Gary Johnson’s recent flub involving the Syrian city of Aleppo has not hurt his support among members of the U.S. military. In fact, Johnson is the leading candidate among active-duty military officers, members of the Navy, and the Air Force. Among the entire military force (including the Army and the Marines), Trump and Johnson are statistically tied, with Trump edging Johnson 37.6 to 36.5 percent — within the margin of error — and Hillary Clinton trailing with just 16.3 percent support.
The Military Times, along with Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families, conducted the survey in September, starting on the same day as Johnson’s MSNBC mishap.
Eighty-five percent of the military members surveyed said they were dissatisfied with Clinton as the Democratic nominee, and 66 percent said they were unsatisfied with Trump as the Republican nominee.
“These are the worst two [major party] candidates we could possibly have,” one Army captain who is supporting Johnson told the Military Times. “We deserve better as the American people and should expect better.”
This is the first scientific survey of the voting preferences of service members. The results align with a Military Times reader survey conducted in July, and a recent online poll, which found the libertarian nominee was the top choice among the entire military community, including active-duty, retired and former members, and their families.
Although military voters traditionally lean Republican, these poll results show the diversity of political opinion across the ranks, and underscore the unpopularity of both major party candidates.
As Leo Shane III and George Altman write for the Military Times, these results “could be a key factor in swing states such as Florida and Virginia, where the ratio of military voters is higher and state polls show close races. Many of those troops will be casting ballots for a new commander in chief toward whom they have — at best — mixed emotions.”
