November 7, 2014

JAC members worked hard to Get Out the Vote across the country and showed up to make their voices heard at the polls.

JAC member and Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering
at the polls.

JAC member and City Councilwoman Alyssa Knobel,
cast her ballot.

JAC members went to Iowa to get out the vote for Bruce Braley. (l to r: Dana Gordon, Hollis Wein, Lisa Lavin)

Bruce and Nancy Hoffman got out the vote in Kentucky.

JAC Got Out the Vote in Kentucky. (l to r: Linda Rae Sher, Marcia Balonick, and Joyce Amico)

Karyn Lev got out the vote for Rep. Brad Schneider.

Lisa Lickstein delivered JAC support to Gwen Graham in Florida.

Do you have photos with a candidate, at a fundraiser, getting out the vote, or with other JAC members? Send them to info@jacpac.org with the details and we will share them here!

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Source: NARAL Pro-Choice America

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2014 Majority Control in US House

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Senate Seats Gained or Held

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House Seats in 113th vs to 114th Congress

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Senate Seats in 113th vs 114th Congress

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RESULTS

Tuesday's Midterm elections resulted in a significant change in the balance in Washington, DC and could see a detrimental impact on JAC's issues.

Elections have consequences. Now is time to come together and fight to protect those issues important to us all.

Israel & The Middle East

106 retired Israeli generals, spy chief urge Netanyahu to push for peace

In what appears to be the largest-ever joint protest by senior Israeli security personnel, a group of 106 retired army generals, Mossad directors and national police commissioners have signed a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging him to "initiate a diplomatic process" based on a regional framework for peace with the Palestinians.

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Kerry says Jerusalem attack an atrocity 'making matters worse'

US Secretary of State John Kerry has condemned the second vehicular terrorist attack in less than two weeks in Jerusalem, warning that such "atrocities" only serve to exacerbate tensions on the ground.

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Top US general: Israel protected civilian lives in Gaza

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey says IDF went to 'extraordinary' lengths to save innocents in Gaza.

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Iran nuclear deal harder after Nov. 24th - Kerry

Reaching a nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers will be more difficult if negotiations drag beyond a November 24 deadline, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday. Kerry, speaking ahead of his planned weekend talks with Iran's foreign minister, said the United States and its allies were not - for now - weighing an extension of the negotiations.

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SCOTUS hears arguments in Israel passport case

The grand principle of the separation of powers in the Constitution was battled over Monday at the Supreme Court in a case about a small but potentially momentous detail: whether U.S. passports should list Israel as the birthplace for American citizens born in Jerusalem.

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Reproductive Rights

Mitch McConnell Now Can Bring Up 20-Week Abortion Ban He Promised

In the summer of 2013, the House of Representatives passed a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, which is two to four weeks earlier than Supreme Court precedent allows. This year, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promised anti-abortion groups that if he became Majority Leader, he would bring the bill up for a vote in the Senate. Now that Republicans have gained control of the Senate, making McConnell their likely new leader, the 20-week ban may at least make it to the floors of both chambers.

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State Anti-Abortion Measures Meet Mixed Fates

State level efforts to restrict abortion access met mixed fates Tuesday. Voters in North Dakota and Colorado rejected so-called "personhood" measures, anti-abortion referendums that would have granted fetuses new rights, while Tennessee voters approved a ballot initiative that will give the state's lawmakers to more power to restrict and regulate abortion access for women.

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Separation of Religion & State

Atheists Score Major Win in Federal Court

A federal district court in Oregon has declared Secular Humanism a religion, paving the way for the non-theistic community to obtain the same legal rights as groups such as Christianity.

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Beyond the Core

The Gun-Control Movement Is Learning How to Win

It was not only President Obama and his Democrats who suffered a historic rebuke yesterday. So did the National Rifle Association.

