Walter Mondale, his Presidential hopes buried in Tuesday’s Reagan landslide, nevertheless carried New York City by a substantial margin with the help of a heavy turn-out of Jewish voters, according to a survey of districts with large Jewish populations.
Nationwide, according to most polls, Jews voted 70-30 in favor of the Democratic challenger, exceeded only by Blacks who gave 89 percent of their vote to Mondale. Other ethnic and religious groups voted overwhelmingly for Reagan, except Hispanics who supported Mondale only marginally.
The voter turn-out in the city and across the nation was substantially greater in 1984 than in 1980. In the latter year, more than 40 percent of the Jewish vote went to Reagan nationwide and he carried New York City by some 200,000 votes. This year, the President lost the city by more than 467,000 votes.
VOTES IN MANHATTAN AREAS
On Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a middle and upper middle class area heavily populated by Jews, Tuesday’s tally was 40,196 for Mondale and 13,433 for Reagan. Four years ago, President Carter took the Upper West Side by 8,550-2,131. The disparity in the number of votes cast there and in other areas in the two elections reflects the strong voter registration drive this year and the much larger turnout at the polls.
On the generally affluent Upper East Side, which also has a substantial Jewish population, Mondale won by 24,906 votes to Reagan’s 21,487. In 1980, Carter took the district by 14,075 to 9,505.
In Lower Manhattan-Greenwich Village, Mondale polled 39,529 votes to Reagan’s 11,889. The results four years ago were 18,192 for Carter to 6,885 for Reagan. In the Stuyvesant Town area which has a large enclave of middle class Jews, Mondale won by a vote of 32,371-18,299. In 1980, the district went to Carter by a much smaller margin — 12,873-10,715.
Jewish votes in the Washington Heights section in upper Manhattan helped Mondale to a lopsided win over Reagan by a margin of 25,559-4,305. Mondale took the Chelsea-Central Park West district by 34,800 to 13,591 votes.
In Co-Op City in the Bronx, a Jewish enclave with a large number of elderly and retired persons, Mondale won by 26,112-20,203, a margin of less than 6,000 votes compared to Carter’s 9,750 vote margin there in 1980.
The well-to-do Riverdale section of the Bronx, which has a large Jewish population, went for Mondale by a vote of 23,530-17,793. In 1980, Carter took the district by 15,152 votes against Reagan’s 8,229.
SITUATION IN BROOKLYN
Brooklyn, which is believed to have the largest Jewish population of all five boroughs, gave Mondale a winning margin of 132,000 votes. There the patterns of 1980 were repeated in that districts heavily populated by ultra-Orthodox and Hasidic Jews tended to favor the conservative-Reagan over his Democratic opponent.
In Boro Park, where Hasidim constitute the largest element of the Jewish population, Reagan beat Mondale by 20,387 to 10,201 votes. In 1980, Reagan took the district with 15,779 votes to Carter’s 8,773. Mondale carried Williamsburg, home of the Satmar Hasidim, by 14,282-12,494, a much smaller margin than Carter’s 12,802-3,112 win in 1980.
Reagan won strongly in Bensonhurst, a Brooklyn district where Jews and Italians are the largest ethnic groups. The results there were 18,757 for Reagan to Mondale’s 11,005 votes. Reagan took the district from Carter in 1980 by a smaller margin — 11,777-10,213.
But in Flatbush-Midwood, where Jews pre-dominate, including many Orthodox, Mondale swept Reagan by 15,324-6,225 votes. Carter won that district in 1980 by 11,093-5,845.
The Coney Island-Brighton Beach district went for Mondale Tuesday by a close 21,170-19,136 votes. Coney Island is heavily Black and Hispanic; Brighton Beach is overwhelmingly Jewish with a large population of Soviet-Jewish emigres which has earned it the sobriquet, “Little Odessa.”
THE VOTE IN QUEENS
The heavily Jewish populated Kew Gardens-Forest Hills district in Queens went for Mondale by 23,850-20,897 votes. Carter took the district from Reagan in 1980 by only 46 votes.
Rochdale Village-Howard Beach in Queens gave Mondale 31,258 votes to 8,842 for Reagan and in Fresh Meadows-Little Neck voters favored Mondale by 26,730-24,341. Both districts have substantial Jewish populations.
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.
