America's millionaires have voted their leading contender for 2016's presidential race, and it's Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a new survey by CNBC.
The former secretary of State is the top pick for about a third of the 500 millionaires polled, with 31 percent voting Clinton as their favored choice for president in 2016, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 18 percent and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 14 percent.
The millionaire respondents, defined as those with investable assets of $1 million and representing the top 8 percent of American households, voted populist crusaders, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warrenboth, with an 11 percent and 8 percent.
"While millionaires have outsized impacts on elections - with their money, influence and votes - they have not always proved to be good predictors of presidential candidates," CNBC notes. "Before the 2008 election, polls showed that a majority of millionaires planned to support Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), while Barack Obama had the support of the super-wealthy, those with $30 million or more."
Split evenly among Republicans, Democrats and independents, the poll indicated that both Clinton and Bush received 27 percent support from a group of millionaires whose investable assets are $5 million or more, OnPolitics reported. Not surprisingly however, Bush topped among GOP millionaires while Clinton was favored among Democrats and garnered the most support (23 percent) among independents.
Meanwhile, about 93 percent of the millionaires surveyed said they had voted in the 2014 midterm elections while a quarter had donated to a candidate in this election cycle.
Not only are millionaires, a relatively narrow segment of the population, much more likely to exercise their right to vote, but they also wield outsize influence in the political process thanks to their ability to cut large checks to candidates
"But their priorities are very different from the rest of America. While most Americans choose jobs and the economy as their top issue, the millionaires surveyed by CNBC said corporate tax reform should be the top priority of the new Congress," according to MSNBC.
Survey respondents were given nine potential candidates to choose the next U.S. president from, including Democrats Elizabeth Warren and Vice President Biden; Republicans Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Scott Walker; and independent Bernie Sanders, OnPolitics reported.