How the Business Community Really Feels About Trump and Clinton

Forget about winter. The Elections are coming, and with that, a daily outpouring of polls attempting to predict what will happen on November 8. The latest, from the National Small Business Association, reveals how small-business owners feel about their elected officials and the U.S. political system. In a word: disillusioned.

Nearly two thirds of small-business owners believe that the current political system does not serve their business well, and 60 percent believe their national elected officials do not represent them well, according to NSBA’s 2016 Politics of Small Business Survey. Moreover, the poll found that 40 percent feel neither party represents them as an individual.

So what do small business owners want?

No matter their political affiliation, entrepreneurs and business owners tend to prioritize fiscal and economic issues over national security and social issues. Controlling costs of Health Care and tax reforms are the two main issues that drive them to contact their elected officials. And when asked to rate which political party was more supportive of such issues, the majority answered Republican. As a whole, however, when presented with the list of issues including improving access to capital and Small Business Administration lending programs, the highest rated response on most issues was “neither party.”

The poll was conducted online between April 4 -13 among 890 small-business owners–both members and nonmembers of NSBA, a moderate small-business advocacy group–representing a variety of industries. According to the survey 44 percent of the respondents had gross sales or revenues between $1 million and $25 million dollars in 2015.

Although the NSBA suggests that the small-business audience is up for grabs, most of the answers in their poll point to a Republican inclination. (Roughly 50 percent of business owners count themselves as registered Republicans, while just 19 percent claim to be Democrats.) That said, it’s worth noting that no matter how many polls or surveys you read, you will have to wait until November to find out how the U.S. electorate voted.