Less than three weeks after overcoming an anti-Semitic advertisement from his opponent to win his Democratic primary election in Memphis, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) requested the floor Monday at a National Jewish Democratic Council event in Denver to thank the organization for its assistance.
“Ira and NJDC were very helpful,” said Cohen, referring to NJDC executive director Ira Forman at the group’s seminar on the vote seminar. “I had a lot of help from people from NJDC.”
Cohen is the only white representative to represent a majority African American district in the House of Representatives, and said his huge 79-19 win was “a tribute to the voters of Memphis.” His opponent ran an ad in the last days of the campaign suggesting that his Judaism made him an outsider in the district.
“For people who tell me African Americans and Jews have problems – they don’t in Memphis,” said Cohen, earning a big round of applause.
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