Why Jewish voter turnout matters in this election

Halie Soifer
October 23, 2024

The Jewish vote has never been more important than it is in 2024. The distinctions between two presidential candidates have never been as stark, the stakes of an election have never been greater, and it’s more important than ever that Jews take action and vote their values at the polls.

This past weekend, the organization I lead, the Jewish Democratic Council of America, and our Republican counterpart, the Republican Jewish Coalition, inadvertently held dueling canvasses in the same heavily Jewish neighborhood in suburban Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania, which is home to nearly 350,000 Jewish voters, will no doubt play a critical role determining the outcome of the election. The Jewish vote matters in Pennsylvania – just as it does in Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina – as evidenced by the fact that Democratic and Republican canvassers were passing each other on the same Philly streets to mobilize Jewish voters.

According to an early-October poll of Jewish voters in battleground states, more than 7 out of 10 Jewish voters plan to support Kamala Harris in a direct match-up with Donald Trump, with 26% planning to support Trump and 4% remaining undecided.

Each and every one of us can make a difference in a race that may be decided by a handful of votes.

This election is projected to be the closest presidential election in 60 years, with neither candidate polling more than 5 points ahead of the other. When elections are this close, the Jewish vote has an outsized impact, given our relatively high voter turnout rates and concentration in key states.

Jewish Americans show up in higher numbers than the average American voter, and are among the most consistently liberal and Democratic voters, according to Pew Research. An average of three out of four Jewish voters have supported the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since 1992.

Given staunch support for Democrats that exists among Jewish voters, this election provides us with the opportunity to play a vital role defeating Donald Trump once and for all.

Donald Trump appears to understand this, as evidenced by his obsessive, abusive, and demeaning focus on Jewish voters. He has repeatedly denigrated millions of Jewish Americans, telling those who support Democrats to “get their head examined” more times than we can count.

In late September, Trump scapegoated “the Jewish people” as a whole – without distinguishing by partisan affiliation – as to blame if he loses this election. This rhetoric is dangerous, placing a target on the backs of Jewish Americans.

It’s also antisemitic. According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, it includes “accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing.” In this case, the alleged “wrongdoing” by Jews may be imagined, but Trump may be right about one thing – if he loses, it may very well be because of the Jewish vote.

Recent polling indicates the negative feelings Trump expresses toward the vast majority of American Jews are mutual, especially given his attacks on our democracy and reproductive rights, which are the top two issues driving the Jewish vote in 2024, just as they were in 2022. Despite false narratives that Trump has made inroads with Jewish voters – including those espoused by Trump himself – the percentage of Jewish voters supporting Trump is virtually the same as it was eight years ago.

Undecided voters are critical in this election, and they exist in large enough numbers to determine the outcome of this election, including in the Jewish community.

That explains why undecided and Independent Jewish voters in Pennsylvania are on the receiving end of a deluge of GOP disinformation and lies. Republicans are spending millions of dollars exploiting fear and insecurity in the wake of Oct. 7, distorting Kamala Harris’s record on Israel and antisemitism.

Her record is personal for me. As the former national security adviser to then-Senator Kamala Harris, I am fully confident that Kamala Harris stands with Israel and the Jewish community, and her deeply-held views predate her time in this White House. I saw it firsthand when I accompanied her and Doug Emhoff to Israel in 2017. The American people have seen it as well, as Harris has repeatedly provided clear assurances that she “will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself.” She has also made clear that “when Jews are targeted because of their beliefs or identity, and when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism, and that is unacceptable.”

These facts seemed to persuade the undecided voter I spoke with at length at a deli in Pennsylvania. He was particularly interested when I informed him of the remarkable support provided by the Biden-Harris White House for Israel’s security after Oct. 7, including providing $17.8 billion to Israel in the past year, and twice deploying the U.S. military to defend Israel from unprecedented Iranian attacks. His wife, a Kamala supporter, reminded him of the importance of ensuring reproductive rights for the sake of their daughters.

It is incumbent on all of us to help shape the outcome of this election, and that includes talking to Jewish voters – friends, family, and neighbors – about the stark differences between the candidates. As Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler said, when polls are within the margin of error, start thinking about “the margin of effort.”

If the prospect of Donald Trump winning this election and returning to the White House to become a self-proclaimed “dictator on day one” terrifies you, now is the time to take action. Join efforts to get out the Jewish vote for Kamala Harris, because we have seen as recently as 2020 that when we show up and vote, Democrats win. Choose a battleground state and start making calls or knocking doors, and make it count.

If all else fails, remind voters that 24 high-level Trump administration officials have warned the American people not to support Donald Trump, including his former national security advisor John Bolton who recently said on CNN, “Those who think he’s going to be reflexively supportive of Israel really should think again.” These are the words of those who know Trump best, and we should heed their calls.

The Jewish vote absolutely matters in 2024, and it’s time to take action and vote like it does before it’s too late.