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Connecticut State Rep. Who Attacked Primary Opponent for Being Jewish Faces Expulsion From Local Democratic Party
Connecticut state representative Anabel Figueroa. Photo: Screenshot
A state representative in Stamford, Connecticut may soon be ousted from the local Democratic Party for proclaiming that her primary opponent, Jonathan Jacobson, must not win office because he is Jewish, a statement that heightened concerns about the mainstreaming of antisemitic rhetoric.
“The Hispanic vote is going to determine on Aug. 13 who will win to represent or who will continue to represent you,” Figueroa said in a Spanish-language interview filmed on July 28. “We cannot permit a person who is of Jewish origin, of Jewish origin, to represent our community. It’s impossible.”
The comments were met with widespread backlash, and the Stamford Democratic City Committee (DCC) called on Figueroa to resign.
“The use of this blatant antisemitic and anti-democratic language is abhorrent, unacceptable, and contrary to our shared values as Democrats,” it wrote in a statement. “The sentiments expressed by Representative Figueroa in that video contradict the statement she issued yesterday in response to the antisemitic Facebook post shared by a DCC member, who is also one of her supporters.”
One of Figueroa’s supporters, who is also a member of the Stamford DCC, had also reportedly made antisemitic remarks about Jacobson.
Voters in the 148th District ultimately rejected Figueroa, electing Jacobson by a 25-point margin in the Democratic primary last month. However, the consequences of her campaign strategy, which offended many in the community — both Jewish and Latino — have outlasted the campaign season. On Aug. 28, the DCC voted unanimously to subject her to an “expulsion hearing,” a disciplinary process which may result in her banishment from the party. According to The Stamford Advocate, Figueroa will be afforded due process as well as an “advocate” who “will have 30 minutes” to contest the charges of misconduct in a hearing on Sept. 25.
“Anabel Figueroa has nobody to blame but herself for the situation that she created,” DCC chair Robin Druckman told the Advocate on Aug. 29. “Her words are her own and there is no missing context. Anyone can … hear and see for themselves that she not only used this abhorrent language but that she continues to do so.”
Figueroa’s apparent animosity toward Jewish politicians began earlier this year, when her political star fell after the DCC endorsed Jacobson for a state house seat for the 148th District which she had won in a special election in 2023, according to local media outlets. Outraged by being forced into a primary race, Figueroa lashed out at Jacobson and the party. In doing so, she fanned the flames of ethnic division and campaigned in part on the message that a Jewish representative would harm Latino citizens.
Later, a Figueroa surrogate and long time friend, Eva Padilla, launched more attacks in the same vein against Jacobson, casting suspicion on his ties to Israel and suggesting that he aimed to “steal” votes from Latinos.
“Her challenger is Israeli lawyer Jonathan Jacobson, a Stamford lawyer who doesn’t a damn about our wellbeing. This gentleman in my very personal opinion does not deserve to be involved in political positions where decisions are made that will benefit or harm our Latino community,” Padilla said in a message posted on Facebook. “On one occasion, he wanted to pass a law that was totally detrimental to our landscapers, obviously because the vast majority of them are Latinos … he wants our voice to end in this state.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Trump Administration to Release Over $5 Billion School Funding That It Withheld
US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and President Donald Trump, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
President Donald Trump’s administration will release more than $5 billion in previously approved funding for K-12 school programs that it froze over three weeks ago under a review, which had led to bipartisan condemnation.
“(The White House Office of Management and Budget) has completed its review … and has directed the Department to release all formula funds,” Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for communications at the U.S. Education Department, said in a statement, adding funds will be dispersed to states next week.
Further details on the review and what it found were not shared.
A senior administration official said “guardrails” would be in place for the amount being released, without giving details.
Early in July, the Trump administration said it would not release funding previously appropriated by Congress for schools and that an initial review found signs the money was misused to subsidize what it alleged was “a radical leftwing agenda.”
States say $6.8 billion in total was affected by the freeze. Last week, $1.3 billion was released.
After the freeze, a coalition of mostly Democratic-led states sued to challenge the move, and 10 Republican US senators wrote to the Republican Trump administration to reverse its decision.
The frozen money covered funding for education of migrant farm workers and their children; recruitment and training of teachers; English proficiency learning; academic enrichment and after-school and summer programs.
The Trump administration has threatened schools and colleges with withholding federal funds over issues like climate initiatives, transgender policies, pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel’s war in Gaza and diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
Republican US lawmakers welcomed the move on Friday, while Democratic lawmakers said there was no need to disrupt funding in the first place.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon separately said she was satisfied with what was found in the review and released the money, adding she did not think there would be future freezes.
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Israel to Resume Airdrop Aid to Gaza on Saturday, Military Says
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Israel will resume airdrop aid to Gaza on Saturday night, the Israeli military said, a few days after more than 100 aid agencies warned that mass starvation was spreading across the enclave.
“The airdrops will include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar, and canned food to be provided by international organizations,” the military added in a statement.
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Trump Says Hamas ‘Didn’t Want to Make a Deal,’ Now Likely to Get ‘Hunted Down’
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – US President Donald Trump on Friday said the Palestinian jihadists of Hamas did not want to make a deal on a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza.
“Now we’re down to the final hostages, and they know what happens after you get the final hostages. And basically because of that, they really didn’t want to make a deal,” Trump said.
The comments followed statements by Middle East peace envoy Steve Witkoff and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the effect that Israel was now considering “alternative” options to achieve its goals of bringing its hostages home from Gaza and ending the terror rule of Hamas in the coastal enclave.
Trump added he believed Hamas leaders would now be “hunted down.”
On Thursday, Witkoff said the Trump administration had decided to bring its negotiating team home for consultations following Hamas’s latest proposal. Witkoff said overnight that Hamas was to blame for the impasse, with Netanyahu concurring.
Trump also dismissed the significance of French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that Paris would become the first major Western power to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
Macron’s comments, “didn’t carry any weight,” the US leader said.
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