Leora Levy
Leora Levy (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Connecticut. She lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Levy was elected in 2016 to a four-year term as the national committeewoman of the Republican Party of Connecticut. She replaced Pat Longo as Connecticut's Republican national committeewoman following the 2016 Republican National Convention.[1]
Biography
Leora Levy was born in Havana, Cuba, and lives in Greenwich, Connecticut. Levy earned a bachelor's degree from Brown University in 1978. Her career experience includes working as the finance chair of the Connecticut gubernatorial campaigns of Tom Foley and Bob Stefanowski, the finance chair of the Connecticut Republican Party, the director of Soldier Strong, and a trader with Phibro Salomon.[2]
Elections
2022
See also: United States Senate election in Connecticut, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. Senate Connecticut
Incumbent Richard Blumenthal defeated Leora Levy, John Anderson, and Shabadjot Bharara in the general election for U.S. Senate Connecticut on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Richard Blumenthal (D / Working Families Party) | 57.5 | 723,864 |
 | Leora Levy (R) | 42.5 | 535,943 | |
 | John Anderson (Independent) (Write-in)  | 0.0 | 68 | |
| Shabadjot Bharara (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 12 | ||
| Total votes: 1,259,887 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Andrew Hyduchak (Independent)
- Kristi Talmadge (Independent)
- John Flynn (Independent Party)
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Richard Blumenthal advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Connecticut.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Connecticut
Leora Levy defeated Themis Klarides and Peter Lumaj in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Connecticut on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Leora Levy | 50.6 | 46,943 |
 | Themis Klarides | 40.0 | 37,072 | |
 | Peter Lumaj | 9.4 | 8,703 | |
| Total votes: 92,718 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Robert Hyde (R)
- Nicholas Connors (R)
- John Flynn (R)
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Leora Levy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Levy's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
ISRAEL & THE MIDDLE EAST My name, Leora, means “My Light” in Hebrew. My mother and grandparents escaped Lithuania and the Holocaust in 1940, were turned away at Ellis Island but found safety in Cuba. I escaped from Castro’s Communist Cuba with my family to find safety and opportunity in America, this land of freedom. As a result of my family’s experience, I am keenly aware of how easily one can lose everything to a heartless governing power. I wake up every morning thanking God that I am an American citizen living in the United States of America. Many of us grew up being taught the Biblical miracles. As an adult, I have come to realize that miracles do happen. America’s founding, so unlikely, which hung by a thread many times between 1775 and 1778, was not just the triumph of enlightened government over tyranny, but a miracle. As a Zionist Jew, I can say that I, too, am witness to a miracle: the State of Israel has been reborn, allowing millions of Jews to return to their homeland after millennia. This alone would have been enough however not only is Israel a pluralistic, tolerant democracy, but it is the “Startup Nation” which creates products and services through innovation and invention. It is also a security and intelligence powerhouse, working to protect peace in collaboration with the United States and other allies around the world. Not only does Israel defend itself, but Jews everywhere. Israel also produces groundbreaking medicine, therapies, and medical devices that save lives and offer better quality of life for all. Israel is now an energy exporter and a leader in green technologies. Its academies rank among the best in the Western World. Truly, Israel has taken its place among the Nations as a contributor to the betterment of Humanity. America and Israel: Natural Friends, Natural Partners The United States and Israel share Judeo-Christian values. From the arrival of the earliest Pilgrims, Americans have accepted that Israel is the Jewish homeland. Polls show that support for Israel among the American People continues to increase. Israelis appreciate U.S. support since the days when President Harry Truman recognized the State of Israel. Most recently, Israelis are grateful for President Donald Trump’s recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli sovereign territory, recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the opening of the U.S. Embassy there (which I was honored to attend as part of the US Delegation), and for brokering the Abraham Accords. Security assistance to Israel has economic and military benefits for Americans. U.S. assistance requires most of the funds to be spent on U.S. hardware, which, in turn, creates American jobs. Israel’s military technology is used by, shared with, and often developed jointly with America. It has been a fruitful, enlightening and security reinforcing relationship for both parties. Americans directly benefit from Israel’s strength. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) is the most powerful military in the Middle East. It would take more than a U.S. Naval carrier group to begin to duplicate Israel’s capabilities.
