Story summary
Judith Levine argues in The Guardian that discussions about a unified "Jewish vote" in the US are overly simplistic. Jews typically lean liberal and overwhelmingly support Democrats; in 2024, 79% of Jewish Americans voted for Kamala Harris. Despite this trend, Republicans have sought to court Jewish voters by waging a campaign against antisemitism while also courting white supremacists who often harbor anti-Semitic views.
Jewish Americans are concentrated in certain areas, primarily in states like New York, California, and New Jersey, where they form significant parts of the electorate. A map from 2020 showed that a third of Jewish Americans live in just 20 congressional districts, most of which lean heavily Democratic. However, recently, two districts—Florida’s 21st district and New Jersey's fourth district—have elected Republicans due to redistricting changes.
In the New Jersey fourth district, half the residents are ultra-Orthodox Jews who vote reliably for Chris Smith, a pro-Israel Republican who has held office since 1981. Meanwhile, conservative Christian groups like Christians United for Israel mobilize millions of voters to support Israel, even though their beliefs often conflict with those of Jewish Americans.
Written for “Jewish Vote Politics” on 2026-10-09,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Everybody wants the Jewish vote.
asserted
Everybody → want → vote
Although they comprise only about 2% of the electorate, they vote in high numbers, overwhelmingly for Democrats.
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they → comprise → Democrats
In 2024, 79% chose Kamala Harris.
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% → choose → Harris
They are also assumed to be steadfast friends of Israel, no matter what it does.
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it → assume → what
Republicans, waging a fake war on antisemitism while courting white supremacists, consider Jews increasingly up for grabs.
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Jews → wag → grabs
Nationally, Jewish Americans are concentrated in a few bright blue spots.
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Americans → concentrate → spots
A 2020 map from the Jewish Electorate Institute showed a third of Jews living in 20 congressional districts – out of 435 – most of them in New York, New Jersey, California and (purple) Florida.
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map → show → York
Of these, only one sent a Republican to Washington.
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one → send → Washington
Today, it’s two.
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it → ’ → ?
Florida’s 21st district switched parties only after falling victim to redistricting in 2022.
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district → switch → 2022
The other outlier has elected the pro-Israel, anti-immigration Republican Chris Smith every term since 1981.
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outlier → elect → 1981
The mapmakers’ explanation: New Jersey fourth district includes Lakewood, where half the residents are ultra-Orthodox – scrupulously, ceaselessly observant.
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residents → include → Lakewood
In fact, if pro-Israel candidates are looking for votes, even Jewish is no longer salient.
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Jewish → look → votes
The US is home to the largest population of Christian Zionists in the world, numbering more than 30 million, a third of whom belong to Christians United for Israel, the largest Zionist organization is the US.
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organization → number → Israel
The Bible belt churches these people attend preach that the founding of Israel in 1948 was part of God’s plan to bring about the End Times, and the ongoing hostilities in the Middle East are the mayhem and destruction preceding the second coming of Christ (when nonbelievers – including Jews – will drown in the Lake of Fire).
While the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) spends far more on political campaigns, Christians United for Israel is busy mobilizing its millions to grassroots action.
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United → attend → action
Meanwhile, a minority of American Jews now call themselves Zionists.
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minority → call → themselves
A late-2025 Washington Post poll found that six in 10 believed Israel was committing war crimes in Gaza; four in 10 said the assault was genocide.
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assault → find → Gaza
The Gaza war figured large in the 2024 presidential elections, as the civilian death toll mounted and the Biden-Harris administration stood unwaveringly beside Israel.
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administration → figure → Israel
Now, even as the killing spreads to the West Bank and southern Lebanon, US voters are moving on.
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voters → spread → Bank
Affordability is the winning buzzword this cycle, at least for Democrats.
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Affordability → win → Democrats
Almost no one is thinking about foreign policy.
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one → think → policy
The press, the pundits, and the mainstream party strategists keep behaving as if every Jew cares about Israel – and all Jews care about is Israel – and a candidate must be pro-Zionist or lose the elusive Jewish vote.
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candidate → behave → vote
We saw this during the campaign of the New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
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We → see → mayor
But Mamdani was running for mayor, not president.
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Mamdani → run → mayor
His brilliant stroke was affordability – a theme that is easily understandable, widely relatable, and capable of making socialist solutions sound reasonable.
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solutions → make → ?
Nevertheless, from the moment he appeared, the press, from the New York Times op-ed page to college newspapers to the international Jewish press, made the election a referendum on Israel – and, more perniciously, on Islam.
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election → appear → Islam
Mamdani’s Democratic primary opponent, former governor Andrew Cuomo, attacked him with flagrant Islamophobia, conflating his critique of Israel with antisemitism and signalling that his faith was a danger to Jews.
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faith → attack → Jews
The fearmongering did not defeat Mamdani.
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fearmongering → defeat → Mamdani
In the end, only a third of Jews voted for him; in Hasidic neighborhoods, 90% went for Cuomo.
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% → vote → Cuomo
But progressive Jewish organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice endorsed him.
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organizations → include → him
He won in almost every racial and class demographic and pulled in three-quarters of voters under 30.
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He → win → 30
What’s the lesson here?
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lesson → ’ → ?
The youth vote – plus the Black vote, the Hispanic vote, the working-class vote, etc – plus good ideas and a great campaign put Mamdani over the top.
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ideas → put → top
Furthermore, an analysis by Good Authority concludes that no position on Israel, pro or con, is driving Jews out of the Democratic party.
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position → conclude → party
Now Abdul El-Sayed, the Muslim Democrat running for Senate in Michigan, is shlepping the burden of this vaguely defined, perpetually disgruntled “Jewish vote”.
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Sayed → run → vote
After narrowly winning the primary, he apologized to members of the Jewish community for a statement he made after a Lebanese-born naturalized citizen rammed his truck into a large synagogue, injuring a guard.
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citizen → win → guard
The apology came after El-Sayed clumsily linked the man’s antisemitism to Israeli violence in Lebanon, saying: “Hurt people hurt people.”
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people → come → people
But to some Jews, it sounded as if El-Sayed felt more sympathy for the perpetrator than for his targeted victims.
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Sayed → sound → victims
The Republicans have taken advantage of these fissures, attacking El-Sayed with a combination of Islamophobia and the usual hypocritical condemnations of antisemitism.
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Republicans → take → antisemitism
At their midterm “convention”, El-Sayed’s opponent Mike Rogers claimed, falsely, that the Democrat had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
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Democrat → claim → Brotherhood
…and 16 more, not listed.
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