Just 13 percent of GOP voters said Steve Bannon’s endorsement made them more likely to support a candidate | Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP Photo Poll: Bannon's endorsement doesn't help among GOP voters

The Alabama Senate primary between Senator Luther Strange and Roy Moore raised questions about how powerful the endorsements of President Donald Trump and his former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, are on the campaign trail.

Though Moore, Bannon’s candidate, bested the Trump-backed Strange, a new poll suggests that among voters in the upcoming midterm elections, Bannon’s endorsement will make little difference.


The survey, conducted by Firehouse Strategies and Optimus Consulting, found that just 13 percent of Republican voters said Bannon’s endorsement made them more likely to support a candidate. Precisely the same number said the backing of the Breitbart chief would make them less likely to support a given candidate. Firehouse was founded by former aides to Sen. Marco Rubio, and Optimus is a Republican analytics firm.

Trump’s support is a bigger factor among Republicans: 40 percent said they are more likely to support a candidate who has Trump’s backing, while just 14 percent said that they are less likely to support a candidate endorsed by the president.

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Among the general population, the poll suggests that endorsements from both Trump and Bannon hurt more than they help. Forty-three percent of voters said they were less likely to support a candidate backed by the president, while 33 percent said they were more likely to do so. Thirty-seven percent of all voters said Bannon’s endorsement made them less likely support a candidate, while just 10 percent said it made them more likely to do so.

The poll was conducted from October 27-28 and surveyed a total of 2,435 likely midterm voters in the swing states of Florida, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio.

