Voting Down Party Lines This Midterm Election Will Hurt Jews

When my family fled Iran, we never imagined that one day I would question whether my children could live openly and safely as Jews in Los Angeles. I believed I was building a life where their Jewish identity would be a source of pride, without the fear that had shaped so many Jewish lives before theirs.

Raising four daughters, I held on to that confidence. Now, I find myself questioning something I once took for granted.

When my eldest was little, school drop-off meant ordinary worries: friendships, homework, a forgotten lunch. With my youngest, my thoughts turn to emergency plans. What happens if there is a shooter? What happens if someone calls in a bomb threat? How will I know she is safe?

My children no longer attend a Jewish day school. But leaving Jewish day school did not mean leaving those concerns behind.

On Oct. 12, Milken Community School in Los Angeles went into lockdown following a reported bomb threat. Police found no threat, and LAPD described the incident as an apparent swatting call. Thank God. But “hoax” is a word families get to use afterward. Until the all-clear comes, nobody has the comfort of knowing that the danger is imaginary.

We do not yet know who was responsible or what motivated the threat. But I do not need those answers to understand why news of a lockdown at a Jewish school shakes a Jewish mother.

I want my daughters to feel comfortable in Jewish spaces. I want them to embrace their traditions without wondering whether being visibly Jewish makes them vulnerable. I never expected that this would feel like something I had to fight to preserve in Los Angeles.

Public leadership matters in creating that confidence. So does the way leaders speak about issues that touch our community.

At the Sept. 29 mayoral forum at the Skirball Cultural Center, before an audience of Jewish Angelenos, Nithya Raman defended her use of “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza. Karen Bass rejected that characterization. Experts have made it clear that there was not a genocide. 

Raman’s position should be a red flag for all Jews. I want leaders to understand why this language carries such weight for families like mine. Disagreement with Israeli policy is not inherently antisemitic. But Jewish Angelenos must never be treated as representatives of a foreign government or held responsible for its decisions.

The DSA’s published program also concerns me. It calls for ending all U.S. military and economic aid to Israel and for prosecuting American and Israeli leaders it holds responsible for “genocide” in Gaza. Those are concrete anti-Israel positions that were formed from the “red green alliance” of Marxists and Islamists. 

I will not give any candidate my vote simply because of the letter beside their name. As a Jew and an American, I don’t have the privilege to vote down party lines. DSA candidates are running with a D next to their names, but they are not from the Clinton era moderate Dems.The DSA’s stated goals of abolishing police and replacing capitalism are radical gambles that would undermine public safety and deepen the homelessness crisis families need leaders to solve.

Life-long Dems, like myself, just need to read the open letter from the Islamic Republic to Americans urging us to vote DSA this midterm election. The biggest enemy of the United States is spending money to elect people like Mamdani to spread their ideology.  Believe them when they chant “Death to America. Death to Israel.” They don’t want America to prosper and neither do their candidates. 

My Jewish identity and my daughters’ future shape the questions I ask. I want clear answers about protecting Jewish life, confronting antisemitism and keeping schools and public spaces safe. This November, my vote must be earned through actions, not assurances.

As an Iranian-born Jewish American, I cherish the right to participate in choosing our leaders. I consider exercising that right a privilege and a responsibility. I want my daughters to see me approach it thoughtfully.

That means researching candidates, understanding the powers of each office and expecting promises to be matched by follow-through. It means remaining engaged after Election Day, when campaign language becomes the responsibility of governing.

I cannot personally investigate every threat or secure every campus. But I can refuse to become indifferent. I can ask questions and expect answers.

When I watch my youngest daughter walk into school, I want to think about the future she is building. When she enters a Jewish space, I want her to feel belonging and joy.

That is the life I believed I was building when I came to Los Angeles. I still believe my daughters deserve it.

Shirin Yadegar is the founder of LA Mom Magazine and a political commentator.