A new survey conducted by Nishma Research has revealed sharp political divides within the Orthodox Jewish community in the U.S., particularly between Modern Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews. The survey, which assessed presidential voting preferences amongUltra-Orthodox Jews and Modern Orthodox Jews, revealed a significant shift toward former President Donald Trump, especially among the Ultra-Orthodox.
While Modern Orthodox Jews are currently split in their support, with 55% backing Vice President Kamala Harris and 45% supporting Trump, the Ultra-Orthodox overwhelmingly favor the former president. An astounding 93% of them said they would vote for Trump, compared to just 7% who support Harris.
David Myers, a professor at UCLA and one of the study’s key contributors, commented on the results: “Non-Orthodox Jews continue to vote overwhelmingly for Democratic presidential candidates, but among Orthodox Jews—especially the Haredi—Republicans are far more popular. The issues of Israel and antisemitism are major drivers of this preference.”
The data suggests a growing trend toward Trump among Orthodox voters, with his overall share of support increasing from 73% in September 2023 to 77% in the latest survey. Among the Ultra-Orthodox, all age and gender groups strongly favor Trump, while the Modern Orthodox community shows more variability, with younger women leaning toward Harris and older men backing Trump.
The survey also highlighted the top issues shaping Orthodox political preferences. For both Modern Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox voters, Israel, antisemitism, and the economy rank highest. However, other concerns diverge, with the Modern Orthodox focusing more on American democracy, foreign affairs, and health care, while the Ultra-Orthodox are more concerned with crime, education, religious freedom, and immigration.
When it comes to views on the candidates’ Israel policies, 79% of respondents hold a positive view of Trump’s policies, while just 29% approve of President Joe Biden’s stance on Israel, and 17% support Harris’s policies on the issue.
Both Modern Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox voters place significant importance on local elections, with many splitting their vote between national and local candidates. Despite their overwhelming support for Trump at the presidential level, both groups tend to lean more Democratic in local elections.
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28 Responses
No one called me to ask who I’m voting for
Modern orthodox fakers. People who delete unwanted passages of the Torah as a way of life are not an example of how to live or vote
Nonsense. Everyone in my shul knows that Trump and Vance are a disaster and that they empower antisemites like Tucker, Kanye and Fuentes. Most frum people are afraid to express their true feelings because the rabid MAGA fanatics yell and scream and silence them. Most frum people cannot say publicly that they despise Trump because of the rabid backlash and lies of the Trump crowd but come November they will join all intelligent Americans and rid this country of Trunpism
How did they define modern orthodoxy in this survey? Is it self-described? Because some of those people aren’t really frum, sadly enough.
It’s really sad that some people can’t put their hate aside to pick the candidate that will be better for the Jewish people plain and simple. Because someone is arrogant and has a high ego we should instead vote for someone that shows zero sympathy towards Israel’s war against Terror and the hostages? Don’t you care about your own safety in America as a Jew? The Democrats already showed their true colors and if you vote for them you’re voting for your own death
@RebEmes
“Modern orthodox fakers. People who delete unwanted passages of the Torah as a way of life are not an example of how to live or vote”
Very nice, especially right before Rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur. You may be anonymous on the internet, but you’re certainly not anonymous before HKB”H.
A Jewish conservative is someone who is Jewish first and politically conservative second .
The liberal Jew is someone whose religion is liberalism and Jewish is second.
Who is this “Nishma” that did this “study”? well they are a progressive, pro-LGBT organization affiliated with the Open Orthodoxy Judaism movement. This survey was they said was paid for by an anonymous client. They also have a history of dubious studies, none that stood up to independent scrutiny and none that have followed proper polling procedures. In other words, they rig studies to fit what people pay for. We do know 86% of all Orthodox voted from Trump in 2020. Further every other survey on the Orthodox world shows the MO community voting 75%+ for Trump. But given their connections to Avi Weiss’s movement which now has tried to co-opt the term “modern orthodox” and consider real Modern Orthodox as “ultra-Orthodox” (a term no legit survey company would use), we can assume the Modern Orthodox in their survey are the Open Orthodox Heretics and not YU people
A significant percentage of those who this article defines as “ultra-orthodox” acknowledge they will vote as a block based on guidance from their rebbe without independently analyzing each candidate. MO are more likely to consider a wider range of issues and also generally are more aware of each candidate’s flaws and thus a greater percentage will support Harris over Trump.
