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A newsletter focusing on the 2020 election and American Jews
Jews as Campaign Donors: Follow the Money:
A new JTA story on the top 15 Jewish campaign donors points to the high profile role played by Jews in the 2020 campaign.[1] As has been noted in earlier reports in this series, Jews play a significant role as political funders for candidates, causes, and campaigns.
Jews as “Democrats”:
Political scientist Herb Weisberg laid out the case for why Jews will continue in 2020 to vote “Democratic”. Drawing both upon his own recent publication, The Politics of American Jews (2019) and the work of University of Florida Professor Kenneth Wald on American Jewish Liberalism (2019), Weisberg lays out the basis for Jewish liberal voting.[2]
Another key news story also focusing on Jews and the Democratic Party appeared in this past week’s Jewish Journal.[3]
Jewish Voting Priorities:
A study this summer of Jewish voters noted the following election priorities:[4]
New Gun Safety Laws (56%)
Protecting Social Security and Medicare (54%)
Lowering Healthcare Costs (48%)
US-Israel Relationship (24%)
New Findings Dealing with anti-Semitism:
Antisemitism and white nationalism are considered by America’s Jews to be top priorities:
More than 40% of Jewish voters believe fighting antisemitism (47%) and white nationalist violence (45%).
Two-thirds (67%) view antisemitism as a “major problem” in America today.
Voters believe antisemitism has increased in the last four years, including 63% who say it has increased a lot.
Election Enthusiasm:
Seventy-nine percent of Jewish voters believe this year’s elections are “much more important than usual,” and more than 90% of every Jewish subgroup believes the 2020 elections are at least somewhat more important than usual.
Upcoming Events
Join us on October 8th: The 2020 Elections and the Jewish Vote
Thursday, October 8 at 5pm
The results of the November election are not only important for us as a society, but also for our own community. Join us on Zoom where guest speaker Dr. Steven Windmueller will be sharing a nonpartisan election analysis designed to educate about the diverse and significant roles Jews have played and continue to play in American politics. Dr. Windmueller's work in Jewish political behavior has been central to his research and writings. His 2014 book, The Quest for Power, seeks not only to define the nature of Judaism as a political system but to demonstrate how Jews have historically governed themselves over the course of their complex historical journey. This event is part of our Power Through Voting series.
See all upcoming events here.
[2] https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/will-american-jews-continue-to-vote-democratic-in-2020/
[3] https://jewishjournal.org/2020/08/27/jews-are-likely-to-stick-to-their-democratic-roots/
Steven Windmueller is the Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk Emeritus Professor of Jewish Communal Studies at the Jack H. Skirball Campus of HUC-JIR. His writings, including his previous Wind Election Reports can be found on his website: www.thewindreport.com.