logo

Poll: Voters Most Concerned with Wealthy's Grip on 2016 Election

image
Author: James Ryan
Created: 23 June, 2015
Updated: 21 November, 2022
1 min read

Americans are more concerned about the influence of money in politics than any other issue in the 2016 presidential election, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.

Asked to rank their top concerns about the upcoming presidential election, one-third of Americans polled said that the power held by companies and wealthy individuals over the outcome of the race is more alarming than any of the other five issues tested.

Democrats were most likely to list campaign finance as the top concern, with roughly half of self-described liberal primary voters ranking it as the most pressing matter at this stage in the race. Independent voters listed the influence of moneyed interests as the primary concern as well.

Republican voters, however, expressed more concern about the tone of the campaign, with most (37%) saying that they worry  about negative advertisements and smear campaigns taking prominence over substantive policy debate.

What Democrats, Republicans, and independents all seem to agree on is that nothing will change in Washington regardless of who replaces President Barack Obama in 2017, with 16% of voters surveyed expressing that issue.

The other issues surveyed included:

  • Candidates being too wealthy to understand the economic hardship faced by average Americans (12% listed this as a top concern); and
  • Three candidates (Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republicans Jeb Bush and Rand Paul) having family members who have pursued the presidency (4%).

The poll surveyed 1,000 adults and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 points.

 

Latest articles

votes
Wyoming Purges Nearly 30% of Its Voters from Registration Rolls
It is not uncommon for a state to clean out its voter rolls every couple of years -- especially to r...
27 March, 2024
-
1 min read
ballot box
The Next Big Win in Better Election Reform Could Come Where Voters Least Expect
Idaho isn't a state that gets much attention when people talk about politics in the US. However, this could change in 2024 if Idahoans for Open Primaries and their allies are successful with their proposed initiative....
21 March, 2024
-
3 min read
Courts
Why Do We Accept Partisanship in Judicial Elections?
The AP headline reads, "Ohio primary: Open seat on state supreme court could flip partisan control." This immediately should raise a red flag for voters, and not because of who may benefit but over a question too often ignored....
19 March, 2024
-
9 min read
Nick Troiano
Virtual Discussion: The Primary Solution with Unite America's Nick Troiano
In the latest virtual discussion from Open Primaries, the group's president, John Opdycke, sat down ...
19 March, 2024
-
1 min read
Sinema
Sinema's Exit Could Be Bad News for Democrats -- Here's Why
To many, the 2024 presidential primary has been like the movie Titanic - overly long and ending in a disaster we all saw coming from the start. After months of campaigning and five televised primary debates, Americans are now faced with a rematch between two candidates polling shows a majority of them didn’t want....
19 March, 2024
-
7 min read