Instapundit: Are Young American Jews More Supportive of Trump than Young Americans in General?

May 26, 2019

By David Bernstein

Some surprising news from the world of politics: An outfit called the Jewish Electorate Institute conducted a  survey of American Jews’ attitudes on politics. The resulting headline was that American Jews prioritize domestic issues over Israel, which wasn’t a surprise to anyone who pays attention to such things.

Much more surprising, and not in the headlines, was that the survey found that 31% of Jews under 30 (and at least 18) approve of President Trump, higher than any other Jewish age demographic except for slightly higher approval among millenials. But wait, there’s more.

The summary published by the JEI mysteriously excludes Orthodox Jews from its data on Trump approval by age group, but only from the younger cohorts. Thanks to high Orthodox birth rates, Orthodox outreach efforts, and widespread assimilation among the non-Orthodox, Orthodox Jews are a much larger percentage of the younger Jewish cohort than of older Jewish cohorts. 20% is a reasonable estimate of the percentage of American Jews under 30 who are Orthodox. And 57% of Orthodox Jews approve of Trump, but let’s round that up to 60% for the younger cohort, since younger Jews in general are more approving of Trump.  That means approximately 37% of American Jews under 30 approve of Trump. By contrast, a recent poll showed that only 33% of Americans ages 15-34 approve of Trump.

If true, this would be especially remarkable because young American Jews tend to not be “religious” and live in coastal urban areas, two demographic indicators that strongly predict hostility to Trump.

Of course, the JEI poll needs to be confirmed by other data. But I should note that JEI hired the Greenberg firm, a liberal Democratic polling outfit, to do its polling, so there was no incentive to exaggerate support for Trump.

JTA: ‘Politically homeless’ is the new mantra for American Jews. Will it change their vote?

November 1, 2026
That evidence includes a September survey by the Jewish Electorate Institute , conducted by the Democratic-aligned Mellman Group. It found that Jewish voters favored Democratic congressional candidates over Republicans by 71% to 23%. The Democratic advantage was virtually unchanged from their similar survey in March. Among Jewish Democrats, 97% said they would vote Democratic. At the same time, the survey found real unease within the party. More than a third of Jewish Democrats said the rise of anti-Israel candidates had made it harder for them personally to identify as Democrats. A majority of Jewish voters said antisemitism was increasing within the Democratic Party, and a similar share said it was increasing within the Republican Party.

US TODAY: The Democratic Party's 'Big Tent' is losing Jewish voters | Opinion

October 31, 2026
A Jewish Electorate Institute poll conducted in late August and early September found that 71% of Jewish respondents would vote for the Democrat in their congressional race, while just 23% would back the Republican.  Those numbers are virtually unchanged since March. But among Jews engaged in Jewish life, you can see the shift happening in real time.

Newsweek: Political Smoke Alarm... Jewish Voter Identification Becoming More Complicated

October 1, 2026
The latest Jewish Electorate Institute survey gives Democrats a commanding 71 percent to 23 percent advantage among Jewish voters on the generic congressional ballot, virtually unchanged from its March poll. Sixty-nine percent identify as Democrats, while 24 percent identify as Republicans.  The same poll contains a less comfortable set of numbers, though: 57 percent of Jewish voters overall say antisemitism is increasing within the Democratic Party, while 35 percent of Jewish Democrats say the rise of anti-Israel Democratic candidates has made it harder for them personally to identify as Democrats. The votes may still be staying Democratic, but for some Jewish voters, identification with the party is becoming more complicated.