Democratic Congressman Ted Deutch To Step Down, Head American Jewish Committee
Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Florida) announced Monday that he would resign from Congress in October to become the new CEO of the American Jewish Committee (AJC). Deutch has been in Congress since 2010 and represents Florida’s 22nd District, which includes Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, part of Pompano Beach, and Coral Springs. He serves on the House Foreign Affairs, Judiciary, and Ethics committees, and is a founding co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism.
His appointment to succeed David Harris, the outgoing CEO of the AJC, is a return to the Jewish organizational world after 12 years in electoral politics. Before running for Congress, Deutch served as a lay leader in the Jewish Federations of Cleveland and South Palm Beach County and was a member of the National New Leadership Network of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and United Jewish Appeal’s National Young Leadership Cabinet.
In a statement on his congressional website, Deutch referred to his role in “critical foreign policy work in the Middle East” at a time when “Iran continues its illicit quest for nuclear weapons and support for terror groups worldwide” as well as “a new era of cooperation in the Middle East that brings transformative new opportunities.” This work, he said, was “a natural continuation of my deep ties to the American Jewish community and my long-standing advocacy on behalf of the US-Israel relationship.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement that Deutch was “a personal friend” and “a fantastic choice” to be the AJC’s new CEO. Yad Vashem Chairman Danny Dayan tweeted that Deutch was “one of those very few” people qualified to succeed Harris, whom he described as “a real giant of Jewish leadership.”
Deutch won re-election in 2020 with a 58% majority over the Republican challenger. His planned resignation leaves the race in November wide open, and several people from both major parties have declared their intention to run or are considered likely candidates for the party primaries, to be held on August 23.
