Jewish Insider: Meet the Jewish Florida senator poised for statewide office

By Matthew Kassel

Still, Florida as a whole is more welcoming than ever to statewide Jewish candidates, according to Ron Klein, a former Florida congressman who chairs the Jewish Democratic Council of America. When Klein moved to Florida 30 years ago, he said, “to be Jewish and statewide, it was almost viewed as ‘don’t think about it,’ because North Florida is just very conservative, very southern. There was a lot of antisemitism.” Things are different now, however, he said. “I would say today that’s not an issue anymore.”