SMB Poll: Bloomberg Can Defeat Trump

A recent poll of small business owners in the U.S. shows that they believe only presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg can beat President Donald Trump, according to a report Monday (Feb. 10) by yahoo! Finance.

The query asked small business owners who they would vote for if the race came down to Bloomberg and Trump in the presidential election. Of those surveyed, 52 percent said that they would support Bloomberg.

The survey also asked who they would support if former Vice President Joe Biden became the nominee against Trump, and in that scenario, both candidates ended up in a tie.

“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,” Gallup research consultant Megan Brennan said, summarizing the poll.

The largest gap with all the candidates is four percentage points. Even though Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, is the only one who beats Trump head to head, he’s still behind Biden amongst people who say they’re going to vote in a Democratic primary or caucus.

Biden got 22 percent of support, and then Bloomberg, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. There are 13 percent who say they’re undecided.

The poll illustrates that small business owners are “highly engaged” in the election. Of those queried, 60 percent say that they’re paying “a lot” of attention to the proceedings, while 30 percent answered that they’re paying “some” attention. Ninety-seven percent say they are planning to vote in the election.

The small business owner vote is an important one in the election, as they make up more than 30 million businesses across the country. Of those asked, 52 percent think that they’ll be better off if Trump wins again, and 41 percent say a challenger winning will be better for them.

There’s also some fear about a looming recession, as 77 percent of those asked said the economy is good, but when asked if that will last, 69 percent said they expect a recession in the next year and a half.