Stein’s N.C. victory means six states have Jewish governors

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein talks to reporters outside the U.S. Supreme Court after he attended oral arguments in the Moore v. Harper case Dec. 7, 2022 in Washington, D.C. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images.

by Izzy Salant and Menachem Wecker

(JNS) — With the election of Matt Meyer and Josh Stein as governor of Delaware and North Carolina, respectively, on Nov. 5, the two join four other Jewish governors: Jared Polis (Colo.), J. B. Pritzker (Ill.), Josh Green (Hawaii) and Josh Shapiro (Pa.), all Democrats.

“It’s great to be at a point where a Jewish governor, even in states with small Jewish populations, is not unusual,” according to Mark Mellman, CEO of an eponymous polling and consulting firm and president of Democratic Majority for Israel.

“The Democratic Party is committed to equal opportunity and pluralism a fact reinforced by the fact that all six of these Jewish governors are Democrats,” Mellman told JNS.

The Associated Press called the Delaware gubernatorial race for Meyer, who defeated Mike Ramone, a member of the Delaware state House. With 90 percent of votes counted, Meyer was up 11.8 percentage points, with 274,823 votes, per the AP.

A former public-school math teacher and small-business owner, Meyer is a staunch supporter of Israel, which he has visited three times. He told Jewish Insider “Israel is going through a really challenging time right now, and we have to do what we can to support what is one of America’s strongest allies in the world.”

Stein, North Carolina’s attorney general, was up nearly 15 percentage points on Republican Mark Robinson, with 2.6 million votes and 83 percent of votes counted, per the AP, which called the race.

Robinson, the lieutenant governor of North Carolina, came under fire for social-media posts, including calling himself “a black Nazi” and quoting Hitler. Robinson denied having posted the comments.

U.S. President Joe Biden called Meyer and Stein, among others, to congratulate them on their election, per the White House pool report.