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Some colorful characters to grab hold of Senate gavels

There's a big group of Republicans who'll be new U.S. senators in January, and despite the overwhelming evidence, all of them are climate deniers. One of them - Iowa's Joni Ernst - is committed to dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency altogether.

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Political Byte - Elections 2014

Watch Obama explain the election, subtweet John Boehner, and call out America's non-voters

Wednesday, Obama gave his second post-defeat press conference - but refused to play by the rules. He seemed upbeat, almost energized. He gave no ground on his agenda. He made clear he intends to push forward with major executive actions on immigration and climate change. Asked by a reporter to give a name to the 2014 election, he demurred; Republicans had "a good night," he said. Here are the three moments from the press conference you shouldn't miss.

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Election Night Takeaways

This wasn't just a bad night for Democrats. This was a downright drubbing. So, what happened?

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Democrats Actually Gained Women's Support Since Last Midterm Election

After Republicans swept the midterm elections on Tuesday, conservatives triumphantly declared the death of Democrats' strategy to appeal to women voters, pointing to the fact that Democrats appear to have lost ground among women voters between 2012 and 2014.

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Lee Zeldin becomes Congress' sole Jewish Republican as GOP retakes Senate

Results late Tuesday showed Republicans winning control of the United States Senate as well as wins for fresh faces with close Jewish and pro-Israel ties. In Long Island, Lee Zeldin, a state senator, was set to become the sole Jewish Republican in Congress, ending a short drought that commenced with the defeat of Rep. Eric Cantor in the Republican primary in June.

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The 2014 election featured a lot of firsts. Here are the biggest ones.

With Rep. Tom Cotton's Senate victory in Arkansas, the state has two Republican senators for the first time since 1879. Cotton is one of the first Iraq War veterans elected to the Senate - along with Joni Ernst, who was also elected this week. The 37-year-old will be the youngest senator, currently.
For the first time ever, more than 100 female legislators will be voting in the next session of Congress.

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GOP crafts narrow agenda for new Congress, seeking unity, Democratic votes

Within hours of solidifying their control of Congress, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John A. Boehner were quietly laying plans for a series of quick votes in January aimed at erasing their obstructionist image ahead of the 2016 elections.

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America's worst new Congressman: Why Georgia's Jody Hice is so frightening

He thinks abortion is 'worse than Hitler,' and hates gays, women and Muslims. Here's what's headed to Congress.

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FYI

Israeli Startup Could End World Hunger With Natural Produce Preservation

Between a third and half of the food grown today never makes it to market. Produce of all kinds is "lost" to spoilage and disease, due mostly to transportation, storage, and other logistics issues. As a result, hundreds of millions of people still go hungry - but they don't have to, thanks to an invention by Israel's Pimi Agro. By applying a formula based on hydrogen peroxide - "with a few key additions," said Nimrod Ben-Yehuda, CTO and co-founder of Pimi - fruits and vegetables remain fresh and viable for up to 10 weeks, significantly cutting losses due to rot and deterioration during the transportation process.

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Weed is legal in the Capital - and 10 other reasons the election wasn't a total bust

Another midterm election, another shellacking for Democrats. But even while Democratic candidates lost badly, many liberal issues won-and won big, even in red states. Here are several reasons not to despair, which I'll add to as results come in.

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Our members count on JACPAC to provide information on current events, candidates, and elections. JACPAC depends on membership support to make this possible.

If you have not renewed your membership, please consider doing so today, to help us pursue a strong US-Israel relationship, reproductive rights, and separation of religion and state. Together we can make this a better world!

Sincerely,

Janna Berk, President
Marcia Balonick, Executive Director
Joy Malkus, Research Director

Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs (JACPAC) is a national network committed to the special relationship between the US and Israel and a social agenda that includes reproductive rights and separation of religion and state. JACPAC supports US Senate and House candidates who uphold this agenda and maintains ongoing dialogue with those it helps elect. In addition, JACPAC serves as a political resource for the Jewish community, furnishing information about candidates, elections and issues.

www.jacpac.org