How important is conceding elections? Poll finds contrast in Trump, Harris supporters
Supporters of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have very different views on the importance of conceding elections — a long-standing norm in American politics, new polling shows.
Most Harris supporters believe that — regardless of who wins — it is very important for the loser to publicly admit defeat, according to an Oct. 10 Pew Research Center poll.
In contrast, a majority of Trump supporters say conceding is only very important in a scenario where the former president wins.
The poll, conducted between Sept. 30 and Oct. 6, sampled 5,110 respondents, including 4,025 registered voters. The margin of error error for the full survey was 1.7 percentage points.
Importance of conceding
Sixty-one percent of Harris supporters said it is very important for their candidate to concede if they lose the 2024 election. One-quarter said it is somewhat important and 14% said it is not too or not at all important.
On the other hand, just 32% of Trump supporters said it is very important for their candidate to publicly admit defeat if they lose, while 27% said it is somewhat important. A sizable share, 40%, said it is not too or not at all important.
Most Trump and Harris supporters, however, believe conceding is key if their candidate wins.
Seventy-one percent of Harris supporters said it is very important for the opposing candidate to concede if their candidate wins. Sixteen percent said it is somewhat important, and 14% said it is not too or not at all important.
And, in this scenario, 55% of Trump supporters said it is very important for the opposing candidate to admit defeat. Twenty-two percent said it is somewhat important, and 22% said it is not too or not at all important.
Would Trump and Harris concede?
The poll also found a sharp divide in voter opinions on whether Trump and Harris will admit defeat if they lose in November.
The vast majority of voters, 72%, said they believe that, should Trump win, “Harris will accept the results and publicly acknowledge that Trump won.”
Less than one-third, 27%, said they believe Harris would not concede in this scenario.
In contrast, 74% of voters said they believe that, if Trump loses, he will not accept the outcome and acknowledge Harris as the legitimate president. Just 24% said they believe Trump would concede.
“These figures reflect what the candidates are saying about whether they would or should concede, and of course the reality of what Trump has been saying,” Paul Beck, an emeritus professor of political science at the Ohio State University, told McClatchy News. “If either of the candidates were to adopt the opposite position, I would expect the percentages to flip. The results below are a good example of leader-driven partisan motivated reasoning.”
The poll comes nearly four years after Trump declined to concede he lost the 2020 election against President Joe Biden and made baseless claims that the election was rigged.
Trump has repeated these claims on the campaign trail this year, and has refused to unequivocally say he would accept the results of the November election.
This story was originally published October 11, 2024 at 12:05 PM with the headline "How important is conceding elections? Poll finds contrast in Trump, Harris supporters."