(1) Virginia’s Jewish voters placed little weight on Trump in this election;
(2) Republican Jews prioritized Israeli peace and security over Jewish Democrats; and
(3) Jewish Democrats placed greater importance than Republicans on the 1/6 insurrection.
[New York, NY – November 3rd, 2021] The American Jewish Congress conducted a flash exit poll of 400 Virginia Jewish voters on election eve November 2, 2021. This poll is part of our ongoing efforts to analyze and explain the Jewish vote in America through our Jewish Political Guide, the nation’s preeminent source of information about the issues that concern Jewish voters. A poll memo can be found below or downloaded HERE.
Jack Rosen, President the American Jewish Congress, commented: “The Jewish vote in Virginia mattered, with more than 150,000 Jewish Virginians and a margin of just under 70,000. We saw a decline in Jewish voter support for Democrats from the 2020 election by roughly 10%, yet still a convincing majority voted Democratic nonetheless. We also see that core issues of importance to the Jewish community, like antisemitism and support for Israel mattered, but as is typical, American Jews vote like Americans – on education, the economy, and health care first. It’s worth noting that Republican voters placed a greater weight on support for Israel and Democratic voters on dealing with the January 6th insurrection. It’s likely that these issues will continue to dominate the Jewish political debate in the years to come.”
The results of this flash exit poll provided a unique view on the key features of the Jewish vote, indicative in many ways of the general results in Tuesday’s gubernatorial race. This exit poll was conducted by soliciting responses by text message from a current list of Jewish voters in Virginia. From this list, we received over 400 responses indicating a vote for one of the two candidates. 63% of these Jewish voters had cast their ballot for Terry McAuliffe (D) and 37% for Glenn Youngkin (R).
Some key highlights from our exit poll on a sample of 400 Jewish voters are:
- 48% of those who voted for McAuliffe said his level of support for President Biden had some impact on their support for him.
- In contrast, only 36% of those who voted for Youngkin said his level of support for President Trump had any impact on their support for him.
- The most important issue was education and schools (17% of the weighted vote), with jobs & the economy as their second highest priority (16%), and Covid-19 and health care (13%) scoring third.
- Other important issues were climate change (12%), antisemitism (11%), the January 6th insurrection (11%), Israeli peace and security (10%), and racial justice (10%).
The American Jewish Congress, through our Jewish Political Guide, is proud to continue building an infrastructure to educate the nation’s voters, get out the Jewish vote, and inform on the main issues that concern Americans Jews. As we approach the 2022 midterm elections, we will be building on and expanding these programs.
Jewish Community Exit Poll for the Virginia Election (November 3, 2021)
This exit poll was conducted by soliciting responses by text message from a current list of Jewish voters in Virginia. From this list, we received over 400 responses indicating a vote for one of the two candidates. 63% of these Jewish voters had cast their ballot for Terry McAuliffe (D) and 37% for Glenn Youngkin (R).
48% of those who voted for McAuliffe said his level of support for President Biden had some impact on their support for him (27% said it had a lot of influence, 21% said it has a little influence, 52% said it had no influence).
In contrast, only 36% of those who voted for Glenn Youngkin said his level of support for former President Trump had any impact on their support for him (24% said it has a lot influence, 12% said it had a little influence, 64% said it has no influence).
We asked voters to rank a issues in order of importance to them. We then obtained an average weighted score for each issue: (1) based on its priority for all voters, (2) based on its priority for Democratic voters, and (3) based on its priority for Republican voters.
The most important issue overall, and for voters within each party, was education and schools (17% of the weighted vote). As a whole, Jewish voters listed jobs and the economy as their second highest priority (16%), followed by Covid-19 and health care (13%), climate change (12%), antisemitism and the January 6th insurrection (both at 11%), and racial justice and Israeli peace and security (both at 10%).
When considered by party there were some significant variations in priority.
Jewish Republican voters had significantly more cohesion around their priorities with greater priority given to education and schools, jobs and the economy, Israeli Peace and Security, and antisemitism. Climate change, racial justice and the January 6th Insurrection were low priority issues for Republicans.
Jewish Democratic voters were more diverse in their priorities leading most issues receiving a similar weighted score. There were no clearly agreed top priority issues, though antisemitism and Israeli Peace and Security were low priority issues.
| Issues | Democratic Voters Priority | Republican Voters Priority |
| Education & Schools | 15% | 20% |
| Covid-19 & Healthcare | 15% | 11% |
| Jobs & the Economy | 14% | 19% |
| Antisemitism | 10% | 13% |
| Israeli Peace & Security | 6% | 15% |
| January 6th Insurrection | 13% | 7% |
| Racial Justice | 13% | 7% |
| Climate Change | 15% | 8% |