Israel’s Neighborhood Friends – Abraham Accords This breakthrough agreement has allowed the public blossoming of economic and military cooperation between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Parties to the Accords share an urgent security interest in defending against Iranian intimidation, terror, and the threat of nuclear weapons. But the Accords have gone further. Truly warm relations are developing. Cultural ties are forming.
Cyprus and Greece – Energy Gateway to Europe Israel has had a long relationship with both countries in commerce, tourism, and intelligence cooperation. Importantly, now that Israel is an energy exporter, there is a tripartite agreement between Israel, Cyprus, and Greece to build a pipeline from Israel to Europe and a proposal to run an electrical transmission cable as well. Foolishly, the Biden Administration has joined Turkey in announcing its opposition to the pipeline.
Enemies – Iran, It’s Proxies, Qatar, Turkey Iran For 42 years, the mullahs have beaten, raped, tortured, hung, shot, starved, and impoverished their citizens. They have polluted the environment, wasted natural resources, squandered the water supply, and wrecked their economy, all while stealing billions of dollars for their own accounts. Importantly, Iranians hate their rulers, are pro-American, and some are turning away from Islam. The United States must support the anti-Iran coalition of Israel, the Sunni Arab States, and several European allies. Further, we must support the Iranian people in their effort to overthrow the Islamic Regime. Disgracefully, Senator Blumenthal supports Obama’s “Iran Deal” that gave Iran $150 billion. Those funds were used to support the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Hezbollah and HAMAS. They helped fund HAMAS’ war against Israel last May of 2021. Recently, the Biden Administration released $29 billion to Iran as a “good will” gesture without getting something in return. Under President Biden’s new “Deal”, 3 years from now, Iran will have nuclear weapons with intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching America. Further, the Biden Administration agreed in writing to guarantee Russian access to Iranian oil exports even as it imposed sanctions on Russian oil. Russia is to be allowed to operate a $10 billion nuclear facility as part of an agreement that is supposed to prevent a nuclear Iran, yet the Biden Administration does not see the irony. I urge Senator Blumenthal to see Iran’s threat to the world for what it is, reject the new “Deal” on which President Biden is working, publicly urge him not to proceed and urge the President to work to end the Iranian threat.
Iran’s Proxies – Hezbollah and HAMAS These monstrous kleptocratic terror organizations, one in Lebanon and Syria, the other in the Gaza Strip, have (similar to Iran’s government) oppressed and degraded their own populations and territories. Teheran has given them financial, logistical and manpower aid for years, especially funds from the Iran Deal which Senator Blumenthal supports. Hezbollah alone has over 75,000 missiles, 2,000 UAV’s and 145,000 mortars pointed at Israel. They have benefited from the windfall resulting from Obama’s Iran Deal and will once again greatly benefit from the Biden Administration’s new “Deal” about to be made. It has been revealed that part of Biden’s Iran Deal will be taking the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps off the State Department list of Terror organizations.
Qatar Qatar plays a double game. While it does not act as a terrorist state per se, it is Iran’s financier. It has used soft influence throughout the Middle East, Europe and North America to buy friends and influence. Qatar is a clear and present danger to the national security interests of the U. S. in the Middle East, though it feigns to an ally and friend. Qatar has paid blood money to the likes of Hezbollah, HAMAS and ISIS to further its policy goals in Iraq, Syria and Gaza. It enjoys a warm, supportive relationship with the Taliban, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Russia, and China – all countries that seek to undermine Western liberal democracies. It worked to bring the Taliban back to power while convincing the Biden administration to declare the al-Thani government a “non-NATO major ally”. Never mind that Doha hosts and sponsors State Department designated terror organizations responsible for maiming and murdering Americans. Qatar and it’s ruling establishment are also the subject of Justice Department corruption investigations and subsequent indictments for corruption, bribery, unfair trade practices, the manipulation of international sporting competition, and bid rigging for the World Cup.
Turkey Erdogan’s brutal dictatorial rule has turned Turkey, away from the West. The Erdogan regime supports HAMAS and other terrorist groups. Its purchase of the Russian S400 Missile Defense System caused the U.S. to stop delivery of F35’s as the presence of Russian operators jeopardizes the NATO defense system. Turkey cannot be a Treaty member while integrating its defense with Russia. Israel’s relationship with the Erdogan regime has been challenging since Erdogan came to power. There is a chance, given a fair national election in 2023, that Erdogan might lose to a less Islamist, more pro-western administration.
