MDM Research: How is the U.S. Presidential Election Impacting Demand?

There exists a notion — whether proven or not — that business investments and industrial demand tends to become more conservative in the lead-up to a U.S. presidential election. To put this in practice, the investment banking and advisory firm Baird directly asked about this in the 3Q24 Baird-MDM Industrial Distribution Survey, conducted in early October. Respondents were asked if they noticed signs that demand was being negatively affected by the upcoming election. The results revealed a nearly even split, with 53% indicating "yes" and 47% saying "no." The survey gathered insights from…