Trump Received Only 21% of the Jewish Vote, Largest Preliminary Exit Poll Finds

The first rule of exit polls is to be careful about interpreting early exit polls, which aren’t always accurate.

The second rule is that, for now at least, they represent the best information we have about the question occupying Jews of all political persuasions: How many Jews voted for Donald Trump? And how many voted for Kamala Harris?

In recent decades, between 20 percent and 30% of American Jews have supported Republicans in national elections. The GOP hit a high-water mark in 1980 when Ronald Reagan won some 40% of Jewish votes, but the more typical split makes Jews among the most reliably Democratic demographics in the United States.

But this year, with some Jews feeling alienated from the left and others all-in on the right due to Israel, some speculated that Trump could post an unusually strong showing among Jewish voters.

Initial polls suggest that is not the case. The National Election Pool, which produces an exit poll for a consortium of major news organizations, found that 79% of Jews said they voted Democratic, compared to 21% who voted Republican.

[...] If accurate, the National Election Pool’s result would be the lowest proportion of Jewish votes for a Republican presidential candidate in 24 years.