Jewish Members of the 116th Congress
(2019 - 2021)
Although Jews make up 2 percent of the U.S. population, nearly 7 percent of the new Congress is Jewish, with 37 Jews among the total of 535 lawmakers. In the Senate, the 9 Jewish members comprise 9 percent of that body; 28 Jews comprise 5 percent of the House. The record was the 1993 Congress, which included 51 Jews — nearly 10 percent of the total.
All of the Jews in the Senate are Democrats, as are all but two in the House. The Republican exceptions are Reps. Lee Zeldin and David Kustoff, from New York and Tennessee, respectively. They are the only non-Christian Republicans in Congress, according to a report by Pew.
Senate
(8 Democrats, 1 Independent) Michael Bennet (D-CO)# |
House
(26 Democrats, 2 Republicans) Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR)## |
* New member
# Bennet’s mother was Jewish but he does not affiliate with any religion.
## Bonamici was raised Episcopalian and Unitarian, but now practices Judaism with her Jewish husband, Michael Simon.
Sources: “Faith on the Hill,” Pew Research Center, (January 3, 2019);
“List of Jewish members of the United States Congress,” Wikipedia.