A new get out the vote initiative called Pennsylvania United, funded to the tune of $250,000, is aimed at mobilizing Orthodox Jews to vote in what is considered a must-win state for both candidates for President, according to the Huffington Post.
Pennsylvania is considered by many to be the tipping point state for both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. President Biden won it by around 80,000 votes in 2020 and around 44,000 votes in 2016.
With the election considered to be a close race, every vote counts in the critical swing states, and the aim of Pennsylvania United is to show the power of the small but highly motivated Orthodox community in Pennsylvania.
Politicians are "going to see that this is a community that votes and votes at a super-majority rate, and punches above their weight,” said Maury Litwack, executive director of Teach Coalition, the Orthodox Union’s private education and voter turnout advocacy branch. “They’ll say to themselves, ‘OK, this is a group that I have to pay attention to."
Though Jews have traditionally voted Democratic since the 1920s and especially the 1930s, the degree has shifted substantially over the years and known its ups and downs, with Ronald Reagan famously winning a plurality of the vote (39%) when liberal Jews split the vote between Jimmy Carter and Independent John Anderson.
Teach Coalition, the umbrella group behind Pennsylvania United, recently released a poll showing remarkably tight numbers for the race in the state - 55% pro-Harris and 43% pro-Trump. National polls are divided on this issue, with some showing support above 30% for Trump and others around 25%.
Either way, the Orthodox Jewish community is learning to flex its political muscles in a changing and challenging political environment.