By Halie Soifer in Washington, D.C.
Over the past three weeks, I’ve traversed the country with six stops on the East and West Coasts, as well as the Midwest, to discuss the Jewish vote in the midterms. I’ve met with rabbis, younger voters, older voters, committed activists, political skeptics, Democrats, Independents, and Republicans, and I’ve received one consistent message – Jewish Americans view Donald Trump as an anathema, his unchecked power as a threat, and his extreme political agenda as antithetical to our values.
Even more than the American electorate broadly, where Donald Trump’s approval rating is hovering at a mere 36%, three out of four Jewish voters disapprove of the chaos, cruelty, and corruption of Trump’s second term. For nearly seven out of ten Jewish voters, that translates into support for Democrats in the midterms. At the same time, our overwhelming rejection of Donald Trump oversimplifies the Jewish vote.
Something else I’ve heard this election cycle is a sense of “political homelessness” among some Jewish voters. They are firmly opposed to Donald Trump and the Republican Party he controls, but also disenchanted with Democrats because of the far-left. Some have bought into the GOP narrative of socialists or radicals controlling the Democratic Party, which is patently untrue and part of the Republican disinformation campaign fueled by their desperation ahead of the midterms.
Here’s what is true: A handful of Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) candidates won Democratic primaries in deep blue districts, and they are nowhere near a majority of the Democrats running in the general election. Specifically, with 435 House seats and 33 Senate seats on the ballot in the midterms, exactly 10 Democrats on the ballot in November have been endorsed by the DSA and its chapters.
There are approximately 15 Democrats on the ballot for Congress who represent DSA and the far-left, comprising 3 – 4% of Democrats running in the midterms. The far-left is not even close to constituting a majority, nor is it represented by Democratic Party leadership, and the path to Democrats winning back control of Congress runs through the center. Most of the Democrats positioned to flip seats from red to blue are so mainstream and moderate, they’ll likely win over Independents and Republican voters, including the one-in-four who regret their vote for Trump in 2024.
Jewish Americans are a complex community, and of course there is nuance when it comes to how we vote, especially when it comes to Israel and related issues that have emerged. Israel has long been considered a “threshold issue” for Jews, meaning that a candidate will have to demonstrate they are sufficiently aligned with Jewish voters’ views. Once that threshold is met – or in most cases, exceeded – Jewish voters will vote on the domestic policy issues where there’s the biggest distinction between candidates or parties. In 2026, the top three priority voting issues for Jewish voters are all domestic: cost-of-living/affordability, the future of democracy, and antisemitism.
Polling also demonstrates that a majority of Jewish Americans are emotionally attached to Israel while also critical of the current Israeli government, which appears to be the same complex dichotomy shared by most Democratic candidates and members of Congress. Specifically, according to a recent poll of Jewish voters, just 27% of Jewish voters approve of Prime Minister Netanyahu – only two points higher than those who approve of Donald Trump – while 71% of us also have an emotional attachment to Israel. These two views coexist for most Jewish American voters, just as they do for many Democrats running for office in the midterms.
Most Democrats are supportive of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state, and support the people and security of Israel, while harboring deep concern about humanitarian issues in Gaza and the West Bank, the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians, and the war with Iran. This has translated into a larger number of Democrats opposing certain types of arms sales and military assistance for Israel than ever before, culminating in a handful of votes against military aid and arms sales over the past two years.
While JDCA opposes cuts, conditions, or restrictions on U.S. aid or arms sales to Israel, we also recognize that many of the Democrats who have supported such measures continue to fundamentally support Israel and stand with the Jewish community, while opposing the policies of Prime Minister Netanyahu. In this sense, Democrats appear to be reflecting general dissatisfaction among Jews themselves with the current Israeli government. Two out of three American Jews disapprove of the current Israeli government’s policy related to the West Bank and Gaza, and this is where a majority of Democrats appear to stand on the issue as well.
JDCA only supports Democrats, but we do not support all Democrats. In 2026, we have endorsed more than 170 Democrats who share our values, and we have not endorsed the small number of Democrats who refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, campaigned with antisemites, and/or support a full arms embargo on Israel. Those positions are a bridge too far for us, but they also represent distinctly outlier views that are not represented by the majority or the party’s leadership.
Democrats have never had a stronger set of candidates running than they do in the 2026 midterms. This is why it’s now possible that they may take back control of both the House and Senate, and win over voters, states, and districts that overwhelmingly went for Trump just two years ago. It’s also important to keep in mind that in districts where the Jewish vote will be decisive – such as NY-17, with a 20 percent Jewish voting population – the differences on Israel between the Democratic and Republican candidates, veteran Cait Conley and incumbent Rep. Mike Lawler, are negligible. The election will therefore be determined by the domestic policy issues driving the Jewish vote, and voters will remember that Mike Lawler voted with Donald Trump nearly 100% of the time, including on last year’s bill depriving 14 million Americans of healthcare.
Ultimately, Jewish voters are voting on issues aligned with our values, including ahavat hager, welcoming the stranger, not shooting them in the street or deporting them to countries they’ve never heard of. We’re voting to defend cherut, or freedom and democracy, not to restrict freedom and engage in voter suppression and election subversion. And we’re voting to uphold the principle of tzedek tzedek tirdof, to pursue justice, not evade, manipulate, and weaponize it. These values are on the ballot in 2026, and the contrast between the two sides is stark.
Elections are a binary choice, and American Jews know that when the fundamentals of our democracy are imperiled, insecurity for Jews and other marginalized communities will follow. Defeating Trump-aligned Republicans – which is all of them – in the midterms may be the only way to preserve our democracy going forward, which is paramount for our country, our community, and our future. In 2026, there aren’t different shades of gray when it comes to Republican support of Trump. One hundred percent of the GOP candidates are aligned with him and have complicitly allowed his persistent attacks on our democracy over the past nearly two years.
For all these reasons and more, Jewish voters will continue to overwhelmingly support Democrats in the midterms, but it’s not something we can take for granted. That’s why we at JDCA are doing the hard work to ensure that’s the case by engaging more than a million Jewish voters in key districts and states. We are also working to ensure the Democratic Party remains the political home for Jewish voters now and in the future, because that’s not something we take for granted either. The work is hard, but it’s also meaningful, important, and imperative, and we hope you’ll join us by supporting our efforts.
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Halie Soifer is the CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America.