Jewish voters in such key states as New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio helped contribute the deciding edge yesterday that enabled Jimmy Carter to eke out a slim victory over President Ford, according to incomplete results.
Carter’s headquarters in Atlanta today said that the Jewish vote for the former Georgia Governor totalled 75 percent. This is midway between the 85 percent received by Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey in 1968 and the 65 percent given to Sen. George McGovern in 1972.
In New York City where a heavy plurality won the state for Carter, the Democratic candidate received 80 percent of the vote, according to some estimates. Carter did very well in heavily Jewish areas of Brooklyn, Manhattan and The Bronx.
Carter’s headquarters said that in the heavily Jewish areas of Philadelphia which are represented by Democratic Rep. Joshua Eilberg, Carter won with 70-75 percent of the vote.
In the Cleveland suburb of Cleveland Heights, Carter’s headquarters said he won 80 percent of the vote. But a breakdown of 13 heavily Jewish precincts in the Cleveland suburbs of South Euclid, Beachwood and University Heights, found that Carter won by a slim margin of 3361 to 2886 votes. However, Howard M. Metzenbaum, the successful Democratic candidate for the Senate who comes from the Cleveland area, carried these precincts by a 6-1 margin.
The Jewish vote in Michigan was estimated to have split fairly evenly between Carter and Ford despite a heavy Democratic registration by Jews in that state. One of the reasons given was a sentimental appreciation for Ford, who is from Michigan and was one of the pioneer supporters of Israel during his 35 years in the House of Representatives.
Carter’s headquarters also noted that the Democratic candidate received heavy Jewish votes in the Miami Beach area. One large Jewish section of North Dade County gave him an 80-20 percent margin while the almost predominantly Jewish area of South Miami Beach gave him votes ranging from 65 to 78 percent. In New Jersey’s Essex County, where some 95,000 Jews live, Carter won by a 75-25 percent margin. In Boston, the Jewish vote was estimated at 70 percent for Carter.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
