Despite the latest election results indicating that Republican candidate Donald Trump will become the next US president, initial exit polls suggest a sweeping majority of Jews say they voted for Kamala Harris.
According to polling taken by a consortium of news organisations in key states, 79 per cent of American Jews said they voted Democratic in this pivotal election, compared to 21 per cent who said they voted Republican. The polling included speaking with voters at polling places and phone interviews and, while it is not a result in itself, it helps the public interpret the motivations and views of the electorate.
If accurate, the turnout of Jewish votes for a Republican presidential candidate would be the lowest proportion in 24 years.
Right-wing news outlet Fox News also conducted an Election Day “voter analysis” exit poll and found that 67 per cent of Jews voted for Harris, compared to 31 per cent for Trump. The poll still finds that Jews voted for Harris at higher rates than members of any other religion.
Voters in both polls were also asked about US support for Israel and the results were split almost evenly into three groups in the national poll: 32 per cent said the support is too strong, 30 per cent not strong enough and 31 per cent about right. But for those who thought the US was too supportive of Israel, 68 per cent said they voted for Harris, while 81 per cent of those who thought support was not strong enough had voted for Trump.
Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump declared his victory in the early hours of Wednesday, 6 November, though the election results have not been officially called. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
This comes after Trump has continually lobbied for the Jewish vote as the candidate who will be tough on antisemitism and an abiding friend to Israel, while Harris has been more outspoken in her criticism of the war in Gaza.
“Anybody who’s Jewish and loves being Jewish and loves Israel is a fool if they vote for a Democrat,” Trump said earlier this year. If you are Jewish and support Kamala Harris, he added, “you should have your head examined.”
He told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month that he wants to wrap up Israel’s war in Gaza and Lebanon by the time he takes office in January of next year, should he win the election – an eventuality whose likelihood increases by the minute.
Meanwhile in North Carolina, Jewish gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein has been elected governor, defeating his opponent Mark Robinson – who called himself a ‘Black Nazi’ in a series of antisemitic social media posts –with 54.8 per cent of the vote.
Stein became the first Jewish person elected to statewide office in North Carolina when he won his AG race in 2016 and will now become the state’s first Jewish governor.
