US presidential hopeful Rick Perry is hoping to cook up some Jewish support with a kosher reception this week.

According to the Politico website, the Texas governor's campaign team ha s organised an £1,600-a-head event for donors at a Manhattan hotel which will include a kosher menu.

Mr Perry is an ardent supporter of Israel but comes from an evangelical branch of Christianity and last month hosted a prayer rally where he called for Jesus to save America.

The reception is one of four events Mr Perry has planned to bring in New York voters.

Earlier this week Orthodox Jewish voters in Queens and Brooklyn helped hand the Republican Party a Congressional victory in a traditionally Democratic district, prompting commentators to speculate about whether Jewish voters could abandon President Obama next year.

Mr Perry is not alone on the Republican ticket in hoping to capture the Jewish vote, which historically favours the Democrats. Michele Bachmann has spoken on several occasions about her positive experiences on a kibbutz in Israel, while Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin have both made high-profile visits to Israel in recent months.

However, in the unlikely instance that Fred Karger, a gay Jewish former Reagan adviser, wins the GOP nomination, the US could have the chance to vote for its first Jewish president.