Assembly Candidate Harary Seeks to Be First Sephardic Jewish Woman Elected to US Office

On Wednesday evening, the Manhattan GOP formally nominated Rebecca Harary as the Republican candidate for the New York State Assembly’s District 73. If Harary defeats her Democratic opponent, incumbent Dan Quart, she says she would represent Manhattan’s Upper East Side as the first Sephardic Jewish woman elected to government in the U.S.

“My faith is central to my life,” Harary told JP during her campaign kick-off at the Metropolitan Republican Club on the Upper East Side.

“I am a Jewish-American woman. As a Sephardic Jew, we have a lot of different customs, but essentially we’re all very strong lovers of Israel” she said. “We do whatever we can to protect Israel’s safety, and we keep the values and the culture of what Judaism is in our hearts and in our daily lives.”

These values have guided Harary, who identifies as a “Mike Bloomberg Republican,” to seek solutions with an optimistic spirit. In her campaign speech, she stressed the importance of working together to solve problems in Albany, stating “when I say together, I mean together. Republican, Democrat, Independent, or no party at all, it is time to act as one voice, to look past our differences.”

Politician or voting public, it’s difficult to retain a nonpartisan mind-set in a political climate that is becoming increasingly polarized. Asked how she manages to do so, Harary credited her faith.

“I believe, as I think most Jews do, that people are essentially good in their hearts and only want life, only want happiness, they only want unity, and that’s what I want, too… I think that there are ways around problems, and by working together, overlooking titles, I believe we can get things done,” she said.

Fuente: jpupdates.com