{"id":91044,"date":"2026-01-04T12:06:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T17:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=91044"},"modified":"2026-01-04T12:06:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T17:06:46","slug":"michele-weiss-and-justin-brasch-mark-milestones-as-first-orthodox-jewish-mayors-in-their-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/michele-weiss-and-justin-brasch-mark-milestones-as-first-orthodox-jewish-mayors-in-their-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"Michele Weiss and Justin Brasch mark milestones as first Orthodox Jewish mayors in their cities"},"content":{"rendered":"

By GRACE GILSON<\/p>\n

(JTA) \u2014 This week, as New York City inaugurated its first Muslim mayor, two cities in the United States also made history with the swearing-in of their first Orthodox Jewish mayors.<\/p>\n

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Michele Weiss, the mayor of University Heights, Ohio, (L) and Justin Brasch, the mayor of White Plains, New York (R). (Courtesy Michele Weiss and Justin Brasch)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

While Orthodox mayors have been elected in cities and suburbs across the county, including New Jersey, New York State and Florida, the inaugurations of Michele Weiss in University Heights, Ohio, and Justin Brasch in White Plains, New York, this week marked a milestone for Orthodox representation in local politics.<\/p>\n

In November, Bal Harbour, Florida, also swore in an Orthodox Jewish mayor, Seth Salver, making him the third Orthodox mayor currently serving in a municipality of Miami Dade.<\/p>\n

Here is what you need to know about the United State\u2019s newest Orthodox mayors:<\/p>\n

Michele Weiss, first female Orthodox Jewish mayor in the United States<\/p>\n

Michele Weiss was sworn in on Wednesday as mayor of University Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, making her one of the first Orthodox Jewish women to lead a city in the United States.<\/p>\n

(Meyera Oberndorf, who served as mayor of Virginia Beach, Virginia from 1988-2008, was described as having an Orthodox Jewish upbringing.)<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make a kiddush hashem,\u201d Weiss told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, using a Hebrew term that can mean a positive Jewish role model. \u201cI want to make sure that the Jewish community is seen in a good light, and that\u2019s what I want to portray as a Jewish woman, as an Orthodox Jewish woman, and just make sure that that permeates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weiss, 50, said that the Jewish community in University Heights had grown \u201ca tremendous amount\u201d in recent years, driven in part by the low cost of living compared to Cleveland and the fact that the city offers non-public school vouchers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the largest Orthodox contingency of residents in the state of Ohio, at this point it\u2019s about 20-25%\u201d said Weiss. \u201cThey definitely need to be represented, but of course, I represent everyone in the city, not just the Jewish residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up in a Conservative home in another suburb of Cleveland, Richmond Heights, Weiss said that she first became more observant in high school while participating in NCSY, the youth division of the Orthodox Union. She is a member of the Orthodox synagogue Congregation Zichron Chaim in University Heights.<\/p>\n

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Michelle Weiss is sworn in as mayor of University Heights, Ohio by Law Director Brad Bryan in a private ceremony, Dec. 31, 2025. (Via Facebook)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Weiss moved to University Heights in 1997, and worked as the controller and later the CFO of the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, the largest Jewish day school in Ohio. She is married to her husband, Marcelo, and has three children and multiple grandchildren.<\/p>\n

In 2013, Weiss said a coworker inspired her to volunteer as an observer for the League of Women Voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always was doing quiet good deeds,\u201d said Weiss. \u201cI was at the point, though, where I kept thinking, well, what could I do more for the community? So I had a colleague that said, \u2018you know, why don\u2019t you get involved with the city?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2016, Weiss won a seat on the University Heights city council, and was later appointed by the council as the city\u2019s vice mayor for six years. Weiss said that she felt inspired to run for city council as a voice for the city\u2019s Orthodox.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really feel that we\u2019re put on this world to make a difference, and I felt that there needed to be a voice for a lot of reasons,\u201d said Weiss. \u201cI can relate to the secular world and the Jewish world and the Orthodox world, so I can fill that void and that spectrum knowing how to speak to certain people appropriately. I don\u2019t think every religious leader can do that, so I have that ability, and I thought that I would be able to bridge that gap effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same year, Weiss also founded the AMATZ initiative, a nonprofit that trains Jewish educators and principals on how to better serve their female students. Weiss also holds board positions on YACHAD, a Jewish disability nonprofit, and the Community Relations Committee at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.<\/p>\n

