Exit Pollsters Didn’t Bother Asking Jewish Voters About Iran War Views

Not a single exit major exit poll from the midterm elections asked Jewish voters about their views of the Iran war despite pre-election polling showing they opposed the conflict, a Daily Caller News Foundation review of publicly available data found.

Voters soured on President Donald Trump’s handling of the war in Iran, which contributed to Democrats’ major victories on Election Night. While exit polls showed that Jewish voters voted overwhelmingly Democratic, they did not measure how they viewed the Iran war after previous pre-election polling indicated their opposition to the Middle East conflict.

The DCNF reviewed exit polls conducted by NBC News, CNN, SSRS, J Street and CBS News. The exit pollsters didn’t respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

A J Street poll from March 30 found that 60% of American Jews opposed the Iran war and 77% did not believe Trump had a “clear plan and mission for the war in Iran,” but no such data could be found from Tuesday’s exit polls, according to the DCNF’s review of exit polling.

Exit polls from NBC News and CNN found that 68% of Jewish voters supported Democrats and 31% supported Republicans. They made up 3% of the religious demographics. Seventy-eight percent of Jewish voters voted Democratic during the 2024 election, according to an NBC News exit poll.

Fifty percent of Jewish voters said support for Israel was too strong, 37% said it was just right and 13% said it was not strong enough, according to an SSRS summary of exit polls from CNN and NBC.

A GBAO survey sponsored by left-leaning Jewish organization J Street found that 72% of Jewish respondents supported Democratic candidates, while 24% supported Republicans. It found that most Jewish voters viewed the future of democracy, the cost of living and the economy as the two most important issues. Six respondents named the Iran war as their top issue.

The survey did not ask voters whether they supported or opposed the Iran war. A J Street poll from March 30 found that 60% of American Jews opposed the Iran war. Seventy-seven percent did not believe Trump had a “clear plan and mission for the war in Iran.”

Thirty-four percent of voters viewed the war as a “crucial” factor in their vote, while 40% said it was a major factor, according to the NBC News exit poll. A CBS News exit poll showed most voters believed entering the war was the wrong decision, including about a quarter of Republicans.