Doug Emhoff has worked to combat antisemitism. What he’d bring as First Gentleman

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WHO IS THE SECOND GENTLEMAN, DOUG EMHOFF?

Via Gillian Brassil...

When Kamala Harris became the first woman and first Black and South Asian American vice president, Doug Emhoff became a pair of “firsts” on his own: first Second Gentleman and first Jewish spouse of either a president or VP.

He’s used this role not only to combat antisemitism but also fight hate more broadly, advocates say. If Harris were elected president in November, Emhoff would be able to continue that role as the first First Gentleman.

“He was very involved in the White House national strategy to counter antisemitism,” said Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block, Washington director of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, a progressive organization with an affiliated political action committee.

“Just the first time any administration has developed a national strategy around combating antisemitism and it was a very, very comprehensive effort that really took into account many, many stakeholders across the Jewish community, across the civil rights community, and the results were something very, very positive.”

This has been paramount as antisemitism and other hate has risen in recent years, said Kimelman-Block.

Emhoff has held many events at the White House, vice presidential residence and across the nation to address antisemitism, other forms of hate and gender inequity.

He has held roundtables, spoken across the globe and met with survivors of antisemitism throughout his time at the White House.

In 2021, the Second Gentleman and vice president affixed a mezuzah to the doorpost of their official D.C. home, the first time an executive residence has done so, according to the White House. A mezuzah contains a scroll of Hebrew verses from the Torah. He held the White House’s first virtual Passover earlier that year.

“Part of fighting hate is living openly and proudly as a Jew and celebrating our faith and our culture,” Emhoff said in Paris this month. “I love being Jewish, and I love the joy that comes with being Jewish. And I’m not going to let anyone tell me how to be Jewish.”

In Chicago last Wednesday for fundraisers, not long before the Democratic National Convention kicked off Monday, Emhoff addressed the rise of antisemitism in recent years.

“You could feel the antisemitism brewing,” he said before President Joe Biden and Harris won the White House, according to the Chicago Sun Times, pointing to the 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh that left 11 dead and six wounded.

He praised Biden and Harris’ work to combat antisemitism since replacing former President Donald Trump, and hailed their work on Israel amid the war in Gaza.

Emhoff has expanded combating antisemitism to addressing other forms of racial and gender-based inequity and violence, which Kimelman-Block highlighted.

“And also, seeing antisemitism not in isolation, but as part of many different groups,” Kimelman-Block said. “Being part of a multiracial family I think is a really important part of that.”

Before becoming Second Gentleman, Emhoff was an entertainment and corporate lawyer in Southern California. He worked at powerhouse law firms, becoming managing director of Venable’s West Coast offices and later a partner at DLA Piper. He’s now a professor at Georgetown Law.

Emhoff and Harris met on a blind date in 2013 when she was California attorney general. They married a year later.

SCHIFF OPENS HUGE LEAD AGAINST GARVEY

Election Day is still three months away, but it looks like Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, is starting to run away with the race to be California’s next U.S. Senator.

A recent poll from the University of California Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies shows Schiff opening up a 20-point lead over Republican retired baseball player Steve Garvey, with 53% of likely voters backing Schiff and 33% supporting Garvey.

That marks a decrease in support for Garvey since the IGS polled the question ahead of the March primary election, when the Republican had 38% support.

Garvey can still rely on Republicans to vote for him, with 88% supporting him and just 3% supporting Schiff, but Schiff enjoys not only the support of 84% of Democrats but also 54% of independents.

CALIFORNIANS SUPPORT PROPS 32 AND 36, ARE DIVIDED ON PROP 33

The pendulum of criminal justice reform appears to be swinging in the direction of “tough on crime” laws, as a recent Berkeley IGS survey shows 56% of likely voters support Proposition 36, the ballot measure to stiffen the penalty for certain theft and drug crimes.

Just 23% of Californians oppose that measure, which Gov. Gavin Newsom has opposed. Another 21% said they were undecided on the ballot measure.

The ballot proposal would roll back California’s 2014 Proposition 47, which was passed in response to a wave of support for ending mass incarceration. Prop. 36 supporters include various county district attorneys and sheriffs, as well large retailers.

A plurality of Democrats (48%) and majorities of Republicans (69%) and independents (55%) all say they support that measure.

A majority of California voters also said that they support Proposition 32, which would raise the minimum wage by $1 a year until it reaches $18, at which point it would be adjusted for inflation.

More than half, 52%, of Californians back the measure, while 34% say they oppose it.

The ballot measure has drawn fairly partisan support and opposition, with 74% of Democrats in favor and 71% of Republicans against it.

Finally, voters are mixed on Proposition 33, the latest attempt to expand rent control in the Golden State. Neither the pro (40%) nor the con (34%) have a majority, and 26% of likely voters are still undecided on the measure.

The measure is supported by a little more than half of Democrats (51%), while a little more than half (51%) of Republicans say they oppose it. Interestingly, renters (54%) are much more likely to support it, while homeowners (45%) are more likely to oppose.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Let me put this in a way Gavin Newsom would understand: If the French Laundry was forced to make a bunch of meals but wasn’t allowed to sell them, their menu prices would go up. Same concept here.”

- Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, responding to the governor’s recent announcement requiring oil refineries to stockpile supply in an attempt to drive down gas prices.

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