During her tenure on the city council, Weiss often struggled to work with the city\u2019s former mayor, Michael Dylan Brennan, who was censured twice by the council for \u201cinappropriate language.\u201d In December, Brennan told Weiss in an email that she was barred from entering city buildings or properties, and also ordered the city\u2019s directors, chiefs and employees not to meet with her until she takes office.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything else that he\u2019s done has been very difficult to work with, and I am so excited to be able to unify the city again, to a place where everybody respects each other and can have civil discourse,\u201d said Weiss.<\/p>\n

During her campaign, Weiss said that she ran on unifying the city, building new municipal facilities and sharing resources with neighboring communities. While Weiss said the mayoral election in University Heights is nonpartisan, she is a Republican. She won the mayoral election with 56% of the vote.<\/p>\n

To help bring together the city\u2019s communities following the discord of Brennan\u2019s tenure, Weiss said she planned on hosting programs and educational forums to \u201cshow the diversity of our residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not focusing just on the Orthodox community, I have to focus on everybody, because we want to be a cohesive unit,\u201d said Weiss. \u201cBut one of the things is, I think we need to do some healing and unify the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Weiss said her religious identity had not been a big factor on the campaign trail, during one debate she was asked about her Sabbath observance. Weiss said she had consulted her rabbi and the police chief to develop a plan for situations that would need her attention during Shabbat or Jewish holidays.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to her mayoral tenure, Weiss said she felt a responsibility to serve as a role model amid rising antisemitism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s hope for the Jewish community going forward in America, and because it\u2019s scary times with with antisemitism right now, I want to be an example, not just to the religious community, but to women and girls that are Jewish that maybe don\u2019t see themselves in that type of leadership position,\u201d said Weiss.<\/p>\n

Justin Brasch, first Orthodox mayor of White Plains<\/strong><\/p>\n

Justin Brasch, a career public servant and lawyer, was inaugurated Friday as the first Orthodox mayor of White Plains, a city just north of New York City in Westchester County and a hub of Jewish life.<\/p>\n

Brasch, a Democrat, won the mayor\u2019s seat in November with 72% of the vote against Republican opponent Lenny Lolis, becoming the city\u2019s first new mayor since 2011.<\/p>\n

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Justin Brasch’s family looks on as he is sworn in as mayor of White Plains, New York in a ceremony held at the White Plains High School Auditorium, Jan. 2, 2026. (Via Facebook)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Speaking with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about his upcoming mayoral tenure, Brasch said that he looked forward to setting an example as the county\u2019s only Orthodox mayor, a distinction he said he had earned by building bridges across the city\u2019s diverse communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love what I do, and everybody knows that I care, and of course I have to set an example, I have no choice, and I like that,\u201d said Brasch. \u201cI have to be accessible to everybody, help everybody, and I do. I go into all the communities, I go to Iftar and break the fast at the mosque, regularly attend the black churches, you name it. I\u2019m there trying to be helpful and build bridges and make things better for people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brasch, now 60, was just 17 when he made his first foray into politics, serving as an intern for then-congressman Ted Weiss on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. There, Brasch said he first \u201csaw how much good government could do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe and his office were in there helping people with housing insecurity and food insecurity and problems with Medicare and Medicaid, and supporting immigrants and helping immigrants get their proper paperwork, etc.,\u201d said Brasch. \u201cI was very inspired by that. I loved how much the people in that office and Congressman Weiss cared and how much good they could do through government.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a student at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Brasch founded the school\u2019s Young Democrats chapter. After moving back to the Upper West Side, he served on the political committee of the New York City Sierra Club and the board of the Mid-Manhattan NAACP.<\/p>\n

