Dov Hikind, who represented the heavily-Haredi areas of Boro Park and Midwood in the New York State Assembly for 36 years as a Democrat before retiring in 2018, announced that he has switched his party affiliation to Republican.

“The Democratic party turns its back on its friends like Israel,” Hikind said in his video message, adding that he is “delighted to join the Republican party.”

Hikind has long been critical of Democrats and has repeatedly crossed party lines in the past to endorse Republican presidential candidates John Mcain, Mitt Romney, and Donald Trump.

His partisan switch reflects a changing reality for Orthodox New York Jewish politicians, and the Haredi Jews they often represent, who increasingly are identifying as Republicans. For example, City councilmember Kalman Yeger represents what has historically been a Democratic seat that includes Boro Park, and did not face a Republican opponent in 2017. However, when he ran for reelection in 2021, Yeger chose to run on multiple party lines, and received most of his votes as a Republican. Haredi State Senator Simcha Felder, who represents New York’s 22nd district which includes Boro Park, for years caucused with the Republicans in the State Senate, even while he was elected as a Democrat.

Voting results in gubernatorial elections reveal a similar trend of some Haredim switching their party loyalty in recent years, from voting Democratic, to voting Republican. In the 2022 gubernatorial election, 80% of Boro Park’s votes went to Republican Lee Zeldin, a significant bump over the 50% of votes that went to Republican Marc Molinaro in 2018.

The 73-year-old Hikind appeared to hint at running for office again, in his video message. “I know people have approached you,” his wife Shani said. “They want to know, are you running for office again?”

Hikind answered indirectly: “We shall see what the future shall bring; we shall see.”

Hikind circulated his announcement by email using an account and logo for Americans Against Antisemitism, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit he founded.

He told Shtetl, however, that the organization “has nothing to do with” his announcement, adding “I as an individual can say things that I feel are on my mind in terms of what's going on today.”