A large majority of voters don’t equate business success with political success, according to a new Hill-HarrisX poll released Monday.
Seventy-one percent of voters surveyed say they don’t think a millionaire’s business experience automatically translates to political success.
Another 29 percent argued that these business skills do, in fact, translate to governmental expertise.
A majority of voters said the same of billionaires — that even that level of business success doesn’t necessarily lead to being successful in politics.
Of those surveyed in the nationwide poll, 76 percent said they wouldn’t link a billionaire’s background in business to their political success, while another 24 percent said that these business skills were vital to a candidate’s political success.
The sentiment was largely shared across party lines.
Most notably, 67 percent of those respondents who identified as Republican said that business skills don’t translate to the political world, compared to 81 percent of those who identified as independents and 82 percent of those who identified as Democrats.
Prior to running for office, President Trump was a businessman and former reality TV star. Based on his real estate holdings and various business dealings, Forbes estimates that the president is worth roughly $3.1 billion, though his net worth has yet to be confirmed given that the president hasn’t released his tax returns.
The crowded Democratic primary field currently boasts three candidates who made a name for themselves in the business world.
Tom Steyer was a former hedge fund manager before becoming a Democratic activist, while fellow billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg started his own media company Bloomberg L.P.
Andrew Yang, whose net worth is estimated to be in the millions, meanwhile got his start as a tech entrepreneur. He most notably took over test prep company Manhattan Prep as CEO before later founding the nonprofit Venture for America in 2011.
All three candidates are currently polling in the single digits, according to RealClearPolitics average of national polls. Bloomberg boasts 7.7 percent support, compared to Yang’s 4.7 percent and Steyer’s 1.9 percent.
So far, Bloomberg and Yang have qualified for January’s debate in Iowa. They are set to join former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
The Hill-HarrisX survey was conducted online among 2,003 registered voters between Jan. 20-22. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.19 percentage points.
— Tess Bonn
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