Americans trust those who have served in the U.S. military and law enforcement to be best elected officials

New Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of With Honor Action also finds that Americans view honesty as the most appealing attribute for elected officials

The author(s)
  • Chris Jackson Senior Vice President, US, Public Affairs
  • Annaleise Azevedo Lohr Director, US, Public Affairs
  • Johnny Sawyer Senior Research Manager, US, Public Affairs
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Washington DC, July 30, 2024 — A new Ipsos survey, conducted on behalf of With Honor Action, shows Americans believe that those with U.S. military, legal or law enforcement experience make the best elected officials. Americans are also confident that people with military, legal or law enforcement experience would make good decisions as an elected official. Those who have experience in business, academia and policy analysis, and those who have served in public office before are also seen as capable of making good decisions. Americans are less confident that people who have experience in the entertainment industry or news media would make good, elected officials.  

Detailed findings

1. Americans believe that Americans who have experience in the U.S. military make the best elected officials, with 26% of Americans ranking experience in this career as producing the best elected officials, and 47% of Americans ranking a military career in the top two. A career in news or entertainment is ranked last by a majority of Americans (62%).

2. Americans also say they are confident that someone with military experience (76%) or legal or law enforcement experience (76%) would make good decisions if they were elected to office.

  • Prior experience in elected office (70%), business experience (69%) and academic and policy analysis (69%) are also perceived as careers that would lead to good decision making while in public office.  
  • In contrast, just 18% of Americans are confident that someone with experience in entertainment or the news media would make good choices as an elected official.

3. Along the same lines, Americans ranked honesty as the most appealing attribute for elected officials (59% ranked this in the top two), followed by a willingness to fight for what’s important (43%) and having the right values (42%).

4. Regarding voter preference for Democratic Vice Presidential candidates, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Maryland Governor Wes Moore are at the top of the list of candidates, with 50% of Americans assessing them each, respectively, as “very strong” and “strong” candidates for vice president.

  • Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is at 42%, followed by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer at 38%, and California Governor Gavin Newsom at 35%.  

About the Study

This Ipsos poll was conducted July 24-25, 2024 on behalf of With Honor Action, using the KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a representative sample of 1,238 U.S. residents, age 18 or older.

The study was conducted in English. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, Census region, metropolitan status, education, household income, and party ID. Party ID benchmarks are from the 2024 NPORS annual survey. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2023 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS). The weighting categories were as follows:

  • Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18-29, 30-44, 45-59, 60+)
  • Race-Ethnicity (White/Non-Hispanic, Black/Non-Hispanic, Other/Non-Hispanic and 2+ Races/Non-Hispanic, Hispanic)
  • Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
  • Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
  • Education (High School graduate or less, Some College, Bachelor or higher)
  • Household Income (under $25K, $25K-$49,999, $50K-$74,999, $75K-$99,999, $100K$149,999, $150K and over)
  • Party ID (Democrat, Lean Democrat, Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Something else)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.0 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.18 for all adults. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]

Annaleise Azevedo Lohr 
Director, U.S., US
Public Affairs
[email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is one of the largest market research and polling companies globally, operating in 90 markets and employing over 18,000 people.

Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. We serve more than 5000 clients across the world with 75 business solutions.

Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1st, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and the Mid-60 index and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).

ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP www.ipsos.com

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The author(s)
  • Chris Jackson Senior Vice President, US, Public Affairs
  • Annaleise Azevedo Lohr Director, US, Public Affairs
  • Johnny Sawyer Senior Research Manager, US, Public Affairs

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