Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg is the only candidate who beats President Trump in a new poll of small-business owners. The survey asked small-business owners who they would vote for in a hypothetical race between the former New York City mayor and President Trump. Fifty-two percent said they would support Bloomberg, while 48% favor Trump.
A race between Former Vice President Joe Biden and Trump ends in a tie, according to the poll released on Monday.
“The Democratic presidential candidate with the most crossover appeal to Republican and independent small-business owners is Bloomberg, who, like Trump, has a business background,” said Megan Brennan, a Gallup research consultant, in a summary of the poll.
Still, it’s a tight race. In match-ups between the seven frontrunners and Trump, the widest gap is only four percentage points.
While Bloomberg is the only candidate to top Trump in the head-to-head poll, he trails Biden among those who say they plan to vote in a Democratic primary or caucuses.
The former VP is the top pick with 22% of support, followed by Bloomberg, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Thirteen percent of respondents still haven’t decided who they’ll support in their Democratic primary or caucus.
The poll, conducted by Gallup and Square, shows small-business owners are “highly engaged” in the 2020 election.
Sixty percent say they are paying “a lot” of attention, while 30% say they’re paying “some” attention to the election. Ninety-seven percent of the small-business owners who participated in the poll say they will likely vote in the election.
With more than 30 million small-businesses across the country, small-business owners are an important constituency for Trump. Fifty-two percent say they believe their business will be better off if Trump wins a second term, while 41% say they would be better off under the Democratic nominee.
Seventy-seven percent of small business owners surveyed said current economic conditions in the United States are good, but 69% expect a recession sometime in the next 18 months. Taxes, government regulation and health care are the top three policy concerns for small-business owners.
The poll surveyed more than 1,200 small-business owners with annual revenues between $50,000 and $25 million. It was conducted online between Jan. 15-24.
Jessica Smith is a reporter for Yahoo Finance based in Washington, D.C. Follow her on Twitter at @JessicaASmith8.
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