Press Release

New Poll: Jewish Voters Overwhelmingly Support & Trust Kamala Harris, Oppose & Distrust Donald Trump

September 9, 2024

WASHINGTON – A new national poll of Jewish voters finds overwhelming support for Vice President Kamala Harris. Less than two months until the election, 72% of Jewish voters back Kamala Harris, while only 25% support Donald Trump in a head-to-head matchup. Nearly all – 91% – of Jewish voters are concerned about antisemitism in the United States, and Jewish voters trust Kamala Harris more than Donald Trump to fight antisemitism by nearly a three-to-one margin (60% – 23%). Harris’s lead over Trump by a 47-point margin (72% – 25%) is an improvement from Biden’s 41-point margin among Jewish voters in April (67% – 26%) when compared to an April poll of Jewish voters conducted by the Jewish Electorate Institute (JEI).

Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, which commissioned the poll as a special project of JDCA, said, “Last week, before the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), Donald Trump disparaged millions of American Jews and falsely asserted that he will get 50% of the Jewish vote. This poll confirms that he is gravely mistaken and his continued antisemitism only further alienates American Jews. 

“Three out of four Jewish voters will overwhelmingly support Kamala Harris in this election and Donald Trump is on track to get no more than 25% of the Jewish vote. That has only been solidified by the fact that 80% of Jewish voters disagree with his repeated insults targeting millions of Jewish Americans, and 84% of those think his insults are antisemitic. While Trump clearly has animus for the overwhelming majority of American Jews, this poll confirms that feeling is mutual. This poll also confirms that Jewish voters are highly motivated to vote in November, and three-quarters of them are ready to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. While Trump continues to denigrate the vast majority of Jewish voters, those same Jewish voters – many in battleground states – are preparing to play a critical role in defeating him in November.”

Full topline data can be found at the link below: 

https://jewishdems.org/jdca-polling-home-page/

Other key findings of the poll include:

  • 68% of Jewish voters hold a favorable view of Kamala Harris, and 63% view Tim Walz favorably, compared to only 23% and 20% for Donald Trump and JD Vance.
  • 75% of Jewish voters have an emotional attachment to Israel, and 83% believe that someone can be critical of how Israel is conducting the war with Hamas and still be pro-Israel.
    • Only 30% of Jewish voters hold a favorable view of Benjamin Netanyahu.
  • 91% of Jewish voters are concerned about antisemitism in the United States, and by a 37-point margin, Jewish voters trust Kamala Harris more than Donald Trump to fight antisemitism (60%-23%).
  • 80% of Jewish voters disagree with Trump’s statement that “any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion…and should be ashamed of themselves.”
    • Among those who disagree, 84% believe it is antisemitic.
  • The future of democracy and abortion rank as the two top issues for Jewish voters, followed by the economy and inflation, climate change, and national security and foreign policy. 
    • Israel ranked as the 9th most important issue for Jewish voters when deciding which candidate to support. 

Methodology: The national survey, conducted by GBAO Strategies on behalf of the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA), included text-to-web interviews with 800 self-identifying Jewish registered voters nationwide between August 27 and September 1. The survey is subject to a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, and the sample was weighted to Pew’s demographic results for Jewish American voters on key variables such as gender, denomination, age, and synagogue membership.

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