Nearly half of Republican voters say they'd rather cast their ballots for a candidate who's never held political office, a new poll shows.
The Rasmussen Reports survey released Monday, also finds only 10 percent of all voters think it's positive when a candidate is described as a "career politician."
According to the new poll, 48 percent of Republicans would prefer voting for a political newcomer — up from the 41 percent the GOP voters who felt that way in 2011.
The poll found 73 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of independents, however, would be more likely to vote for someone with political experience.
Among all voters, 30 percent would rather vote for someone with no political experience, while 53 percent would be more likely to choose a political veteran, and 18 percent are undecided, the survey finds.
Poll analysts point out the findings are similar to those in 2011, when 50 percent of all respondents said they preferred someone with election experience while 25 percent said they'd choose a newcomer.
In other findings:
- 64 percent of those who see Trump as "very likely" to win the GOP presidential nomination say they prefer a candidate who has never held office; 80 percent of those who consider his nomination unlikely prefer a candidate with political experience.
- 46 percent of self-described politically conservative voters would rather vote for a candidate who has never held political office, while 60 of moderates and 76 percent of liberals are more likely to vote for a candidate with experience in politics.
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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