Pull Up to the Kids Table
A new local PAC has something to say.
It’s election season again in Seattle, with races for the mayor, city attorney, King County executive, two Seattle school board seats, and three Seattle City Council seats on the August 5th primary ballot.
While voters in recent years have wrenched politics back toward the center, especially after the disastrous CHOP/CHAZ episode, Seattle still tilts left and serves as a comfortable base for prospective leaders whose positions would be considered radical in other parts of the country.
The Kids Table, a new Washington state political action committee started by four Jewish millennials in Seattle, aims to “oppose extremism and illiberalism” — starting with candidates who espouse ideologies that threaten the mainstream Jewish community.
“It really stems from a need to address the fact that there is no political price to be paid for anti-Semitism here in Washington state,” says Sam Jefferies, who leads the PAC. “You can have the best arguments, research, education, and relationships in the world, but if you’re not able to add that political accountability, you’re handcuffed in your ability to affect outcomes.”
Jefferies is frustrated by ineffective attempts to fight anti-Jewish sentiment and unpunished attacks on leaders who stand up for the community, like Adam Smith (D-9), whose home was vandalized by anti-Israel activists in December of 2023.
“If you watch these protesters never be prosecuted, if you drive by graffiti that is Jew-hatred vandalism, if you allow anti-Semitism to fester in public schools, you are also part of the problem,” he says.
Jefferies, a former board president of the local AJC, is joined by Alexa Halling, Aviad Benzikry, and Arielle Sulkin. All four are young professionals who are tired of being called “young professionals.”
Jefferies and Halling were friends with Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, the couple murdered at an AJC event in Washington, DC, in May by a gunman angry about Israeli politics.
“Sarah was already doing the work,” Halling says. “She was traveling to Muslim countries to build relationships. To disqualify her contributions by referring to her as a ‘young’ or ‘emerging’ leader is disrespectful. We’re doing so much, and we’re tapped on the head and told, ‘good boy’ or ‘good girl.’”
Halling came up with the name “The Kids Table.”
“She had heard me kvetch about being relegated to the kids’ table time and time again,” Jefferies says. “I wanted to be at the heart of effective Jewish advocacy, and I get sent to look for the afikomen. There is a need for a new group of Jewish leaders to recognize that change is essential.”
The Kids Table model is different from the other newly launched local PAC, Washingtonians for a Brighter Future. The Kids Table caps donations at $1,200 per individual and $2,400 per couple per year and encourages younger donors who are too busy and stretched thin with work and kids to get involved on a level they can handle.
“We truly believe that it invites people into the conversation who may be priced out of politics,” Jefferies says. “It gives people in our age demographic, who don’t have the time or disposable income, some agency.”
According to public filing records, The Kids Table has received just over $40,000. It has only spent money on mailers for one campaign so far, Seattle school board candidate Vivian Song.
“The Seattle school board has been a challenging place to do advocacy in recent years,” Jefferies say. “The positions are overlooked, and they have a big impact.”
According to Stop Hate in Schools, dozens of cases of anti-Jewish harassment have occurred in Seattle Public Schools since October 7th, from swastika graffiti to bullying that has led to students switching schools.
What Is so Hard About Keeping Jewish Students Safe?
A new lawsuit claims that administrators at a Seattle high school failed to keep a Jewish student safe from threats of violence and that they discriminated against her by allowing students to harass her to the point where she had to hide from an angry mob in a locked classroom.
Referring to the post-October 7th encampment, vandalism, and reported anti-Jewish sentiment at the University of Washington, “those were yesterday’s middle school students,” Jefferies says. “If we cannot invest and improve the situation, then the campus situations, the workplace situations, the elected offices will continue to get worse for Jews.”
However, their support for Song doesn’t just focus on Jewish concerns. In their latest newsletter, The Kids Table leads with a more universal message: declining enrollment, tanking test scores, a funding shortfall, and leadership instability.
The PAC model is one that could be useful for other cities, where Jewish leaders are discovering that their education and advocacy work is not making enough of an impact on policy and accountability. Jefferies says he has already been contacted by a New York mayor who reached out for tips.
Beyond supporting Song, the Kids Table is in the process of identifying which races to invest in. They start with a candidate questionnaire.
“Part of that is to get an apples-to-apples comparison,” Halling says. “How will they keep us safe? Who responds in the first place? Who will respond a little? Who will be thoughtful? Who will use their elected office to help?”
Rather than making official endorsements, they consider their donations endorsements. Their monthly newsletter intends to give the PAC a media and educational angle.
“I think people have never heard of anything like this before,” Jefferies says. “It flattens the giving level to invite new people to sit at the table.”
Cover photo by Element5 Digital/Unsplash.
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