A new national survey reveals the most important issues to small business owners in this year’s election. Utah is in line with national trends - rating the economy as the most important issue. But the Beehive state parts ways with the rest of the country on which Presidential candidate is a better supporter of small businesses.
George Washington University and Thumbtack.com surveyed more than 6000 small businesses across the country.
Professor David Rehr said, “In most of the states, people perceived President Obama as a better supporter of small business than Governor Mitt Romney. In Utah, it was almost three to one Governor Mitt Romney over President Obama, which I thought was a striking result I haven’t seen in any other states.”
While 40 percent of small businesses across the country rate the economy and jobs as the most important issue, Rehr was surprised that the second-highest rated issue was ethics, honesty, and corruption in government.
“It ranked higher than taxes, repealing or keeping Obama’s healthcare policy, dramatically higher than foreign policy national security issues, twice as important as the federal budget deficit,” said Rehr, “It was really kind of a stunning takeaway from the survey. “
In Utah, the federal deficit was the second most important issue, with government ethics coming in third. Rehr told KUER the results suggest that small businesses want elected leaders to curb the influence of money in politics.
