As the 2024 U.S. presidential election nears its endgame, the accounting profession seems to be significantly leaning toward voting Republican, albeit not quite as much compared to prior elections, specifically in terms of the presidential candidates, Accounting Today reported.
Between Sept. 10 and Sept. 27, Accounting Today surveyed its readers, with 407 accounting and tax professionals throughout the U.S. participating in the research.
According to the survey, 45% of these professionals support Former President Donald Trump, and 37% support Vice President Kamala Harris for president. Most who were undecided or who elected not to indicate a preference in the spring are choosing to back former Trump. The 45% who support Trump is in line with those who preferred Trump in 2020. However, it is well below the two-thirds who voted for him in 2016, which was in keeping with how the profession generally voted in presidential elections before that.
Despite Trump's support, only 41% believe he will likely win the elections, compared to 59% who believe Harris will emerge victorious. However, national polls still have them running in a very tight race.
Notwithstanding whom they believe will win, survey participants had strong opinions about who should win. Over half of the participants believe that it would be better for the profession for the Republicans to take the presidency, the House and the Senate, while just a third felt that Democratic wins would be good for accounting.
Accountants' opinions are more closely divided regarding who will run the Senate, with just over half thinking the Republicans will take over the chamber. The results mirror many current national predictions. Accountants are much more confident that the GOP will keep control of the House of Representatives. However, pollsters and professional election watchers suggest there's a solid probability the Democrats will take control after the elections, Accounting Today noted.
The participants named economic, tax, and regulatory concerns the key issues they were most concerned about in this election. They said they want the next administration to focus on these matters the most.
Accountants are more likely to be registered Republicans than the general population (37% of Accounting Today's survey respondents compared to 29% of the general population, based on recent Gallup polls) and much less likely to be registered Democrats (21% versus 30% of voters across the country).
Almost all survey participants agreed that President Joe Biden made the right choice in stepping down as a candidate, including many vehemently opposed to Kamala Harris as a candidate. Similar to much of the population, accountants are dissatisfied with the current political climate. Most respondents consider political polarization, bitter partisanship, and political gridlock the primary sources of dissatisfaction. However, a small but significant minority blamed it on whoever they were voting against, according to Accounting Today.
Many participants still prefer to vote the traditional way, with 36% choosing to vote in person on election day and 26% planning to vote in person early.