The Palestinian Arabs When asked would they rather live under HAMAS, the Palestinian Authority or Israel, Palestinian Arabs prefer Israel, and for many obvious reasons from personal freedoms and security to economic prosperity. This ultimate compliment to Israel points to the need to convince Palestinian Arabs to recognize that their conflict with Israel will not succeed and needs to come to an end.
Antisemitism I personally experienced constant anti-Semitism growing up in the South. I am keenly aware of how destructive and dangerous it is for our country and for young Jews. The American Academy Polling shows that 50% of Jewish American college and university students have experienced antisemitism on campus in just the past year. The source is not just students or off-campus agitators but from teachers as well. There are many teachers who support BDS and the number is growing. In fact, the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) just endorsed BDS. This quiet crisis needs to be addressed.
Violence Jewish Americans are being attacked, even killed just for being Jews on the streets of America. Whether it be in a Connecticut synagogue or on a Brooklyn Street, hate crimes have skyrocketed with antisemitic crimes horrifyingly accounting for most of the increase. Such attacks are personal for me. My sister knows the Rabbi at the Poway synagogue. She and my parents live near the Tree of Life – Or L’Simcha Synagogue in Pittsburgh where they know the Rabbi as well.
Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) BDS is purely antisemitic. As Martin Luther King, Jr. put it, “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism!” BDS supporters act out of mendacity or to be generous, ignorance. Its leaders are not ignorant, however. A quick look at these leaders’ resumes, their affiliations and their sources of funds reveals connections with HAMAS, the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran, Qatar and the like. Much work has been done to discredit and banish it, but the job is not finished.
The United Nations Founded in 1945 with the best of intentions, the UN’s operations, mission, and integrity deteriorated as more of the world’s dictatorships joined. To be sure, some of its activities are valuable today, but it has failed to stop wars, its stated purpose. Worse, it has become the largest anti-Semitic organization of all, obsessed with harming Israel even as it continues to ignore the plight of the Uyghurs under the Chinese Communists. Today, as I write, Russia has invaded Ukraine, yet the Security Council is debating Israel. Further, the UN recently established a new tribunal exclusively to investigate Israel and only Israel. To say that the UN needs major reforms is an understatement.
American Policy in the Middle East – the Big Picture There will be no peace for America if it does not remain overwhelmingly strong in front of its adversaries: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela. The weakness and lack of will that America has shown this past year is provocative. Russia began to move its invasion forces to the Ukrainian border at the biggening of the Biden Administration. Not wanting to “provoke” Russia, the Biden Administration halted all military aid to Ukraine, which was scheduled for delivery by the Trump Administration. The retreat from Afghanistan was shocking both in its ineptitude and geopolitical ignorance. Our adversaries watch, take notes and plan their next moves based on our actions. The Biden Administration has been displaying a combination of weakness, strategic misunderstanding, and a stunning lack of focus on what deters adversaries. Those who oppose the free world order must know that America has the will, not just the might, to resist their plans. If they had known this past year, Putin’s Russia would likely have calculated against invading Ukraine. While rhetoric from the White House toward Israel seems friendly, the Biden Administration’s actions in establishing a “Palestinian Consulate” in Israel and their attempts to reopen the one Washington are offensive. The newly minted U.S Ambassador Nides was stunningly undiplomatic and insulting when discussing Israeli policies in March 2022. America’s Sunni Arab friends, not to mention Israel, are terrified of a new ”Iran Deal”. They are furious about the removal of the Houthis from the State Department’s list of terror organizations even as they attack Saudi Arabia with Iranian missiles and drones. Now, as their oil fields are under constant attack by the Iran backed Houthis, the Saudis reasonably doubt their U.S. ally will help them at all. As a result, the Gulf leaders refused to even talk with President Biden in March, 2022 when he called to get their support on the invasion of Ukrainian. Accordingly, our Middle Eastern Allies are beginning to hedge their bets by expanding ties with Russia and China. America’s Middle Eastern partners have rationally concluded that they need to diversify their foreign-policy options, given Washington’s reluctance to uphold its defense commitments. Should the new “Iran Deal” be consummated, we can expect a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and the loss of the Sunni States as allies, at the least; eventual war between Shia Iran and a Sunni-Israeli alliance, and an emboldened Iran able to threaten the American homeland with a nuclear attack, at the worst.
