RJC elevates converted Republican voters despite data showing support for Democrats

The lights dimmed in the ballroom on Thursday during the Republican Jewish Coalition, where a tongue-in-cheek video mocking Jewish Democrats voting for Vice President Kamala Harris started the segment on disenchanted Democrats changing their alliance with former president Donald Trump. 

"I'm a Jewish Democrat, and I'm voting for Kamala because if Iran supports her, I support her," the woman in the video lampooned. 

"I'm a Jewish Democrat voting for Kamala because Jews vote Democrat. I'm a Jewish Democrat voting for Kamala when it comes to Israel, despite Donald Trump moving the embassy to Jerusalem, the historic Abraham Accords, Biden and Kamala flip-flopping on Israel, but I'm convinced Kamala will do a better job," she continued. 

Following the video, Maren Faiella took the stage and introduced herself as not a politician but as a "Jewish woman from New York," where she was a registered Democrat.

"But since October 7, I've officially changed parties to be registered Republican," Faiella said to thunderous applause. 

Faiella described herself as the same woman with different priorities, as she's still pro-choice. 

"I know I'm not alone in this, but my number one concern is our safety, the sanctity of our democracy. Wemust preserve and protect our western democratic values here and abroad," she said. "Without that, we can't fight for any rights. I know in my heart President Donald Trump did, and will again, implement politics that will strengthen this country and keep us safe."

Faiella said she's "incredibly worried" that if Harris gets the chance, she'll put US democracy and Jewish lives at serious risk.

Faiella represents a faction of Jewish American voters who voted against Trump in both 2016 and 2020, but are continuously fearful of the Democrat's handling of the left-most faction of their party. 

Converted Democrats 

While Faiella, joined with another Democrat-turned-Republican and prominent activist Shabbos Kestenbaum, are given a platform at the RJC and the support for them is palpable, polling data doesn't suggest most Jewish Americans who are registered Democrats will give up their party allegiance.

In the American Jewish Committee's annual survey, released in June of this year before President Biden withdrew from the campaign, 61% of American Jews said they would vote for Biden compared to the 23% who said they'd vote for Trump.   

A survey from the Jewish Electorate Institute conducted in April and released in August found 67% of Jewish voters would vote for Biden over Trump. The same survey found Biden is trusted far more than Trump to fight antisemtiism. 

The JEI survey also found Jews hold positive views of Biden and Democrats and are negative toward Trump and Republicans. 

Both Jewish Democratic groups and the RJC are committing substantial efforts to tug at both the Democratic favorability as well as the undecided voter. 

Jewish polling data with Harris at the top of the ticket has not yet been released. 

Jewish Democratic Coalition of America launched its second major ad buy this campaign cycle in the seven key battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

JDCA's ad is its third iteration comparing the rise of Trump to the rise of fascism in 1930s Europe, with previous versions running in 2020 and 2022.

It's not a coincidence the ad was released the day before Trump said he would be addressing the American Jewish community at the RJC, JDCA Halie Soifer told The Post. 

The ad is slated to run through the election, though Soifer said she wouldn't be surprised if JDCA needs to create a new version in a few weeks because of the antisemitic remarks she expects Trump to say at RJC.

"We've seen him speak to the RJC before, and going back to 2015, he says antisemitic things nearly every time he addresses Jews, but especially in his speeches before the RJC. We wanted to remind Jewish American voters that he is an antisemite and an aspiring dictator," she said. 

According to JDCA, its PAC plans to spend more than $1 million on ads against Trump.  

On Thursday, RJC Chairman Sen. Norm Coleman said RJC is committed to raising $5 million to Trump's campaign.

"We're in the midst of a $15 million independent expenditure rank of high number for any Jewish group in a presidential campaign, an historic effort to mobilize the Jewish community in support of President Trump this November," Coleman said.

RJC also has staff on the ground in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania.  

RJC spokesperson Sam Markstein called JDCA's ad "disgusting" and that JDCA should be "ashamed and embarrassed for using Hitler imagery and the Holocaust to try to score cheap political points."

Markstein slammed JDCA for its low spending compared to RJC, calling the group "an irrelevant organization."

Soifer shot at RJC, saying they're not making any headway with Jewish voters despite what they might say. 

Soifer said, "The numbers just simply don't show that."