Israel-born ecology professor wins Wyoming Democratic Senate primary

University of Wyoming ecology professor and climate activist Merav Ben-David won the Democratic nomination for the US Senate in Wyoming on Tuesday night.

The Israel-born Ben-David, 61, of Laramie, won 44% of the vote to beat two Democrats who actively campaigned: social justice and environmental activist Yana Ludwig, of Laramie; and climate-change think tank vice president Nathan Wendt, of Jackson.

Ben-David, who speaks with a thick Israeli accent, is seeking to replace Republican Senator Mike Enzi, who is retiring after four terms. Ben-David will face Republican former US Rep. Cynthia Lummis in the November election.

Lummis is a 65-year-old former Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo Miss Frontier who has been active in Wyoming politics for over 40 years.

Lummis is a former state treasurer and state legislator in addition to serving in Congress. Lummis beat nine less-known opponents to win the GOP primary.

Democrats advising Ben-David — including Gary Trauner, a Jewish businessman who ran for Senate in Wyoming in 2018 and twice lost House races there, including to Lummis in 2008 — advised her to make appearances across Wyoming, especially by going to rodeos, a popular pastime in the Western state.

But the pandemic prevented that. “They were all canceled,” she said. “I’ve been to rodeos before but not as part of campaigning.”

Instead, Ben-David has waged a digital campaign that included a promotional video showcasing her flying in a helicopter and walking in the woods, interspersed with clips of animals and Wyoming’s natural features. Her campaign logo includes the silhouette of a bison.

Ben-David comes from a family whose roots in Israel predate the state; her family arrived from Belarus in the 1860s, making her siblings’ grandchildren seventh-generation Israelis. She grew up a small family farm outside of the Israeli city of Rishon Lezion and earned degrees in zoology and wildlife management in Tel Aviv and Alaska before moving to Laramie in 2000 to become an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming in 2000. She has been a professor since 2010, a year after becoming a full US citizen.

Ben-David’s research over the years includes studying how polar bears are responding to climate change.

Ben-David wants to refocus Wyoming’s economy, which is largely tied to oil and gas extraction, to encourage new energy technologies. Ben-David has said concern about climate change motivated her to run for office.

In an interview earlier this month with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Ben-David said she thought the coronavirus pandemic created an opportunity for her message about the need to transition to an economy that is less reliant on fossil fuels to resonate. About half of Wyoming’s revenue comes from oil and gas and industries associated with them.

“I think there is a chance and this year, if you think about it, is especially strange,” she said. “With COVID-19 [there is a] realization that we need to pay more attention to science.”

Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ben-David’s policy platform states that “part of my family is still in Israel, so although I have lived in the United States for over 30 years, the security and safety of Israel – and peace in the region – are of paramount importance to me.”

She has vowed to promote US-Israeli cooperation and continue US aid, but criticizes the government’s policies toward the Palestinians, including the planned annexation of parts of the West Bank. She supports reinstating US commitment to the Iran nuclear deal as well as a tougher stance against Saudi Arabia.

Wyoming, America’s least populous state, is home to an estimated 1,150 Jews. In Laramie, where Ben-David lives, a small Jewish community is composed mostly of people who, like her, are associated with the university there. She said she has come to play a unique role in local gatherings.

“We have a vibrant community here in Laramie, and we celebrate all the holidays,” Ben-David told JTA. “In effect, more often than not, I’m in charge of making the matzo balls.”