Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Jessica Osber Photography.
Colleen Connaughton, a Democratic candidate for New York state Assembly District 19
(JNS)—At a time when many prominent Democrats are drawing criticism for overlooking antisemitism in their ranks, Colleen Connaughton, a former Reuters television journalist who is running to represent heavily Jewish Nassau County in the New York State Assembly, told JNS that she would stand up to Jew-hatred in her party.
“I would not be afraid to say to them, ‘Your antisemitism is racist,’” she told JNS. “We have a responsibility to protect all of our communities.”
“I would protect any community if they were doing this to the Indian community or the South Asian community,” the Irish Catholic, who grew up in Queens, told JNS. “It’s not fair. It’s not American in my opinion.”
Connaughton is running against incumbent Edward Ra, a Republican, in the state Assembly’s 19th district, which includes parts of Bayside and West Hempstead with large Jewish communities.
Ra, minority leader of the state Assembly, won the district in 2024 with 64.3% of the vote, and since being elected in 2010, he has earned between 55% and 69% of the vote each cycle.
Connaughton describes herself as a moderate Democrat who supports police, opposes abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and opposes open borders. She sees capitalism as an effective way to raise living standards but told JNS that economic inequality needs to be addressed.
Her nearly 20 years as an international journalist, including visiting Israel in June 2025, have shaped her views on the Jewish state and antisemitism.
When she visited Israel with a group connected to a Columbia University global leadership program, she toured the Nova festival massacre site, met hostage families in Tel Aviv and visited a kibbutz near the Gaza border. The group also went to the Israeli border with Lebanon and met Palestinians in Bethlehem.
She wanted to understand what was happening in Israel and to hear perspectives from people on different sides of the conflict, she told JNS.
“I always say you have to go and get two sides of the story,” she said. She added that she supports Israel’s right to live in peace and security and sees the Jewish state as a U.S. ally.
An encounter at the Nova site left a particularly deep impression on her, and Connaughton was moved by accounts of young festival-goers who sought shelter from Hamas terrorists.
“That’s one of the images that really, as a parent of someone at those ages, was very moving for me and very sad,” she told JNS.
Her support for Israel does not mean that she is indifferent to Palestinian suffering, she told JNS.
“I do mourn the loss of life and devastation in Gaza, especially the children,” she said.
Connaughton criticized what she sees as a lack of support for Israel among some Democrats. Opposing Israeli policies should not mean questioning Israel’s legitimacy or its status as an American ally, she said.
“We can criticize what Israel did, but we can stand by the people of Israel,” she told JNS. “We can criticize Netanyahu, but that doesn’t mean they’re not still our ally.”
Locally, Connaughton said that she has been troubled by remarks from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is a frequent and harsh critic of Israel.
“Some of the mayor’s statements are racist, and I think, for example, his comments on Oct. 7, where he had to equalize what happened in Gaza, what happened on Oct. 7, was when it came across as a racist,” she told JNS. “He wouldn’t do that with another event.”
