Jewish Candidates Scrap in Georgia House Race

[Editor’s note: The is one in a series of articles about Jewish candidates for federal and state offices in advance of the May 19 primary.]

The Democratic Party race in House District 51 has grown steadily more contentious as the May 19 primary approaches.

The incumbent in the north Fulton County district is two-term Rep. Esther Panitch, at present the only Jewish member of the Georgia General Assembly.

The challenger is Aaron Baker, also Jewish and who identifies as a lesbian, transgender woman, and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

The winner will face Republican Keith Gettman, whom Panitch defeated in the 2024 election, winning 58.1 percent of the votes cast.

According to the latest available campaign finance reports, Panitch had raised nearly $105,000 this campaign cycle and Baker nearly $31,000.

This pot of political stew, now at a boiling roll, has been spiced by denunciations and barbed comments.

Accusations and Explanations

Panitch spelled out her disdain for Democratic Socialists in an early April interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, saying: “They are no different than what the Tea Party did to the Republicans, and now we have MAGA. So, if we’re following the same pattern, and it looks like they are, they are our Tea Party. We’re going to have MAGA on the left.”

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) support for the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement seeks to use economic pressure to force changes in Israeli policy.

A DSA survey asked candidates: “Do you support the BDS movement to end U.S. support for Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people and pressure Israel to comply with international law?”

Panitch said that Baker’s agreement to the statement would be “the most relevant” issue to the Jewish community.

Baker told the AJT: “My focus regarding Israel and the Palestinians is on protecting civilians.”

“I believe human rights and international law should be applied consistently, especially when considering how the United States uses its influence abroad,” Baker said, calling economic pressure “one non-violent tool that can be used to hold governments accountable when those standards aren’t met.”

“From a U.S. policy perspective, I view BDS and related approaches less as cutting off support and more as rethinking how that support is structured. The United States can maintain Israel’s security while ensuring that taxpayer-funded assistance is used in ways that align with human rights and international law,” she said.

A flashpoint in the campaign came on April 25, when Baker launched a website named for Panitch that labeled her a “DINO” (Democrat in name only) and declared that “Esther endorses Republicans, acts like a Republican, and raises Republican money” and that “She has publicly broken with Democrats when it mattered.”

The website cited Panitch’s endorsement of Republican Rusty Paul for re-election as mayor of Sandy Springs and her rebuke of U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is Jewish, for his support of resolutions to block U.S. sale of particular weapons to Israel, which she called “a different level of betrayal.”

Panitch responded angrily to the website highlighting campaign contributions she has received from five Jewish individuals (some of whom also have donated to Republicans), in particular blasting Baker for posting photographs of the five.

Panitch posted on Facebook: “Out of around 1,000 donors over four years, Aaron chose five to put on a public list. Every single one is Jewish. That was not an accident.”

The five, also named by Panitch, were:

Seth Greenberg: CEO of ECI US Holdings, LLC, vice chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta board of trustees, and a member of the Jewish Agency for Israel board of governors.

David Zalik: entrepreneur and philanthropist; co-founder of the The Zalik Foundation and chair of the Georgia Solidarity Network, a self-described “bi-partisan political action committee . . . that supports pro-Israel and pro-Jewish elected officials and legislation in Georgia and advocates for causes good for Georgia and the Jewish Community.”

Emanuel Fialkow: a member of the Georgia Holocaust Commission and director of the Fialkow Family Foundation, whose grant recipients include institutions in the Jewish community.

Stacey Hydrick: a former DeKalb County superior court judge, now director of the Antisemitism Response Network of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.

Howard Wolfson: a Democratic political strategist and counselor to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and a critic of Zoran Mandami, the Democratic Socialist elected mayor of New York City.

The website also highlighted General Dynamics, a major U.S. defense contractor, as a contributor to Panitch.

“Aaron calls herself a proud Jew. No Jew compiles lists of other Jews. Ever. We have seen before what happens when someone else compiles lists of Jews for political purposes,” Panitch posted on Facebook. “I know what a target feels like. I have been one. A neo-Nazi sent me death threats while I was passing Georgia’s antisemitism law. He’s serving the maximum five-year sentence. Aaron, take this down.”

The photographs of the five were removed from website, but the text remained.

On her Panitch website, Baker said: “This criticism is not a dismissal of the real threat of antisemitism. The Jewish community is under serious threat, antisemitism is rising, and Esther Panitch herself has been a target of antisemitism and threats of violence. Everyone should have the freedom to practice their religion openly and safely, without intimidation, harassment, or violence.”

Campaign finance reports, including contributions, are available on websites maintained by the state and other organizations. According to the most recent reports available online, Panitch had raised more than $104,000 in the current election cycle and Baker close to $31,000.

In a statement to the AJT, Baker said: “Examining contributions that a politician chooses to accept is a common practice, and in this case a very significant majority of Rep. Panitch’s donors happen to be Jewish, especially the larger donors that are disclosed in the campaign’s reports. We have chosen to highlight a few donors based on their high profile political and business activities in the community.”

One of those donors, Wolfson, sent the AJT a letter.

