Republicans Beware: New Polling Shows Anti-ESG Effort Even Bombs with GOP Primary Voters

Washington, D.C.—While Republicans in the House branded July “ESG Month,” Republican candidates for president and in states across the country have waged war on businesses and the free market for deigning to consider how a company is run or the risks of climate change in their decision making. Unfortunately for Republicans, this is a politically toxic argument.

A new poll from the New York Times and Siena asked Republican primary voters whether they would prefer “A candidate who promises to fight corporations that promote ‘woke’ left ideology” or “A candidate who says that the government should stay out of deciding what corporations can support.” The result was decisive. A majority (52%) of this group—the literal Republican base—want the government to stay out of deciding what corporations can support. 

This finding is mirrored in data from Republican polling firm Echelon Insights which found Republican primary voters believe businesses should be allowed to operate as they like by a 50% – 41% margin. 

“This is more than Ron DeSantis flopping on the national stage, the war on responsible investing has become a pillar of the Republican platform and it fails horribly with voters,” said Claire Moser, Deputy Executive Director of Climate Power. “Voters do not want conservative culture warriors imposing their extreme conspiracy theories, fear mongering and bigotry on American businesses. That’s true of Democrats, independents and even Republican primary voters. Every time Republicans attack responsible investing they undermine their own political standing with voters of all political stripes.”