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Bush gains votes in heavily democratic jewish florida counties { November 10 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-pprecincts10nov10,0,3453139.story?coll=sfla-news-browardhttp://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-pprecincts10nov10,0,3453139.story?coll=sfla-news-broward
Bush fared better with Jewish vote
By Josh Hafenbrack
Staff Writer
November 10, 2004
Are Jewish voters, a venerable Democratic voting bloc in South Florida, becoming less politically monolithic?
The question is up for debate after President Bush showed modest gains in the Jewish vote in nationwide exit polls, snagging about 24 percent of Jewish voters compared with 19 percent four years ago.
In Palm Beach County, Election Day results show Bush may have made inroads among the county's large Jewish community, although it isn't clear precisely how well the president fared, according to data released this week by the Supervisor of Elections office. Both parties say Bush's gains among Jewish voters helped him increase his percentage -- to 39 percent from 35.4 percent four years ago -- in the heavily Democratic county.
For example, in 18 predominantly Jewish precincts west of Boca Raton and Delray Beach, Bush garnered about one-third of the votes on Election Day. Democratic challenger John Kerry had 9,811 votes to Bush's 4,872 in those neighborhoods west of Military Trail between Glades and Clint Moore roads in Boca Raton and along Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach.
Even with Kerry's decisive 2-to-1 majority in those Democratic bastions, Republicans rejoiced at the numbers.
"We're just thrilled with everything in the Jewish vote," said county Republican Chairman Sid Dinerstein.
The precinct information only includes results from the 404,666 people who voted on Election Day -- not the 140,674 voters who cast ballots through early or absentee voting. About 72 percent of early voters and 58 percent of absentee voters went for Kerry.
There are about 265,000 Jews in Palm Beach County, 135,000 of whom are clustered in Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Highland Beach, according to the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. South Florida is home to the nation's second-largest Jewish population after New York.
In the tightest local race, the precinct breakdown revealed how Republican County Commissioner Warren Newell kept his seat: He won Lake Worth precincts by enough votes to offset gains made by challenger Harriet Lerman in and west of Boynton Beach. Newell won by a razor-thin 551 votes.
To be sure, Kerry, who garnered 60.4 percent of the overall vote in Palm Beach County, fared extremely well in Jewish communities considered ardently Democratic. In Kings Point west of Delray Beach and Century Village communities west of Boca Raton and West Palm Beach, Kerry had 85 percent majorities. In those areas, anti-Republican sentiment runs deeps.
"I don't like the [Republican mentality] that the rich get no taxes and the poor and the middle class get nothing," said Roz Ezratty, a Kerry supporter in Boca Raton Century Village. "The attitude toward those who don't have is dreadful. I don't like Karl Rove and Dick Cheney and Bush and the fat cats."
But Bush had success in other Jewish areas. In Montoya Circle west of Boca Raton, home to the Boca Raton Synagogue, Bush got 400 votes to Kerry's 323.
Steve Mendelsohn, chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Council and a Democrat, noted that Bush was a wartime president in a campaign that focused on terrorism. Coupled with Bush's staunch support of Israel, he said, it's not surprising he made headway among Jewish voters.
"Most people either felt it was natural or heartfelt -- that [Bush] was a true friend of Israel," Mendelsohn said.
He added: "A good argument could be made that it may be a sea change, that Republicans can count on at least 25 percent [of the Jewish vote] and build on that. It depends on what happens in the next four years, but there's a great opportunity for the Republican Party."
Dinerstein, who is Jewish, credited a two-year push by local Republicans to court Jewish voters. Dinerstein's own majority-Jewish precinct on PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens broke for Bush on Election Day, 537-508. He predicted the 2004 election is a key first step to Republicans "removing the stranglehold the Democrats have had on [Jewish voters] for 80 years."
Stephen Melcer, a former chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Council and a Republican, said he thinks Jewish voters are merely beginning to reflect the rest of the country.
"The Jewish voter is dead," he said, referring to the traditional belief that Jews vote as a bloc for Democrats. "I think what you're seeing is that Jews are voting like the rest of the country."
Not everyone agrees.
U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler's press secretary, Lale Mamaux, said Democrats will continue to attract huge majorities of Jewish voters. She noted than in 2000, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who is Jewish, was on the ticket as a vice presidential nominee. This year, without the Jewish connection on the Democratic side, Bush's percentage naturally increased a few percentage points, she said.
"The Republicans want to create this façade that they made inroads," she said. "The bottom line is that just wasn't the case."
In the District 3 County Commission race -- which includes Lake Worth, Boynton Beach and points west -- Newell squeaked out re-election, 37,188 votes to Lerman's 36,637. That's 50.4 percent to 49.6 percent.
Precinct results show Newell won 17 precincts north of Lake Worth Road, including five of those precincts with more than 70 percent of the vote, compared with eight precincts that favored Lerman. That allowed Newell to overcome Lerman's gains in precincts in Boynton Beach and areas west of the city.
Josh Hafenbrack can be reached at jhafenbrack@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6522.
Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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