Arab Americans favour Biden by wide margin, new poll finds

Survey shows 59 per cent of potential voters plan to vote for Biden, 35 per cent for Trump

People vote at Morgan State University, on the second day of early voting in the US presidential race, in Baltimore, Maryland. AFP

A majority of Arab American voters plan to cast their ballot for former Vice President Joe Biden in November’s US presidential election, a new nationwide poll found.

The survey released Tuesday by the Arab American Institute showed 59 per cent of potential voters who identify as Arab American plan to cast their ballot for Mr Biden, with 35 per cent saying they’ll vote for President Donald Trump.

According to the poll, most Arab Americans believe that Mr Trump has failed to address the issues most important to their community.

“The number one reason Democrats are voting for Biden is because they don’t like Trump,” said Jim Zogby. founder and President of the Arab American Institute.

While at first glance the numbers appear unfavourable for Mr Trump, he is faring better than he did in 2016.

Four years ago, Hillary Clinton led Mr Trump 58 per cent to 25 per cent in a poll conducted by the Arab American Institute during the same time frame.  Mr Trump’s 10-point gain from the previous election does not surprise Mr Zogby, who said Mr Trump has galvanised support among Arab American Republicans.

“There are a lot of rank and file Republicans who are coming back [to the party],” said Mr Zogby.

“They don’t want somebody to take away the conservative judges, the tax breaks, deregulation. These are a lot of business people, these are a lot of folks who have conservative political agendas.”

Arab Americans as a voting block are not a monolith but since the George W. Bush's administration they have leaned increasingly Democratic. In key swing states like Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, where there are significant Arab American populations, the voting block could play an important role in deciding the election.

While there is a lack of reliable census data on Arab Americans, estimates by the Arab American Institute suggest the group could make up as much as 5 per cent of the electorate in Michigan and 1.7 to 2 per cent in Pennsylvania and Ohio, all battleground states.

Mr Zogby said he believes enthusiasm among the group has never been higher and is expecting a high voter turnout in the community.

More than 80 per cent of Arab Americans polled in the survey said they are very likely to vote this year.

A survey conducted this year by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding also found a rise in voter engagement among Arab-Americans Muslims. The survey showed 78 per cent of Muslim Americans were registered to vote compared to only 60 per cent in 2016.

The Biden campaign has made several overtures to Arab Americans in recent weeks. Mr Biden's wife, Jill Biden, visited Dearborn, Michigan in mid-October – a place nicknamed the 'Arab capital' of America where up to half of the population identifies as Arab-American. Her visit was followed by a campaign stop by Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Sunday.

“We’ve been overlooked but we’re not being overlooked any more and I think that’s kind of important,” said Mr Zogby about the increased attention on the Arab American vote. “The Biden campaign has put out a website in Arabic and there’s a five-page policy statement for Arab Americans, which in my 40 years of doing this, no presidential campaign has ever done this before.”