By JHNC Historian Leonard Rogoff
On election day Nov. 3, Jewish candidates won two of three races in North Carolina. In a tight race, Democrat Josh Stein won reelection as attorney general by a nearly 14,000 vote margin, precluding the need for a recount. A member of Raleigh’s Temple Beth Or, Stein became the first Jew in North Carolina history to win a statewide election in 2016.
Democrat Kathy Manning of Greensboro swept into the U. S. Congress from the Sixth District by winning 62 percent of the vote against her Republic opponent Joseph Lee Haywood. Manning, a lawyer, has been prominent in national Jewish affairs. She was the first woman to chair the Jewish Federation of North America, 2009-12, and was the founding chair of Prizmah, a national organization of Jewish day schools for all denominations.
Associate Justice Mark A. Davis was unsuccessful in his effort to hold the State Supreme Court seat he has held since his appointment by Governor Roy Cooper. Davis in his campaign literature had proudly listed himself as the first “Jewish member” of this Court.
Currently, at least three North Carolina municipalities have Jews as mayor: Esther Manheimer in Asheville, Steve Schewel in Durham, and Terry Mann in Whitevillle.
