(November 4, 2020 / JNS) U.S. President Donald Trump received the highest percent of the Jewish vote for a Republican in decades, while former Vice President Joe Biden hit a new low for a Democratic candidate in recent years, according to a poll released on Wednesday.
Trump received 30.5 percent of the Jewish vote, while Biden got 60.6 percent, according to a Republican Jewish Coalition survey conducted by Basswood Research and McLaughlin & Associates.
According to the RJC poll, Biden’s share of the Jewish vote was the lowest for any Democratic presidential candidate since 1988, while Trump is the highest since that same election. In that election, former Republican President George H.W. Bush won 35 percent of the Jewish vote, while the Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis won 64 percent.
In 2016, Trump received 24 percent of the Jewish vote—six percentage points lower than what presidential candidate Mitt Romney got in 2012.
Meanwhile, 78 percent of Republican Jews voted for Trump, 86 percent of Jewish Democrats voted for Biden and 41 percent of Jewish Independents voted for Biden, while 38 percent went for Trump.
Some 70 percent and 19 percent of Orthodox Jews supported Trump and Biden, respectively; 57 percent and 36 percent of Conservative Jews supported Biden and Trump, respectively; 80 percent and 13 percent of Reform Jews voted for Biden and Trump, respectively; while those who are not affiliated with any movement voted 57 percent to 32 percent for Biden and Trump, respectively.
In the crucial state of Florida, Jewish voters appeared to be critical to Trump winning the state’s 29 electoral votes as, according to the Associated Press exit poll in the state, with 43 percent of Jews voting for Trump compared to 56 percent for Biden. The 43 percent mark represented the highest percentage of the Jewish vote in the Sunshine State for a Republican presidential candidate. The Republican Jewish Coalition spent more than $5 million targeting Jewish voters in Florida on Trump’s behalf.
Survey respondents self-identified as 19 percent Republican, 55 percent Democrat and 25 percent Independent. It included 68 percent who voted either in person or by mail before Election Day and 32 percent who voted on Election Day itself. A total of 83 percent of respondents said they had made up their minds more than a month ago.
An Associated Press poll also found that Trump won 30 percent of the Jewish vote. However, the poll found a higher result for Biden, with 68 percent, which is still lower than Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama in 2012.
In J Street’s national post-election survey, conducted by GBAO Strategies, 77 percent of respondents said they voted for Biden, while 21 percent said they voted for Trump—a four-point decrease for the Republican nominee compared to 2016.
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