In battleground Pennsylvania, undecided Jewish voters could help swing the election

In an election that will likely be decided on the margins, the votes of Jewish Pennsylvanians could be key to determining who wins the commonwealth’s 19 electoral votes – and with it, the presidency.

When Stephanie Spielman describes how she feels as a Jewish voter this election year, she is visibly despondent. “There’s a feeling of real emptiness, kind of hollowness,” she said. A lifelong Pennsylvania Democrat who usually votes blue, up and down the ticket, Spielman left the Democratic Party this year. “I do not believe they are seriously supporting the Jewish community. They are not seriously engaging with us,” she said, walking down a leafy suburban Philadelphia street – one whose residents are crucial to the outcome of this election. Jewish Americans have been a core part of the Democratic coalition for generations. But Israel’s retaliatory war against Hamas in Gaza and the turmoil it set off, including protests and a spike in antisemitic incidents, make Republicans believe they can make inroads with Jewish voters. And in an election that will likely be decided on the margins, the votes of Jewish Pennsylvanians like Spielman could be key to determining who wins the commonwealth’s 19 electoral votes – and with it, the presidency.