More than half of Democrats say billionaire candidates have negatively impacted the 2020 primaries.
That's according to a Newsy/Ipsos poll released ahead of key primary tests for billionaire Democratic candidates Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer.
54 percent of Democratic respondents said these mega-rich candidates are hurting the primary process by using their personal wealth to fund their campaigns. 30 percent said they are not.
Bloomberg has already spent half-a-billion dollars of his own money on advertising - making him the highest spending candidate of all time. Steyer has spent north of 250 million dollars.
The two have accounted for more than half of all primary candidate spending for Democrats. Both candidates have defended their spending as necessary to defeat President Donald Trump - whose re-election campaign is raising historic amounts.
And Steyer responded to the poll after the South Carolina debate, telling Newsy he has used his money to further Democratic causes.
"There are huge problems in the United States. I'm going after it with every single thing I have to try to work for the American people. And fight for the American people. And I'm going to keep doing it." Steyer said.
But both have come under heavy criticism from Democratic rivals who have accused them of attempting to buy the nomination.
"You've probably seen more ads for Michael Bloomberg than the rest of us running for President put together" Warren jabbed in an ad.
Bloomberg has focused his massive spending on Super Tuesday states voting March 3. And it is a big reason why the former New York City mayor has seen a surge in national polls.
Steyer, however, has yet to earn a delegate after spending millions in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
And even if their campaigns end, their financial impact will not. Both Bloomberg and Steyer have vowed to support whoever the nominee is on the Democratic side to take on President Trump.
The Newsy/Ipsos poll was conducted Feb. 21-25, 2020. For this survey, a sample of roughly 2,010 adults age 18+ from the continental U.S. Alaska and Hawaii was interviewed online in English. The survey also included 868 Democrats, 829 Republicans, and 185 independents. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for all respondents.The poll also has a credibility interval ± 3.8 percentage points for Democrats, ± 3.9 percentage points for Republicans, and ± 8.1 percentage points for independents.
