Government Executive 2016 Presidential Poll: August 13, 2015

Donald Trump leads the Republican primary field among federal employees, according to an independent Government Business Council / Government Executive poll released on August 13.

August 13, 2015

By Chris Cornillie and Mark Lee

As reported exclusively by Government Executive.

Donald Trump leads the Republican primary field among federal employees, according to an independent Government Business Council / GovExec.com poll released on August 13. Trump receives 20% of the vote from feds who identify as Republicans or Republican-leaning Independents. He is followed in the GOP field by Carly Fiorina (11%), Marco Rubio (11%), Ben Carson (9%), and Ted Cruz (9%).

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton receives 44% of the primary vote from Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents who took the survey. Despite only receiving favorable ratings from 41% of all respondents, Clinton also has a higher favorability score than any other candidate.

Methodology

Government Business Council, the research arm of Government Executive Media Group, conducted the online email survey through a random sample of Government Executive, Nextgov, Defense One, and Route Fifty print and online subscribers. From August 7-12, 973 federal employees participated in the survey, including 491 at the GS/GM-13 and above grade levels and 25 members of the Senior Executive Service. Respondents include representatives from at least 30 federal and defense agencies. The margin of error is +/-3%.

39% of the respondents identify as Independents (n=352), 28% as Democrats (n=254), and 23% as Republicans (n=209); the majority identifies strongly with their affiliated party, and a slight majority of Independents leans Republican. The most common job functions in the sample are program/project management (14%), technical/scientific (13%), and administrative/office services (9%). 53% of the respondents oversee at least one direct report. The average respondent has spent 24.5 years working for the federal government. 58% of the respondents were male, and 41% were female.

The poll was independently deployed by Government Executive Media Group and is not affiliated with or sponsored by any political party or external organization.

Findings