Quote:
Originally Posted by Crawford
It matters bc the voting patterns aren't the same. Orthodox Jews have voted 90%+ Dem in recent elections. They still vote mostly Dem for local electeds. They largely vote as a group, based on rabbinical guidance. Their biggest issue is free reign for their religious schuls, a non-issue in national GOP politics.
So yes, a red vote is a red vote, like a blue vote is a blue vote, but not all voters are the same. It's worth examining whether a GOP voter is from the Trump wing, or the traditional country club wing, or from a religious minority, as their motivations can be different.
And in the context of comparing affluent, educated suburban counties, it's worth mentioning, as such a voting bloc doesn't exist in any of these other suburban counties.
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I mean, you can make similar arguments about other groups, too. Union laborers used to vote solidly blue as a bloc in places like Northeastern and Eastern Ohio. Look at this map of the 2006 Ohio governor's race to see just how solidly blue this whole part of the state was, largely due to union influence. An Ohio election map like this in 2023 is unthinkable. It's remarkable how fast things can change, and the Orthodox are far from the only group who've changed political allegiances in recent elections.
You can see similar voting patterns in the '08 presidential race. Everything shifted in the waning years of Obama's second term, and now most of this part of the state is deep red, outside of the urban counties. These people still vote blue for some local elections, and have largely supported Ohio's democratic senator (Brown), while voting Republican for presidential and gubernatorial elections.
Latinos in the RGV in South Texas are another group that have flipped allegiances in recent elections. Cubans in South Florida have taken an even further step to the right lately. I don't see how Orthodox Jews are different from any other group when it comes to this discussion. I think they are used as an excuse to explain NY's rightward drift more than anything.