Behind Turner’s Win: Jewish Voters Opposed to Gay Marriage

By Alison Fox, Pervaiz Shallwani and Aaron Rutkoff
WSJ
September 14, 2011

Many Jewish voters turned out to support Bob Turner in Tuesday’s election, bucking the historical pattern in their Democratic-leaning neighborhoods and helping seal an upset victory for the Republican congressional candidate.

Voters interviewed Wednesday pointed to their opposition to same-sex marriage and Turner’s pro-Israel politics as factors that swayed them to pick a Republican. It was the first time in nearly a century that the GOP has won the Ninth Congressional District, which includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens. the rest

Tzirel Zlotnick, a teacher and self-described Orthodox Jew and Republican voter in Kew Gardens, Queens, said she didn’t think much of former Rep. Anthony Weiner, the Democratic lawmaker who resigned from the seat following a scandal over sexually charged online messages. But she would have voted for Weprin, who also identifies as an Orthodox Jew, if not for same-sex marriage.

“How can he call himself an Orthodox Jew and vote for gay marriage?” Zlotnick said. “If not for that, I probably would have voted for him.”

Obama’s Israel policy seen as factor that cost him NY House seat