Here are eight Jewish candidates for Congress to keep an eye on as the election season heats up, says Aiden Pink, deputy news editor of The Forward:

 • Dr. Al Gross, Independent from Alaska

Gross, an orthopedic surgeon and a commercial fisherman, is running as an Independent, but is endorsed by the Senatorial Campaign Committee (no Democrat is running in the race). It may be an uphill battle against the incumbent Republican, Sen. Dan Sullivan, but Gross has financial muscle with $2 million banked already.

 • Sara Jacobs, Democrat from California

Jacobs is running for a San Diego-area congressional seats. Only 31 years old, Jacobs has an accomplished résumé for someone so young, having worked as a foreign policy advisor for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign after stints at the United Nations, UNICEF, and as a State Department contractor. She’s been endorsed by both moderate and progressive Democratic members of Congress. Her billionaire grandparents, Irwin and Joan Jacobs, are co-founders of Qualcomm.

 • Matt Lieberman, Democrat from Georgia

Lieberman, who is running for Senate, is the son of former Sen. Joe Lieberman, the only Jew to run on as major party’s presidential ticket. Matt Lieberman is a former teacher. Incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler is under fire for accusations of insider trading, and will face multiple challenges in a primary.

 • Kathy Manning, Democrat from North Carolina

Manning’s name is likely familiar to Jewish insiders: The Greensboro NC philanthropist was the founding chair of Prizmah Center for Jewish Day Schools, and was the first woman to serve as chair of the Jewish Federations of North America. She narrowly lost her 2018 congressional election, but her district was redrawn after the state Supreme Court said it was too gerrymandered. Now it’s expected to be more favorable to local Democrats, who picked her as their nominee once again.

  • Jon Ossoff, Democrat from Georgia

Ossoff, a former documentary filmmaker, narrowly lost an expensive congressional race three years ago and is running again for the other Senate seat. He was endorsed by the Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights legend before his death last year, and a poll last month found him 15 points up on the closest Democratic competitor in an upcoming primary.

 • David Richter, Republican from New Jersey

Richter, the former CEO of Hill International, the construction megafirm co-founded by his father, is running for Congress in New Jersey’s 3rd district, in the south-central portion of the state. If he wins the primary, he’ll face off against Democratic freshman Rep. Andy Kim. Insiders rate the race a toss-up.

 • Lisa Scheller, Republican from Pennsylvania

Scheller, a former Lehigh County Commissioner, is running in part on her business experience, having turned the aluminum paint manufacturing firm founded by her immigrant grandfather into a global company. She is also running on her personal history: Open about being a recovering drug and alcohol addict, she founded a coffee shop where every employee is in recovery or is a family member of someone dealing with addiction. Pennsylvania has been particularly hard hit by the opioid crisis. If she wins the primary, she’ll face off against first-term Rep. Susan Wild, who is also Jewish. The race is expected to be close.

 • Renee Unterman, Republican from Georgia

Unterman, a health insurance executive and former mayor, is the only Jewish member of the Georgia state senate, where she’s represented parts of the Atlanta suburbs since 2003. She’s an outspoken conservative, but she also shows she’s not afraid to buck members of her own party: in 2018, she called for an investigation into then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who was running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, over questionable campaign donations he had received.