SANDY SPRINGS — Democrat Susie Greenberg noticed the mezuzah, a parchment containing scrolls of Hebrew prayers, affixed to the doorpost on Catherine and Brad Cohen’s home as she asked for their vote in November.
“Having a Jewish voice in the state Legislature is so important at this moment,” said Greenberg, who is Jewish.
Greenberg and incumbent state Rep. Deborah Silcox, a Republican, are locked in a battle for House District 53, one of the most competitive legislative seats in Georgia. Abortion, the economy, gun violence prevention and public safety are high-priority issues for these voters.
But the district spans an affluent area of Buckhead, Sandy Springs and Roswell and contains a large Jewish population, so support for Israel is also top of mind — even though state lawmakers have little impact on U.S. foreign policy.
Greenberg and Silcox are positioning themselves as allies to Israel and the Jewish community one year after Hamas killed about 1,200 Israeli civilians to set off a war that has left about 40,000 Palestinians dead.
“I grew up around a lot of Jewish people, and I have a great respect for their beliefs,” Silcox said. “I am a very strong supporter of Israel, and I really think that (antisemitism) has got to come to an end. We cannot have this in our state.”
About 104,000 Jewish people live in Georgia, according to a count from the American Jewish Population Project, and the majority live in metro Atlanta, particularly in Roswell and Sandy Springs. Across the state, Jewish voters lean Democratic, Brandeis University research found, but tend to be less liberal than Jews nationwide.
Silcox co-sponsored House Bill 30, which defined antisemitism and added additional penalties for crimes motivated by anti-Jewish bias. She took out a full-page advertisement in the Sept. 30 edition of the Atlanta Jewish Times to promote her support. The bill was signed into law in January.
Greenberg served as the legislative advocacy coordinator for the Jewish Democratic Women’s Salon and is a board member of the National Council of Jewish Women, Atlanta Section.
“I’m certainly grateful for (Silcox’s) friendship to the Jewish people,” she said.
But, as her voice cracked, Greenberg said, “my family’s names are on the scrolls at Auschwitz. It’s not the same.”
North Atlanta battlegrounds
As Democrats try to shrink the Republican majority in the General Assembly, top Republican leaders, eager to maintain a hold in the Georgia Capitol, have stepped in to provide additional support for Silcox and other Republican candidates in these hotly contested districts.
“This district is really the most flippable in Georgia,” Greenberg told the Cohens, adding that voters have chosen candidates for president and statewide offices from both political parties.
Silcox lost her race in 2020 by 377 votes to Democratic state Rep. Shea Roberts but took back her seat in 2022 with a 1,496-vote margin against a first-time candidate following a Republican-controlled redistricting that moved the district lines into wealthier neighborhoods.
According to the most recent round of campaign disclosures, Greenberg has raised more than $636,000 while Silcox has received about $352,000 in contributions. That’s not counting the money spent on their behalf.
Georgia’s Future, a PAC led by Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns, is sending postcards to voters featuring former Attorney General Sam Olens, a Republican who is Jewish, in support of Silcox. Another advertisement from the PAC tells voters to “thank Georgia House conservatives for standing with the Jewish community to combat antisemitism.”
The district includes the Governor’s Mansion on West Paces Ferry Road. In addition to fundraising, Gov. Brian Kemp is holding a “get out the vote” breakfast for Silcox at the end of the month.
While Greenberg has echoed many of Vice President Kamala Harris’ policies on the campaign trail, Silcox has kept her distance from the top of her party’s ticket.
“I am a Kemp Republican,” she said. “I’m a conservative, but I am not a fan of President Trump.”
Moderating on guns?
Greenberg’s eldest son was the victim of an armed robbery in 2015. He was fine, but the experience left Greenberg rattled, leading to her to get involved in gun control groups like Moms Demand Action.
“I got really involved in that grassroots effort,” she said. “How can we change gun laws here in Georgia? Where do we start?”
Greenberg, who stood with a group of House Democrats in September after the deadly shooting at Apalachee High School, said one starting point is safe storage laws, which “keeps guns off the kitchen table, out of the dresser, out of children’s hands.”
Along with several other Republicans in competitive districts, Silcox co-sponsored a bill that would have provided a tax credit to gun owners who buy storage devices that keep their guns locked up. But that bill died in the Senate.
In a Sept. 12 statement after the school shooting, Silcox said she would be an “independent voice in Georgia’s State House, working across traditional party lines to pass common sense gun safety legislation that saves lives.”
Greenberg also wants to repeal Georgia’s restrictive abortion law, which bans abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected, typically about six weeks after conception and before many women even know they are pregnant.
“I feel that Georgia is moving backward, and it’s time to stand up and restore women’s rights,” she said.
Silcox was one of the few Republicans to vote against that bill in 2019. She did not respond to multiple requests for additional comment.
Both women are scheduled to participate in a candidate forum hosted by the Atlanta Jewish Community Relations Council on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. at Dunwoody City Hall.