If Trump and Vance wanted support from Jewish women, in particular, they would stop their seemingly nonstop barrage of misogynistic and racist comments and focus on substantive issues (which they are apparently unable to do).
@crazykanoiy
Trump 2024, if you vote for Harris you will have blood on you’re hands.
To crazykanoiy
Perhaps you daven in shtible with a bunch of crazy kanoiyim like you. I would rather side with Trump and those who you say he empowers then to side with Harris and her squad of jew and Israel haters, From the day Harris was anointed in a bloodless coup and propped up by the fake news media these her accomplishments She has proven to be a ra- ra cheerleader who can rile up a bunch of gullible nitwits.
She was the most unpopular vice president
She was against fracking but is now for it. But she says “she still has her values.”
She allowed millions of illegals to come into the country but she has the gall to say she tried to pass a bill to stop them. Don’t let them in in the first place.
As a senator, she had been among five original co-sponsors of the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act of 2019, which would have required car manufacturers to sell only zero-emission vehicles after 2040 or face civil penalties. Now she says she doesn’t endorse this position.
She was for defunding the police. Now of course she’s against it.
She snubbed Netanyahu by not attending his speech.
How anyone can vote for her is baffling unless perhaps you’re in the
Crazy Kanoiy minyon or you’re a true liberal that has a lev arul. (Which I don’t think exists)
Vote for Trump and be prepared to pay thousands more per year to cover all his tariffs on imports and trade wars. Vote for Trump and empower racists like Tucker Carlson, Michael Flynn and Charlie Kirk. Vote for Trump and get the guy who curses Bibi and says Abbas is a father like figure who wants peace more than Bibi and sends his Arab son in law to Michigan to get him the anti Israel vote. Vote for Harris and get expanded child care tax credit, new birth child cash assistance and childcare for young children. Plus you get a sane candidate who will not capitulate to Putin and desert our allies. You get a candidate who refuses to allow pro Palestinians speak at the DNC while Trump promoted a racist holocaust deniers to RNC prime time.
Yaakov4523 exactly you are 100% correct!
BTW Tucker is NOT an antisemite!!! I spoke to him at one of his events and he loves frum Jews!!!! Stop the slander. Yeah Fuentes and West are 2 crazy antisemites but tucker is NOT!
Crazykanoiy It’s time for us to stop leeching off programs. GO TO WORK!
crazykanoiy:
President Trump did tremendous good for this country including for Jews, too. Leave alone all the noise and nonsense.
Yidden are very smart and smart people don’t vote for a phony populist and his Ohio sidekick. Trump will lose NY and NJ. So unless you live in Michigan or PA you can knock yourself out screaming MAGA slogans and pledging allegiance to the Don but your vote won’t make a difference anyway. Frum voters in Michigan and PA are anyway a minuscule amount of the population. Trump will lose even if 93% support him which they don’t.
Jared Kusner is no longer with the Trump campaign. His influence that helped Israel abc Jews is a thing of the past. Now Trump’s Arab son in law Michael Boulos is the new point man. He is courting anti Israel elements in Michigan to vote Trump. Beware. As Mike Esper, John Kelly, John Bolton and General Milley have all said Trump is a danger and cannot be trusted. These men know him best.
Editors: Please delete crazykanoiy’s posts as they are putting us in danger of antisemitism. “Trump’s arab son in law” – that’s a disgusting comment, Trump is the best president we’ve ever had and who cares if his SIL is arab? They guy is a big republican just like us! Just stop spouting your hatred and racism and get on board the MAGA train!!
