Empirical Data Show Voters in Battleground States Overwhelmingly Support Aggressive Antitrust Enforcement
New presidential and Senate battleground state polling by Lake Research Partners, in partnership with the American Antitrust Institute (AAI) and the Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws (COSAL), shows that voters across partisan lines overwhelmingly support strong antitrust enforcement and government supervision of powerful corporations. The poll was conducted across Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. These are the seven presidential battleground states, plus Ohio, a battleground for control of the Senate and home to three hotly contested congressional races.
Major conservative and libertarian think tanks and political donors, including from the tech industry and Wall Street, have been attacking the robust antitrust enforcement and corporate regulatory policies of the Biden-Harris administration, but this poll demonstrates that the public disagrees, and that voters’ anti-monopoly and pro-competition sentiments impact their voting decisions.
“This poll shows that voters understand that big corporations that abuse their market power are harming the quality of life for the rest of us and we need to do more to hold them accountable,” said Pamela Gilbert, COSAL Legislative Counsel. “Public officials should pay attention and do more to strengthen public and private antitrust enforcement.”
Key Findings
1. Sixty-seven percent of voters agree (49% strongly agree) that “One of the biggest problems facing America today is that a handful of corporations have too much power and government is doing too little to hold them accountable.”
2. Seventy-one percent of voters agree (56% strongly agree) that “Today, a handful of enormous, economically powerful corporations wield a massive amount of influence over the quality of our lives with almost no accountability or transparency to the public.”
3. Overwhelming majorities of voters hold negative views toward anticompetitive conduct by firms with market power.
- Voters hold very negative views of monopolization.
- Voters hold very negative views of price-fixing and exclusionary conduct.
- Voters hold very negative views of concentrative mergers.
- Voters believe that firms with market power operate without transparency.
- Voters are concerned about firms with market power “driving out competition,” “price gouging,” and hurting consumers and small business.
4. Voters are very favorable toward both government enforcement of the antitrust laws and private enforcement of the antitrust laws on behalf of victims.
- Seventy-eight percent favor (59% strongly favor) allowing small businesses and customers to sue for damages when firms engage in anticompetitive conduct.
- Voters support “lawsuits” and “class action lawsuits” to hold firms with market power accountable for anticompetitive behavior.
5. This is not a partisan view; it’s a consensus view that transcends political and personal divides and impacts voting behavior.
- A majority of battleground voters consider antitrust enforcement a central criterion in their voting decisions.
“These data are remarkable,” said AAI President Randy Stutz. “Strong antitrust enforcement is not just good policy; it’s also good politics, whether you’re a Democratic or a Republican.”
For questions or interviews, please contact Lauren Windsor at lauren@mikeluxmedia.com.
