Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Lawmaker who withdrew endorsement from pro-BDS candidate backs Jewish contender for Brooklyn seat

NY Assemblymember Brian Cunningham endorsed Dan Goldman, former lead counsel for the House Democrats during Trump’s impeachment, in crowded race for Congress

A New York state representative who withdrew his endorsement from a colleague he was backing for Congress to protest her support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, is now endorsing a Jewish political newcomer in the crowded Democratic primary for the open 10th district seat. 

Assemblymember Brian Cunningham, who represents a Brooklyn district that includes the Orthodox neighborhood of Crown Heights, described Dan Goldman, former lead counsel for the House Democrats in the first impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, as a “proven, effective leader” and  “champion on the most pressing issues we face.” 

Cunningham was one of five state lawmakers who backed Yuh-Line Niou, a progressive Assemblywoman from Manhattan, in the race to represent the heavily Jewish district that includes Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Borough Park and Park Slope. 

But he withdrew his support after Niou ​​said in an interview that she supports BDS, which aims to use economic pressure to force Israel to end the occupation of the West Bank. The movement’s founders have stated they want to abolish Israel as a Jewish state. “I will not support a candidate that fails to recognize our democratic ally’s right to exist,” Cunningham said in a July 11 statement. Niou defended her stance at a candidate forum co-hosted by the Forward last week.

Goldman, a former prosecutor and heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. fortune, denounced the BDS movement, calling it “anti-Zionist and antisemitic.” 

Cunningham didn’t mention Israel in his endorsement of Goldman.

On Thursday, the Goldman campaign released an internal poll of 500 likely voters that showed  him garnering the support of 18% of registered voters ahead of the Aug. 23 primary. Niou and Carlina Rivera, a city councilmember, were behind with 16% and 14% respectively. Conducted by Poll Impact Research from July 22-26 via landline and texts, the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

Goldman’s lead is larger — 22% — among the most committed voters, those who have voted in at least three of the recent primary elections. 

The results match another internal poll that showed Goldman leading the pack of 14 candidates. A poll by the Working Families Party, which is backing Niou, had Goldman in the third place spot.

Goldman said in a statement that he’s proud to have Cunningham as a partner in the fight “to tackle the moment’s most pressing issues” and deliver for their communities. 

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.