Joey Dweck apparently has a problem with facts he finds uncomfortable. Yes, Trump has put his Arab son in law and his father in charge of outreach to the uncommitted anti Israel voters in Michigan. Just a few weeks ago a GOP aligned group targeted Muslims in Dearborn with ads highlighting VP Harris as to pro Israel. Apparently the fact that Tucker Carlson has promoted Holocaust denial and has publicly accused Jews of being the drivers of replacement theory does not mean that Tucker is an anti Semite because Mr. Dweck once met him. And Tucker has never used his platform to advocate for Israel only for American isolationism. Denying reality and trying to shut down uncomfortable facts is not something that helps keep people informed or educated. And lastly I do work and that is why I will never support Trump’s horrible tariffs that will put up prices on everything for everyone and spark a deliberating trade war.
Hmm. So according to R’ Joey Trump just happened to pick a random son in law to outreach to anti Israel Arabs in Michigan. The fact that his son in law is an Arab had nothing to do with this decision. It just a random irrelevant coincidence. “He is a Republican just like us” We are Jews not Republicans.
How does one define Modern Orthodox. By one definition, it means that one keeps kosher outside the home, men wear yarmulkes at all times and married women cover their hair in public, children go to Jewish day schools, Shabbos is strictly observed (even if it has an high economic cost), and you say hallel on Israeli independence day. By another definition, it means you belong to an Orthodox shul, defined as one that use a siddur (excluding one approved by the Conservative movement) even if you almost never go to said shul, don’t keep kosher and largely ignore Shabbos and have a lifestyle in which halacha plays a minimal role.
The facts are any real Das torah will tell you to vote for trump, doesn’t matter what the label is modern, frum, Ultra frum, and anyone who votes for Harris is actually going against the Torah!
How about you actually ask daas Torah instead of assuming you know what “every daas Torah” would say. Daas Torah is not daas frum media punditry. The real chutzpah is that MAGA people will belittle any gadol who says anything publicly against their preferred candidate. Personally I know of a leading gadol who said in 2020 Boruch Hashem Trump lost. I know another leading rov who says that J6 was one of the worst days in American history
Let me tell you something crazykanoiy. Arabs are religious people who don’t like the LGBT garbage that is going on in public schools. Indeed, they should vote Trump like anyone who has normal family values. I love Eretz Yisrael but l ma’aseh I am here in America and don’t care about isolationism. I think it makes perfect sense for an american patriot to put AMERICA FIRST! A leader that gives other countries billions while there are millions of people at home struggling to make basic ends meet, is a treasonous leader.
You are just expressing the same confusion many modern ashkenazim have (sorry I love you guys and I have ashkenaz family). That confusion is that you support any politician, even the worst person who votes to make it mandatory to teach LGBT stuff in public schools, as long as they are “good for Israel”. That’s messed up.
Yaakov shows a lack of respect for daas Torah when he says any real daas Torah supports Trump. Implying that any gadol who holds otherwise is not real daas Torah. Gedolei Torah understand the very real danger that Trump poses
The more crazy the secular world is, the more seeps into our community. I know modern orthodox people who’s daughters think that being trans is normal because that’s what they see on social media. Any politician like Trump or DeSantis who will stop this has my vote. Tbh the normality of my family and my values is wayyy more important to me than support for the secular Israeli government. Vivek said it the way it is, America should stop telling Israel what to do, let them take care of the issues themselves.
Reb Joey, First of all Arabs are an ethnicity not a religion.. Perhaps you are confusing Arab with Muslim. Second Trump’s Arab son in law is working to get the uncommitted movements vote. The Arab uncommitted movement is not advocating for family social issues but against Israel and it’s war in Gaza. Your point about family values is irrelevant. Third your American First patriots like Tucker will quickly apply the same logic and stop giving billions of dollars in
aid to Israel r”l thereby putting the entire country at risk. They threw Ukraine under the bus and their logic would dictate the same for Israel r”l. Trump removed all the traditional family values stuff from the RNC platform so if it is LGBTQ issues that bother you I don’t understand your avid support for the man who led public cheers for the lifestyle of Peter Theil at the RNC. Lastly politicians don’t control secular culture. Washington is not Hollywood.
Reb Joey if you care about your values then raise your kids in a good frum environment. Stop pretending that non Jewish values of Trump and DeSantis are our values. Be mechanech your kids and don’t rely of goyish politicians to do it for you.