As a mother, as someone who experienced flight from a country lost to a takeover by anti-democracy barbarians, as a lover of freedom and justice, my heart breaks for the innocent civilians being murdered by Vladimir Putin. Recent reports from Ukraine show Putin’s forces using diabolical weapons to attack civilians including bombing a maternity hospital, a children’s cancer hospital, and a theater where women and children were seeking shelter. I escaped Cuba with my family in 1960, when we landed in Florida with nothing but the clothes on our backs. Now, millions of Ukrainians are on that journey and President Joe Biden has failed them and failed to lead during an international crisis. The free world turns to the United States for leadership, and instead, they witnessed a vacillating president unable to respond with immediate and swift actions. After the indecisive delay in sending weapons to Ukraine, despite the incessant warnings and announcements of the impending Russian invasion of Ukraine, Biden’s refusal to end and fully ban the importation of Russian oil until March 8 (two weeks after Putin invaded Ukraine on February 22) and seize all Russian tankers in U.S. territorial waters while simultaneously opening the spigots of American oil and gas is immoral and cruel. It is immoral and cruel to enrich Russia, enabling it to continue its ruthless unjustified invasion of Ukraine. It is immoral and cruel to Americans whose jobs he killed with the cancellation of the Keystone Pipeline, in ANWR and all drilling and exploration on public land in America. It is immoral and cruel to American consumers who now must pay inflated prices for gasoline, home heating oil, propane, electricity, food, clothing and all other necessities. While Biden’s economic destruction does not resemble what Putin has wrought in Ukraine, it is cruel nonetheless, for it is killing by a thousand cuts the American dream: the aspirations and opportunities to improve American lives and to provide for American children out of ideological zeal and indifference. Releasing oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to lower gasoline prices for a day or two is irresponsible and condescending. This reserve exists to be used in times of strategic emergencies, not to regulate prices. That’s what markets do. The foolishness of this decision speaks for itself. Make America energy independent again, make America a net-exporter of energy again and watch prices drop and Putin stall. Back to the atrocities in Ukraine. Now enabled by Biden, after the murder by the Russian invaders of children playing soccer in Mariupol, the mayor begged: “The situation is quite critical. … We are asking for help from the military and are waiting for military help. I’m sure several days we can fight, but if we receive military help we can win in this war.” More recently, the same mayor, after Russian forces bombed a hospital, said “(i)t’s genocide that was created by the Russian army with Putin.” The Ukrainians are fighting an existential battle for their freedom. I learned both at the U.S. Army War College and at the Foreign Policy Institute at the U.S. State Department that diplomacy is always the tip of the spear. However, President Ronald Reagan left us the blueprint for defeating evil powers: Peace through strength. A powerful military reinforces the efficacy of diplomacy, but when diplomacy fails to resolve a crisis, it is the military that must take the baton. It is past time for the Western democracies to provide the planes and armaments that Ukraine needs to defeat the Russian invaders. If Putin is allowed to take Ukraine in an immoral, unprovoked, genocidal invasion, our world will never be the same and tyranny will have won. We will have created a nightmare not only for the peoples of Ukraine, Taiwan, Poland and the Baltic and Balkan NATO countries, but for all freedom-loving democracies. We rely on Russians for oil and gas, we rely on China for everything from toilet paper to microchips. If we are not self-reliant, from energy to technology to medications and any other sector of the economy, then we will always be forced to choose between our values and our pocketbooks. The Biden administration cluelessly tells hurting Americans to buy an electric car if they can’t afford $4 or $5 per gallon of gas, and blames Russia for its own misguided, destructive policies. If China moves on Taiwan, what will we do? Will we destroy our own economy to stand up for our allies? A truly strong and independent country would not have to choose. Don’t delude yourself: If we, freedom-loving, powerful democracies do not have the will to stop Putin now, eventually our children and grandchildren will pay the price of our cowardice and indifference as did young Ilya on the soccer field in Mariupol.[3] |
” |
| —Leora Levy's campaign website (2022)[4] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Facebook, "Connecticut Republican Party, Congratulations RNC Committeewoman-elect Leora Levy, RNC Committeeman John H. Frey," posted May 10, 2016
- ↑ Leora Levy, "About Leora," accessed July 29, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Leora Levy, “Policies,” accessed July 26, 2022
