Craig Goldman of Texas wins race, becoming 3rd Jewish Republican in US Congress

Craig Godman appears on the NBC affiliate in Dallas Fort Worth on May 23, 2024. (YouTube via JTA)
Craig Godman appears on the NBC affiliate in Dallas Fort Worth on May 23, 2024. (YouTube via JTA)

Craig Goldman, a businessman and Texas state legislator, has handily won his congressional race in north Texas, bringing the number of Jewish Republicans in the US Congress to three for the first time in more than a decade.

Goldman’s defeat of Democrat Trey Hunt, by a margin of 64% to 36%, means that he succeeds Rep. Kay Granger in the 12th District, which stretches west from Dallas-Fort Worth. Granger, a long-serving Republican congresswoman who was close to the pro-Israel community, is retiring.

Goldman will join Reps. David Kustoff of Tennessee and Max Miller of Ohio as the Republican Jewish contingent in the House. Republicans have not had three Jewish members in Congress since the 2000s, when Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia had a leading role in the House and Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania served in the Senate. It shrunk to one in 2009 when Coleman was unseated and Specter switched parties.

There are currently 24 Jewish Democrats in the House and nine in the Senate.

Goldman, 56, is a real estate businessman who has served in the Texas legislature for 12 years, rising to become majority leader in the state House of Representatives. He has been an active member of and a fundraiser for the Republican Jewish Coalition.

“Congressman-Elect Goldman’s victory expands Jewish Republican representation with  @HouseGOP!” the RJC says in a tweet, congratulating Goldman.

According to a May profile in Jewish Insider, Goldman stands out against the ascendant isolationist wing within his party by supporting continued aid to the United States’ allies abroad, including both Israel and Ukraine.

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