Brasch said that he had grown up \u201cconfusidox,\u201d with Orthodox grandparents on one side and Reform grandparents on the other.<\/p>\n

For several years after graduating college, Brasch lived with his Orthodox grandfather on the Upper West Side, an experience he said helped set him on a path for public service and toward becoming an Orthodox Jew.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a real love for people, and felt that Jews need to be helping the Jewish community and the broader community, and he was always very inspiring to me, very down to earth,\u201d said Brasch.<\/p>\n

Brasch moved to White Plains with his wife, Juli Smith, in 2003 in search of more space, drawn by the city\u2019s diversity, \u201cdown-to-earth\u201d spirit and, at the time, small Jewish community. He is a member of the Modern Orthodox synagogues Young Israel of White Plains and Hebrew Institute of White Plains. Brasch and his wife, who is a commissioner in the White Plains Housing Authority, have three children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI joke that I have made a lot of mistakes in life, moving to White Plains was not one of them,\u201d said Brasch. \u201cIt\u2019s a very diverse place. People get along. People help one another. People are very supportive. We don\u2019t have any of that hate and intolerance and anger that exist in other places.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since moving to White Plains, Brasch said that he had seen the local Jewish community grow at a steady pace. According to the UJA-Federation of New York\u2019s 2023 population study, Westchester County is home to approximately 89,000 Jewish adults and 16,000 Jewish children.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur community is growing. People know that this is a great place to raise a family,\u201d said Brasch. \u201cWe\u2019re a very safe city and a great place. We have five synagogues, as I said, they all get along, everybody works together, and there\u2019s a lot of harmony in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond his work at his small legal firm in New York City, Brasch has served in myriad leadership roles in White Plains\u2019 government, including on its planning board, school board budget advisory committee, youth bureau and a transportation task force.<\/p>\n

He also served for 12 years on the county\u2019s budget committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was an incredible opportunity to help and to review things and discover things, and to make connections, and certainly to show as a Jewish person, that we care and we\u2019re involved,\u201d said Brasch.<\/p>\n

Before announcing his campaign for mayor, Brasch said that he believed his involvement in different communities in White Plains demonstrated to the local Democratic Party leadership that he was well suited for the role.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re an extremely diverse city, and everybody sees that I go to all the different communities,\u201d said Brasch. \u201cI show up at the black churches, I go to the mosque, I go to the black community, the Latin community. I\u2019m completely involved, and they felt that I have the leadership skills and abilities to keep our city moving in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brasch said that his involvement in White Plains\u2019 diverse communities also served another purpose: combatting antisemitism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that we need to be more involved in the broader community to fight anti semitism,\u201d said Brasch. \u201cUnfortunately, the propaganda these days is that Jews are a selfish community that only cares about themselves. And actually, when people get to know us, they see that we\u2019re good people, we care, we want to help all communities and help the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brasch said that he also expected some people to leave New York City for White Plains following the election of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose election sparked concern among some of the city\u2019s Jewish residents over his harsh criticism of  Israel and avowed socialist politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do have a different vision from him, except with regard to our desire to help people who have less,\u201d said Brasch of Mamdani. \u201cI do think that there will be somewhat of a migration to White Plains from the city, because we\u2019re a safe city that takes care of our people and builds a nice community.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his mayoral campaign, Brasch ran on several key issues, including expanding affordable housing, creating new green spaces and building an intergenerational community center that would put programming for the city\u2019s youth and elderly under one roof.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always believed that Judaism is about being the best person you can be helping the world,\u201d said Brasch. \u201cWhether we want to say it\u2019s bringing kedushah or holiness to the world, whether it\u2019s tikkun olam, we are supposed to be a light unto the nation, there\u2019s, quote after quote and teaching after teaching, that we\u2019re supposed to be doing a great job being decent and honest people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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