The support Jews have shown for Gov. Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts in the Democratic presidential primaries continued Tuesday in Pennsylvania.
Dukakis received 89 percent of the Jewish vote, according to a poll by The New York Times/CBS News. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the only other remaining contender for the Democratic nomination, received 7 percent of the Jewish vote.
Accept for blacks, who voted 95 percent for Jackson, all other demographic groups in Pennsylvania voted overwhelmingly for Dukakis. As in the previous primaries, the Jewish vote for Dukakis was the highest percentage of any group.
This trend has been evident since Super Tuesday March 10, when a poll of 14 Southern and border states showed that Dukakis received 65 percent of the Jewish vote, the only group that gave him more than 50 percent.
In the strongest demonstration of support on Super Tuesday, Dukakis received 80 percent of the Jewish vote in Florida as well as the major share of the Jewish vote in Maryland and his home state of Massachusetts.
In the New York primary April 19, where Jewish voters turned out in record numbers, Dukakis received 77 percent of their vote. Sen Albert Gore Jr. of Tennessee, who made a major effort to win the Jewish vote, received only 16 percent.
LIGHT TURNOUT
While the turnout in New York was large, the Pennsylvania vote was light, especially among blacks in Philadelphia, indicating that most Democrats believe that after the New York primary, Dukakis has the nomination all but wrapped up.
Dukakis now has 1,255 of the 2,081 delegates needed for the nomination. Jackson has 856 delegates.
The Republican primary in Pennsylvania assured Vice President George Bush of the GOP nomination. He now has 1,156 delegates, 17 more than needed for nomination.
The strong Jewish support in the primaries for Dukakis, whose wife Kitty is Jewish, would indicate that he should win the Jewish vote in November. But much may depend on what kind of role Jackson is given, especially if he is given a say in foreign affairs.
On the Republican side, Bush is the candidate with the most difficulties in the Jewish community. His public comments so far have stressed that he supports the close relationship the Reagan administration has developed with Israel.
But analyses in the general, as well as the Jewish, press have predicted that Bush would seek to move closer to the Arab countries and take the “even-handed” approach advocated by State Department Arabists.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
