New York Jewish Week via JTA — David Orkin, a Jewish anti-Zionist attorney and democratic socialist, defeated incumbent New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. Orkin won State Assembly District 38, which includes parts of Queens.

Orkin, 35, an immigrant workers’ rights attorney and union organizer, received 58.8 percent of the vote, while Rajkumar, who has represented the district since 2021 and is the first South Asian woman ever elected to office in the state, received 40.9%. The district covers a swath of Queens, including parts of Ridgewood, Glendale, Ozone Park, Woodhaven and Richmond Hill.

“Pro-Palestine candidates are sweeping in NYC tonight,” Jewish Voice for Peace Action wrote in a post on Instagram celebrating Orkin’s win Tuesday. “Palestine was on the ballot — and won. David will be a champion for Palestinian freedom in Albany.”

The post from JVP Action echoed a message Orkin had highlighted throughout his campaign.

“It’s so incredibly meaningful to me to be running this race as an anti-Zionist Jew, to be one of the few anti-Zionist Jewish voices that is in an elected seat in the state government,” Orkin said in an Instagram reel posted by Jewish Voice for Peace Action earlier this month.

He added that, if elected, he would be able to go in front of the state legislature and assert that “criticizing Israel for genocide, demanding an end to the occupation, demanding an end to funding war abroad is not antisemitic.” Israel vehemently denies accusations that it committed genocide during its campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

VICTORY! David Orkin wins her Democratic primary for State Assembly in District 38. Pro-Palestine candidates are sweeping in NYC tonight. Palestine was on the ballot – and won. David will be a champion for Palestinian freedom in Albany. pic.twitter.com/cvTVGb9Y6J Advertisement if(typeof rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner != "function" || !rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner("#Article_Incontent1")){ window.tude = window.tude........

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