“I must confess to a fair bit of surprise at seeing myself become an issue in a Georgia State House primary. As a New Yorker, I can’t say that I was following this particular race. But there I was, being attacked for a contribution I made to Esther Panitch two years ago,” Wolfson wrote. “It seems that despite a lifetime of working to elect Democrats to office, including Georgia Democrats like Stacey Abrams and Lucy McBath, my money has become suspect — at least according to Aaron Baker.”

Wolfson said that he’s never met Panitch and made the donation after the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks in Israel. “Since those attacks we have seen a widespread and concerted effort to narrow the space for Jewish Americans to participate in our civic life. Whether physical assaults on synagogues and Jewish day schools or verbal attacks on college campuses, antisemitism has exploded in the United States. It’s a scary time. But I choose not to be intimidated, and I hope you won’t either. In the face of attacks designed to dissuade me from participating as a Democrat in our democracy, I am doubling down and making another contribution to Esther Panitch. I can’t vote for her. But I can sure as heck try to make sure she has the help she needs to stand up for what’s right.”

Panitch Touts Legislative Record

Panitch, is 54 years old, a family law and criminal defense attorney by profession, a member of Congregation B’nai Torah, a third-generation member of Hadassah, and co-chair of the legislature’s Georgia-Israel Caucus. She has found opportunities to acquaint colleagues with Judaism, including through an annual legislative Shabbat held at local congregations, and the recent Sine Die Seder on the last day of the General Assembly session.

In two terms, Panitch has received a degree of media attention — not limited to Jewish outlets — unusual for a state legislator, largely through her efforts at combatting antisemitism.

In 2023, Panitch (with Republican Rep. John Carson as chief sponsor) steered legislation that added to the state code a reference to the antisemitism definition adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The IHRA definition is controversial because of its accompanying examples, which critics say equate opposing Israel with antisemitism and could be used to stifle anti-Israel speech.

Panitch pointed with pride to three legislative achievements in the 2026 General Assembly session. Topping the list was the Family Justice Center Act, a bill that she authored, which creates centers statewide to assist survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, and human trafficking. The measure sailed through committee and floor votes in the state House and Senate without a negative vote, and (at this writing) awaits Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature.

She also was a leading backer of a bill, sent to the governor, that adds statewide civil rights coordinators to address discrimination and protect students, including from antisemitism, though that was not specified in the legislation.

Panitch gained additional publicity as co-author of the Foreign Funding Transparency Act, which requires the state’s public schools and universities to disclose foreign funding, and awaits Kemp’s signature. When she publicly questioned the level of Qatar’s funding in Georgia, Hamad AlMuftah, the deputy chief of mission at the Qatari embassy to the United States, criticized her personally, posting Jan. 29 on X (formerly Twitter): “Again ur spreading disinformation and trying to carter frictions as peole like you always do  Facts matter” [sic]

Two days later, AlMuftah posted: “I want to clarify that I never intended to offend the Jewish community, and I have great respect for Jewish people . . . As I mentioned earlier, as an elected official and representative of the public, I urge you to be careful in how you interpret others’ posts. I also hold you in high regard, Rep. Panitch, and I appreciate our constructive dialogue.”

Baker Looking to Make History

Were she to defeat Panitch and then Gettman, Baker, a first-time candidate for political office, could become the first openly transgender member of the General Assembly.

Beyond her gender identity and political affiliations, Baker pointed out that she is a Jewish parent, a digital activist, and a software architect for Coca-Cola. “I’m not shying away from my identities. I embrace all of them,” she told the AJT.

Baker, 46, grew up in the 51st District, attending Woodland Elementary, not far from where she lives today. She and her wife, Rev. Andi Woodworth, a pastor at Neighborhood Church, a United Methodist congregation in the Candler Park neighborhood, parent a blended household of five children.

“The policies that I’m fighting for, they’re not extreme,” Baker said, ticking off a list that included affordable housing, health care access, fully-funded public education, bodily autonomy, and ensuring that Georgians have a living wage.

As for being a Democratic Socialist, Baker said, “What you find in America is that a lot of our most popular programs are also socialism,” citing as examples public planning and spending on parks, libraries, schools and roads. “They’re all socialism. Socialism is not a dirty word. That’s actually how our country runs.”

Baker’s digital activism includes websites that she created, one to provide information about legislation and another to track money in Georgia politics. “I want to make sure we are working towards getting money out of politics,” she said. “We fix government by getting money out of politics and pulling people in.”

Baker, who became a Brit Mitzvah at Temple Sinai, expressed concerns common in the Jewish community about antisemitism and security. “During times of intense division, threats, and fears, Jewish people often are the very first to experience discrimination and prejudice,” she said.

“I really feel like my campaign is rooted in Jewish values. They are the core of what I believe in,” Baker said, citing Tikkun Olam, what she called “the ongoing work of fixing what’s broke in our society,” Tzedakah (charity rooted in justice and righteousness), “and that loving your neighborhood and loving the stranger are really important.”

As if summing up at the end of a debate, Baker called herself a “transformative next generation candidate,” adding without hesitation, “I think I would be excellent at this job.”

For her part, Panitch said: “Voters in District 51 deserve someone who not only shares their values but knows how to translate those values into action, and that’s exactly what I’ve done and will continue to do.”