Committee is a grassroots party organization that shapes endorsements and supports Democratic candidates. Individual committee members — each representing just a handful of blocks — serve as the link between voters and the party by advising constituents, mobilizing support and representing their district’s preferences within party decision-making.

Recently, the chair of the 14th Ward Democratic Committee circulated a list of largely Jewish ACDC candidates she urged the party to oppose. This follows a broader pattern: Over the past two years, voters in the 14th Ward have received repeated communications from committee members dismissing concerns about antisemitism and encouraging support for candidates whose rhetoric and associations have raised unease within parts of the Jewish community. Regardless of intent, these actions have contributed to a growing sense among many Jewish voters that their perspectives are not reflected or welcomed within the local party structure.

Despite representing a county with a significant population of Jewish Democrats, the ACDC has not used its platform to meaningfully address antisemitism. In addition, particularly in the 14th Ward, many committee people have declined to endorse candidates who have overwhelming support within their own districts, signaling a disconnect between committee leadership and the voters they represent.

For example, in last year’s Democratic primary, 14th Ward voters made their preference unmistakable: Mayor Corey O’Connor earned nearly twice as many votes as former Mayor Ed Gainey (7,067 to 3,730). Yet within the ACDC, the endorsement came down to just four committee votes (274 to 270). That gap demonstrates the disconnect and shows why it’s so important to elect committee members who carry their community’s voice into the room.

Democratic Jewish voters and our allies deserve to have tangible representation in the organizations that represent the neighborhoods in which they live. Beacon Coalition, a local nonpartisan organization, is pushing back against the normalization of anti-Jewish, anti-pluralist and anti-democratic rhetoric by helping more people participate in the political process. That means educating voters about available roles like committee seats to allow more voices to be included in decisions about endorsements and the direction of the party.

Beacon is encouraging community members who are active Democrats and who want to make an impact to run for ACDC seats because engaging new voices on the ACDC can increase transparency, broaden participation and reduce insular decision-making. More diverse participation will strengthen party processes by bringing in new voters, improving accountability and ensuring that local party structures better represent the communities they serve. This type of organizing is not new or unusual; it is how American politics was designed, so that all people have an opportunity to be heard.

Across the country, marginalized communities have long organized so they would have representation within party structures. In 1970s San Francisco, LGBTQ activists formed the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club to build power within the Democratic Party, ultimately helping elect leaders like Harvey Milk. In the 1980s in Chicago, the multiracial coalition behind Harold Washington mobilized neighborhood-level organizations to reshape city politics. Women have been organizing through groups like the National Organization for Women to gain representation in party leadership since the 1970s. Latino organizers built movements like La Raza Unida to influence policy priorities. In New York, groups like the MinKwon Center for Community Action expanded civic participation among immigrant communities. These organizations ran coordinated slates, built coalitions and ensured that their communities had representation in governance.

One hallmark of the Democratic Party is making space for marginalized constituencies. Beacon Coalition’s organizing among Jewish voters and allies follows that tradition.

The fight against antisemitism is inseparable from the fight for a healthy, representative democracy. When any group is pushed out of the process, democracy itself is weakened. Despite recent conspiratorial rhetoric about Beacon’s work, the goal of this type of community organizing is straightforward: to bring more people into the rooms where decisions are made and to ensure those rooms reflect the communities they serve.

Representation is not given. It is built. Now is the moment for Democratic voters in Allegheny County, particularly Jewish people and our allies in the 14th Ward, to engage in the primary: vote, participate in local committees, and support candidates who believe in inclusion and accountability. PJC

Bryna Siegel Finer lives in Swisshelm Park and Aviva Lubowsky lives in Squirrel Hill South.