OPINION:
Two years ago, the Republican Jewish Coalition leadership understood that in the 2024 presidential election, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Michigan and Georgia would be the top battleground states with electorally significant Jewish voting populations.
We knew that Jewish voters, with one of the highest turnout rates among demographic groups, could tip the balance to victory in those states. The coalition was determined to build the largest voter outreach program undertaken in the Jewish community to get out the Jewish vote for former President Donald Trump in those key states. We delivered on that goal.
Nationally, Mr. Trump received the highest percentage of the Jewish vote of any Republican presidential candidate since 1988, at 32%. That’s up from the 30% he received in 2020 and the 24% he received in 2016. Mr. Trump won every battleground state, and there, the numbers were even higher.
According to the AP/Fox News exit poll, Mr. Trump won 38% of the Jewish vote in Arizona and 42% of the Jewish vote in Nevada — up from 30% and 22%, respectively, in 2020. In Pennsylvania, Mr. Trump won a staggering 41% of the Jewish vote, according to the Honan Group exit poll — up from 26% in 2020.
These numbers reflect the effective ground operation and paid media campaign that the coalition implemented in those states, as well as the sophisticated data modeling and Jewish voter microtargeting that were the foundation of everything we did.
Over the last few years, the coalition has assembled the most accurate Jewish voter file ever. We identified Jewish voters, how likely they were to vote for Mr. Trump and which issues were most important to them. Then we crafted email, text and direct mail materials for persuadable voters. We deployed well-tested ads on cable and broadcast TV, streaming services and social media. Our data is so good that we were able to send our ads to specific households we wanted to reach, whether they watched broadcast or cable TV, used a streaming service on their computer or had a smart TV.
Thousands of coalition volunteers made phone calls and knocked on doors in the battleground states, and because of the quality of our data, they reached a Jewish voter with their calls and knocks 85%-90% of the time — a significant improvement from the campaign tactics of yesteryear, which were lucky to get 20%.
Then, we pivoted to a gargantuan “get out the vote” program, using the same cutting-edge data and comprehensive methods to get our targeted voters to cast their ballots. Our efforts got the attention of voters and made news nationwide. CNN embedded with our door-knocking volunteers in Pennsylvania, and The Associated Press covered our Michigan efforts.
Our final ad, “Deli Talk,” was featured on Fox News and in The New York Times, was the subject of conversation in the national press and was widely covered by Jewish and mainstream media outlets.
Internally, we called that “the permission ad.” It gave voters permission to vote for Mr. Trump, even if they didn’t particularly like everything he said. We argued Mr. Trump would keep them safe. It especially spoke to Jewish women, who are deeply concerned about their children and grandchildren’s safety at a time when antisemitism in this country has spiked dramatically.
The election results in the battleground states are corroborated by the results in other states with large Jewish populations, where Mr. Trump also did well. In deep-red Florida, he took 44% of the Jewish vote, and in deep-blue New York, he took 46% of the Jewish vote.
More granular voting data in areas with densely Jewish populations showed incredible support for Mr. Trump in Michigan’s Jewish neighborhoods. In New York’s Ramapo Precinct 55, which has one of the highest Jewish voter concentrations in the country, Mr. Trump won 966 of 968 votes cast. The Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Lakewood, New Jersey, gave Mr. Trump more than 96% of its votes. According to California precinct data, Jewish neighborhoods in Los Angeles also strongly supported Mr. Trump.
Already, we’re seeing the gratifying results of the high Jewish vote for the GOP. Mr. Trump is assembling a team of pro-Israel appointees such as Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for secretary of state, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for U.S. ambassador to Israel, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida for national security adviser.
These are individuals with the moral clarity, character and experience to protect America’s interests and implement the pro-Israel, pro-national security policies that Mr. Trump will implement. Americans will be safer and more prosperous in the next four years. The Republican Jewish Coalition and Jewish voters were important in returning better days to our beloved America.
Let there be no doubt: The coalition delivered. The Jewish vote showed up in 2024 for President-elect Donald Trump.
• Matt Brooks is CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, the national grassroots organization of Jewish Republicans. Learn more at www.RJCHQ.org.
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