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U.S. Presidential Elections: Jewish Voting Record

(1916 - Present)

Election Year Candidates % of Jewish Vote % of National Vote
1916 Hughes (R)
45
46
Wilson (D)
55
49
1920 Harding (R)
43
60
Cox (D)
19
34
Debs (Socialist)
38
3
1924 Coolidge (R)
27
54
Davis (D)
51
29
LaFollette (P)
22
17
1928 Hoover (R)
28
58
Smith (D)
72
41
1932 Hoover (R)
18
40
Roosevelt (D)
82
57
1936 Landon (R)
15
37
Roosevelt (D)
85
61
1940 Wilkie (R)
10
45
Roosevelt (D)
90
55
1944 Dewey (R)
10
46
Roosevelt (D)
90
53
1948 Dewey (R)
10
45
Truman (D)
75
50
Wallace (Progressive)
15
2
1952 Eisenhower (R)
36
55
Stevenson (D)
64
44
1956 Eisenhower (R)
40
57
Stevenson (D)
60
42
1960 Nixon (R)
18
50
Kennedy (D)
82
50
1964 Goldwater (R)
10
38
Johnson (D)
90
61
1968 Nixon (R)
17
43
Humphrey (D)
81
43
Wallace (Independent)
2
13
1972 Nixon (R)
35
61
McGovern (D)
65
38
1976 Ford (R)
27
48
Carter (D)
71
50
1980 Reagan (R)
39
51
Carter (D)
45
41
Anderson (I)
15
6
1984 Reagan (R)
31
59
Mondale (D)
57
41
1988 Bush (R)
35
53
Dukakis (D)
64
46
1992 Bush (R)
11
37
Clinton (D)
80
43
Perot (I)
9
19
1996 Dole (R)
16
41
Clinton (D)
78
49
Perot (I)
3
8
2000 Bush (R)
19
48
Gore (D)
79
48
Nader (I)
1
2
2004 Bush (R)
24
51
Kerry (D)
76
48
2008 McCain (R)
22
46
Obama (D)
78
53
2012 Romney (R)
30
47
Obama (D)
69
51
2016 Trump (R)
24
46
Clinton (D)
71
48
2020^ Trump (R)
30
49
Biden (D)
68
51
2024** Trump (R)
32
50
Harris (D)
66
48

American Jews tend to favor Democratic candidates, with 71% of Jewish voters choosing Democratic candidates on average and 26% choosing Republicans since 1968.  

*Number as a percentage of the popular vote.
**We use the Associated Press/Fox News poll, which is consistent with pre-election surveys. According to the Harvard Cooperative Election Study, Harris beat Trump 63% to 36%. J Street, the liberal Jewish lobby, reported that Harris received 71% and Trump 26%. Another left-of-center group, the Jewish Electorate Institute, had a similar 71%-26% margin favoring Harris in its survey.
^There were no reliable polls immediately after the election. The usual sources — the National Election Pool and the Associated Press — did not post Jewish voting results. AP decided not to conduct an exit poll because so many people now vote without going to a polling place. Partisan polls came up with results that, predictably, reflected their biases. The left-wing J Street exit poll, for example, found that Jews favored Biden 77%-21%, while a Republican Jewish Coalition poll showed Biden winning the Jewish vote by a narrower margin – 61%-31%. The more neutral American Jewish Committee survey was not an exit poll. It showed that 76% of Jews supported Biden. The Pew Research Center reported that 70% of the vote was for Biden and 27% for Trump. We are using the Associated Press VoteCast survey conducted by the nonpartisan National Opinion Research Center. The NORC survey was conducted between October 26 and November 3, concluding as polls closed on Election Day. 


Sources: L. Sandy Maisel and Ira Forman, Eds., Jews in American Politics, (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001), p. 153.
“Findings of the 2020 AJC Survey of American Jewish Opinion: Presidential Politics,” AJC, (October 19, 2020).
Ron Kampeas and Gabe Friedman, “How did Jewish Americans vote? Polls offer imperfect takes, but the big picture is clear,” JTA, (November 16, 2020).
“AP VoteCast 2020,” AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, (May 2021).
“2016-2022 Validated Voter Detailed Tables,” Pew Research Center, (July 12, 2023).
Ron Kampeas, “One month after Election Day, here’s what we know about how Jews voted,” JTA, (December 4, 2024).
Various news sources.