Former President Trump led among Jewish voters in New York, a state that leans strongly Democratic.
A Siena Institute poll released Tuesday found that Trump garnered the support of 50 percent of New York’s Jewish voters, giving him a slight lead over Vice President Harris, who garnered the support of 49 percent of respondents.
While Trump’s lead is slim, it marks a dramatic shift from the former president’s outlook for Biden, who held a 52% to 46% lead among the state’s Jewish voters in June.
But the race has changed dramatically since the last poll, with Biden dropping out of the race last month and opting to quickly endorse Harris, who has quickly worked her way to securing the Democratic nomination.
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Trump and Harris’ 2024 presidential campaigns have run ads attacking each other over their policies on the southern US border. (Getty Images)
Harris’ rise to the top of the Democratic field comes as some Israeli supporters worry that her support for the Jewish state is beginning to wane, and some argue she has distanced herself from the Biden administration since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
In March, Harris became the first administration official to call for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict, and in an interview with ABC News later that month, she became the first administration official to warn of “consequences” if Israel went ahead with its planned incursion into the Gaza city of Rafah.
Harris was also questioned about her relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, particularly when she appeared to avoid a question about whether he was an “obstacle to peace.”
“I believe we must continue to do what we know is and should be a priority when it comes to what is happening in Gaza,” Harris responded. “We have been clear that too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. We have been clear that Israel and its people and the Palestinian people are entitled to equal security and dignity.”
Vice President Harris (Erin Shaff/Pool via Reuters/File)
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The poll came just before Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, the only Jew among the candidates, a move that sparked speculation that the choice was due to Shapiro’s unpopularity among Democrats, who have taken a more sympathetic stance toward Palestinians since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Nevertheless, Jewish voters have traditionally supported Democratic candidates for decades: Since 1968, Jewish voters have, on average, supported Democrats by a 71% margin to Republicans by 26% margin, according to an analysis by the American Enterprise Institute.
In 2020, Jewish voters supported Biden over Trump by 68% to 30%, while in 2016 the same group supported Clinton over Trump by 71% to 26%.
President Biden (Andrew Caballero Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images/File)
But the poll wasn’t all bad news for Harris, as she solidified her lead over Trump among the state’s overall voters. Tuesday’s poll showed Harris leading Trump among New York voters 53% to 39%, a significant improvement over the 8-10 point lead Biden had in previous polls.
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The Siena College Research Institute poll was conducted July 28-August 1 and surveyed 1,199 New York voters, 8% of whom were Jewish. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4.0 percentage points.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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