(JTA) – Shontel Brown, a Cuyahoga County councilwoman, came from behind in the polls to win a critical Democratic primary in a Cleveland area district with a substantial Jewish population, with considerable help from a mainstream pro-Israel political action committee. Brown, who won the election in Ohio’s 11th District, was facing Nina Turner, a former state senator who co-chaired the 2020 presidential run of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the flag-bearer for the party’s left.

Brown in her victory speech recalled her visit to Israel, including to towns on the Gaza Strip border. “You walk within a few feet of a bomb shelter, you can appreciate the vulnerability of a state, and that has given me the understanding of the U.S.-Israel relationship and I thank my Jewish brethren,” she said in video posted on Twitter by Jewish Insider. A crowd of Jews and African Americans burst into cheers.

In her concession speech, Turner targeted outside money that backed Brown, although Turner also accepted money from PACs. “We didn’t lose this race, evil money manipulated and maligned this election,” Turner said. That prompted a tweet from Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Jewish Democrat who is senior in the party and who backed Brown. “@ninaturner proving that support for @shontelmbrown was a #mitzvah,” Wasserman Schultz said.

Turner was well known in the district and had a national profile as a leading progressive spokeswoman and thinker. Early polls showed her with a substantial lead, and she was a prodigious fund-raiser, garnering close to $6 million to Brown’s $2.5 million. Sanders campaigned for her in the district, and she had the backing of the “Squad,” the grouping of six progressive lawmakers led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Brown, who is also chairwoman of the county’s Democratic Party, was favored by the party’s centrists, and notably had the backing of Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., the African American kingmaker who was pivotal in gaining Joe Biden the party nomination and then the presidential election. The political action committee affiliated with the Democratic Majority for Israel, a mainstream pro-Israel group, backed Brown from the outset, in part because she had established ties with the substantial Jewish community in the district – Brown has visited Israel – but also because Turner was associated with the Israel-critical wing of the party. There are over 20,000 Jews in the 11th.

Turner would not commit to a position on the boycott Israel movement, which at least three members of the Squad have endorsed. DMFI pumped $2 million into the race. Also endorsing Brown was the Jewish Democratic Council of America and the nonpartisan PAC, Pro-Israel America.

Brown is almost certain to win the November special election in this heavily Democratic district.

Main Photo: Cuyahoga Councilwoman and congressional candidate Shontel Brown speaks during a Souls to the Polls rally at Sanctuary Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, Aug. 1, 2021. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)