In 2020, the Jewish haven of Pico-Robertson voted for Joe Biden over Donald Trump, taking its place among the large group of liberal Westside communities.
But in these politically charged times, a lot can change in four years.
A red tide has washed through the district in recent months, with Trump drawing more votes in Pico-Robertson than the previous two elections combined. Locals attribute the changing dynamics to the war between Israel and Hamas, rising cases of anti-Semitism and a strong Republican campaign.
Over the past eight years, Trump has slowly gained ground in Pico-Robertson. The numbers are not exact because the constituencies expand to include parts of surrounding neighborhoods like Beverlywood and Crestview, but data shows that Trump has won thousands of votes over the course of the last three elections.
In 2016, Trump received 1,292 votes, compared to Hillary Clinton’s 3,632. Four years later, Trump drew 2,693 to Biden’s 5,252. In 2024, Trump made another strong surge, drawing 6,760 votes and defeating Kamals Harris in three of the five districts touching Pico-Robertson.
Harris still had strongholds in the neighborhood’s two other districts, which feed into Beverly Hills and Carthay Square, and had a total of 7,321 votes across the five. But the polls show Trump has made significant progress in this once reliably liberal stronghold.
“It’s an ongoing conversation in the synagogues,” said Shlomo Walt, an Orthodox Jew and Pico-Robertson resident. “People want change, and they have spoken.”
Walt, 49, voted for Trump and said the vast majority of locals he spoke to did so as well.
“People are wearing Trump yarmulkes,” he said.
YULA High School students enjoy lunch at Jeff’s Gourmet Sausage Factory in the predominantly Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Pico-Robertson, a neighborhood of about 19,000 residents, developed over the past century into the epicenter of LA’s Jewish community. German Ashkenazi Jews settled there in the 1910s, and its borders were defined by practices that withheld home loans from minority communities, including Jews. After World War II, more Jewish groups migrated to the neighborhood.
The neighborhood’s proximity to the 20th Century Studios lot, then known as 20th Century Fox, made it a natural landing spot for Jewish entertainment professionals. Today it serves as a hub for Persian Jews and Orthodox Jews; the latter are banned from driving on the Sabbath, making the walkable synagogues nearby a convenient amenity.
Synagogues, kosher restaurants and Jewish schools line Pico and Robertson boulevards, with a healthy mix of single-family homes, apartments and apartment buildings tucked into the blocks behind them. The median home value is $1.338 million, according to Zillow — a bit cheaper than surrounding communities like Beverlywood, Crestview and La Cienega Heights.
A man walks past a menorah at the Chabad Center in Pico-Robertson. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Over the years, the neighborhood developed a distinct identity, separate from LA and other Jewish enclaves, according to the late USC professor Martin Krieger, who researched Pico-Roberton’s Orthodox Jewish population, which has been described as more modern compared to the fervently Orthodox sects of the Jewish community. the Fairfax neighborhood and Hancock Park.
“If you live here, you don’t live in Los Angeles, you live in Pico-Robertson, and that’s a big fact. These people’s lives are concentrated here,” Krieger told PBS SoCal in 2012.
In the November election, residents were most concerned about homelessness and the economy, Walt said. He preferred Trump’s approach to Israel — and especially his decision to do so Move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018. The move was criticized by Palestinians as illegal and irresponsible, but was celebrated in Israel.
Others in the neighborhood turned to Trump due to the rise of anti-Semitism in the region following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the Israeli military response to it.
“We have seen a lot of crime and anti-Semitic events,” said resident Chaim Marks. “We want change.”
A pedestrian walks past a mural created by artist Cloe Hakakian titled “The Common Thread” in Pico-Robertson. The mural depicts a woman lighting candles for Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
The fears of many local residents were confirmed when six Jewish businesses in Pico-Robertson were vandalized in the days surrounding the election. On November 4, someone smashed the glass storefront of Got Kosher? Bakery on Pico Boulevard.
“Someone is systematically targeting our kind of companies,” says owner Alain Cohen told The Times.
A week later the store was boarded up. A few buildings had broken windows throughout the block.
“This is what is happening under the current regime,” said one woman as she looked at a broken window on Pico Boulevard.
Walt said someone called him a “damn Jew” as he drove by the week after the election, and that anti-Semitism has increased in recent months.
He also noted an increase in security services – both private and volunteer-led initiatives – offering assistance to businesses or residents who do not feel safe. Most streets in the area have signs reading “Area Monitored by Shmira,” an unarmed volunteer security patrol that protects Jewish communities.
In 2023, a man with a history of making anti-Semitic comments shot two Jewish men leaving synagogues. The man was sentenced to 35 years in prison in September.
David Hyam, with son Akiva, 1 1/2, greets a neighbor. Hyam, together with his wife, is co-owner of the Little Tichel Lady clothing store on Pico Boulevard. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
On the Monday after the election, there weren’t many Trump signs left around, but there were plenty of Nathan Hochman signs — a possible insight into the anti-crime priorities of Pico-Robertson voters. Hochman, who campaigned for the restoration of public safety, won the LA County district attorney election in a landslide, defeating progressive incumbent George Gascón.
April Silverman, a Jewish pro-Trump political activist based in Hancock Park, spent months canvassing Jewish communities like Pico-Robertson, Valley Village and Beverly Grove to connect with voters like Walt.
“Trump’s stance on Israel is important, but people are unhappy with Karen Bass’s approach to homelessness and Gascón’s approach to crime,” Silverman said. “It’s a lot of things.”
The 32-year-old led WhatsApp groups where she instructed Pico-Robertson residents how to vote and persuaded them to vote for specific candidates and proposals. She also helped many residents fill out their ballots by dropping them off at the Downey voting center during the first voting period.
Silverman put together a voting guide recommending Trump and Hochman. She was able to track who opened the guide based on zip code data and said 700 people in Pico-Robertson used it.
A pedestrian makes her way to Factor’s Famous Deli in Pico-Robertson. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Still, the final count showed that Harris ultimately attracted more votes in the area than Trump.
Sara Hoffman, who moved into an apartment in Pico-Robertson last year, said her distaste for Trump overrode her concerns about Harris’ stance on Israel and the Palestinians.
“Trump is a bigot, a misogynist and a criminal,” Hoffman said. “He has spent four years demonstrating all the reasons why he does not deserve a second chance to become president.”
Hoffman said the divide was generational — older people voted for Trump, younger people voted for Harris — but it also played out in religious areas. Orthodox Jews in the area favored Trump, while more of her Reform Jewish friends chose Harris.
She said Trump may be more openly pro-Israel than Harris, but he is only pandering to get the Jewish vote.
“He says what he needs to do so he can win votes,” Hoffman said. “It clearly worked.”
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
