Political Poll of the American Orthodox Jewish Community, Nishma Research, January 14-26, 2020

Key Findings:

This survey was conducted in order to help shed light on the Orthodox community’s political views, including an exploration of the differences between the Modern Orthodox views and those of the Haredi community as well as differences within Modern Orthodoxy. 

For all of orthodoxy, 54% identify as Republican/Conservative/Libertarian and 33% as Democrat/Liberal. While Haredi more often are on the “right” (65%), Modern Orthodox more often are on the “left” (52%).

President Trump

Regarding the 2016 Presidential Vote, the total Orthodox vote was Trump 50% and Clinton 38%. A majority of Modern Orthodox voted for Clinton, while a comparable majority of Haredi voted for Trump. 

Trump’s overall Orthodox approval rating is 55%, which is higher than that of the U.S. public as a whole (which has trended in the low-to-mid 40s).  Furthermore, approval is much higher among Haredi (68%) than among Modern Orthodox (36%).

Both Modern Orthodox and Haredi rate the Administration better on foreign issues – particularly those affecting Israel – than domestic issues. About 20% more Haredi, on average, rate the Administration’s performance as excellent.

There is strong support of the Administration’s actions affecting Israel among Haredi, and moderate support among Modern Orthodox (69% and 46% “fully support,” respectively and 15% more on average “tend to support.”)   

For the 2020 Election, Trump is preferred against every Democrat, with only Michael Bloomberg coming close for orthodox respondents. Among Haredi, Trump is a landslide winner against every Democrat, while Modern Orthodox prefer every Democrat except for Sanders. Additionally, there is strong agreement across Orthodoxy that candidates’ views on Israel are a very important factor affecting how they will vote.

Two-thirds (across all of Orthodoxy) view anti-Semitism as a serious problem.