Two weeks before the election, a new YouGov survey asked Americans whether they thought each of 20 industries would fare better if Kamala Harris or Donald Trump were elected president. Majorities of Americans say industries for firearms and oil and gas would fare better under Trump; there is no industry that a majority of Americans believe would fare better under a Harris presidency. Each respondent was asked for their opinion about a randomized set of 13 of the 20 industries in the poll.
Of the 20 industries asked about, the industries Americans are most likely to say would do better under a Harris presidency are higher education, cannabis, and news media. 50% think businesses in the higher-education industry would do better if Harris were elected, while 28% say they would do better if Trump were elected. 45% think businesses in the cannabis industry would do better under a Harris presidency and 16% think they would do better under a Trump presidency. 40% of Americans think businesses in the news media industry would do better if Harris were elected president and 30% say they’d be better off if Trump were elected.
Firearms, oil and gas, and mining and natural resources are the industries Americans are most likely to say would do better if Trump were president. 58% think businesses in the firearm industry would do better if Trump were elected; 18% say they would do better if Harris were elected. The 40-percentage-points gap is the biggest for any issue.
Other big edges for Trump include energy and mining. Most Americans (55%) think the oil and gas industry would fare better under Trump and 22% say the same about Harris. 48% of Americans think businesses in the mining and natural resources industry would see more success under a Trump presidency and 21% think they would do better under Harris.
Of the 20 industries asked about in the survey, majorities of Democrats think 16 of the industries would do better under a Harris presidency. Majorities of Republicans think 19 of the 20 industries asked about would do better under a Trump presidency.
The industry Democrats are most likely to say would do better if Harris were elected president is higher education. 87% of Democrats and 11% of Republicans think this industry would do better under Harris. The industry Republicans are most likely to say would do better under Trump is oil and gas: 94% of Republicans and 25% of Democrats think this industry would do better under a Trump presidency.
Harris' position relative to Trump on handling of these industries is very similar to Joe Biden's in an October 2023 poll poll.
Related:
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- Which industries do Americans think should be more regulated?
- Americans' most and least favored industries
See the results for this YouGov poll
Methodology: This YouGov poll was conducted online on October 21 - 24, 2024 among 1,129 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
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