A majority of Democrats — 68 percent — said in a new Hill-HarrisX poll that it makes no difference whether a presidential candidate is a billionaire.
Another 18 percent of Democratic voters said they would be less likely to support a billionaire candidate, while 14 percent said they would be more likely to support such a candidate.
The nationwide poll showed that Republican and independents were even less likely to take issue with wealthier candidates.
Seventy-seven percent of independent voters said a candidate’s net worth made didn’t make a difference, compared to 75 percent of Republicans voters who said the same.
Overall, 73 percent of those surveyed said it didn’t matter one way or the other.
There are currently two billionaires — Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg — seeking the Democratic nomination.
Both candidates have faced criticism from some of their fellow 2020 rivals, who have accused them of trying to buy their way onto the debate stage and climb the polls by pumping millions of dollars of his personal fortune into advertising.
Despite a late entry in the 2020 race, Steyer and Bloomberg have already outspent the rest of the Democratic field on TV and radio ads, pouring a combined $164 million into the airwaves so far.
However, it’s unclear how these million-dollar ad buys will impact voters.
According to RealClearPolitics average of national polls, Steyer currently has 2 percent support, but he has seen a surge in some early voting states like Nevada. Bloomberg, meanwhile, registers at 7.6 percent support, putting him in a dead heat with top tier candidate and former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg who is polling at 7.4 support.
The Hill-Harris-X survey was conducted among 2,003 registered voters between Jan. 20 and 22. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.19 percentage points.
—Tess Bonn
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