The outcome of the United States elections on November 8 will be influenced by a number of factors, including the Greek-American vote. Although not a big chunk of the American population, Greek Americans do play a role, especially in funding political campaigns. The State Department estimates that there are 3 million Americans who claim to be of Greek descent.
A poll conducted by Signet Research for Greek Reporter showed that although Donald Trump was the favorite of all the initial candidates, most Greek Americans will vote for Hillary Clinton now that the election is norrowed down to the two nominees. A presidential candidate’s stand on Greek issues could affect 90% of Greek-American election choices, though 57% would definitely be affected and 33% would somewhat be influenced.
An even larger number (94%) would be swayed by a candidate’s stance on the Syrian refugee crisis, with the vote of 62% of subjects definitely influenced and 32% somewhat influenced by this.
When presented with the initial five candidates to select from, respondents showed a preference for: Donald Trump (29%), Bernie Sanders (25%), Hillary Clinton (23%), John Kasich (7%), Ted Cruz (5%).
The percentages change though as the candidates are narrowed to Trump vs. Clinton. When faced with a choice between the two, 45% of respondents gave Clinton a lead over Trump (41%), whereas 9% said they would abstain from voting and 5% remained undecided.
Identity of respondents
The survey took into account various age levels: under 25 (6 %), 25-34 years (10 %), 35-49 years (29%), 50-64 years (36%), over 65 years (21%). The majority of respondents (80%) live in the United States and are widely spread around the country, with the exception of California (20%) and New York (16%) where a larger number of subjects responded. Those who lived outside the United States were in Greece (10%), Canada (4%), Australia (3%) and Other (3 percent). From the 677 respondents that took part in the survey, 95% are of Greek descent.
Respondents surveyed were asked to identify their general political beliefs with 30 percent claiming to be independent, 22 percent were moderate democrats, 20 percent were liberal democrats, 18 percent were moderate republicans and 10 percent were conservative republicans. The poll shows that most Greek Americans opted for the Democratic nominee in all presidential elections since 1996. The survey was conducted between April 10 and May 25.
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