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Robert Philpot

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Robert Philpot,

Robert Philpot

Analysis

America's kosher vote is turning right. Don't be surprised

January 22, 2015 12:14
Badges sported by a Newt Gingrich supporter at a Republican Jewish Coalition rally
3 min read

When supporters of the Republican Jewish Coalition gathered at a Washington reception earlier this month to celebrate their party formally taking control of the US Congress, they could barely have been in higher spirits.

That morning, Gallup had released a poll showing that nearly one in three US Jews now identify as Republicans, up seven per cent since 2008, while the number calling themselves Democrats had slid by 10 points to 61 per cent.

The poll confirmed the trend of both the 2012 and 2014 elections: that while Jews continue to lean heavily towards the Democrats, the Republicans are slowly gaining ground.

In 2014, 33 per cent of Jews backed the Republicans in the mid-term elections (since 1982 the average Republican share of the Jewish vote has been just under a quarter), while Barack Obama's Republican opponent in 2012, Mitt Romney, managed to attract the support of one-third of Jews - quite comfortably his party's best performance in 25 years and not far short of the 39 per cent won by Ronald Reagan in his landslide win in 1980.