The Jewish Vote’s Contribution to the Democratic Margins in the 2008 Presidential Campaign

• The Obama margin in the Jewish community (78%-21% per the exit poll) was greater than expected.
• In individual states, the Jewish vote was a significant portion of the overall Obama margin in 2008.
• Though as of November 7, 2008 we do not have state exit poll data on the Jewish vote, past elections have not shown large variations between the national Jewish numbers and the numbers in any individual state.
• In Florida, the Jewish margin was more than the margin of victory for Obama.
• Assuming that the Jewish margin in a given state was the same as the national Jewish margin (78%-21%) we can estimate how many votes the Jewish community contributed to the democratic margins in the following states: