Romney Voted in by Small-Business Owners

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Whether he's elected or not, Mitt Romney has the support of small businesses across the U.S.

TheStreet spoke to business owners in a variety of industries and locations. The unofficial survey results show American business owners trust Romney to lower their costs, especially health care, and to get banks lending again. President Barack Obama, they say, has done little to help them over the past four years.

Devastation in New York and New Jersey, as a result of Hurricane Sandy, has reinforced Dr. Leon Popovitz's decision to vote for Romney.

"These are conditions reminiscent of the 1970s Jimmy Carter-era with the gas lines and rationing," says Popovitz, the owner of orthopedic-surgery center NY Bone & Joint in Manhattan. "If the Obama administration continues its metamorphosis of the United States then it may, eventually, turn it into George Orwell's 1984 (but only a few decades later)."

With 25 employees, "I expect that Mr. Romney would affect my business in a positive way that promotes me to try and grow my business. I expect there will be incentives, again, to succeed instead of rewards for complacency," he says. "Today, nearly all small businesses are holding their breath hoping the present conditions do not continue."

Cindy Hester, a franchisee owner in Sandy Spring, Ga., of Mr. Transmission (one of the companies under Moran Family of Brands), says she's also frustrated with the economy and wants a change.

"Romney's business experience and just his vast knowledge of running businesses and saving businesses will come into play as far as helping this economy. We haven't been able to hire someone else because of the cost to support an employee," Hester says of her five-person franchise. "Sometimes we feel like we're working and paying taxes. We don't feel that we can bear any more of the government getting into our pockets and that's the way it seems it's going with the current administration."

Romney "has a plan. His five-point plan, I believe, will work. Obama has nothing to stand on, and he has no plan," she says.

Romney supporter Dan Biederman, president of Biederman Redevelopment Ventures and The Bryant Park Corp., says it's all about jobs and the economy. He plans to keep hiring if Romney is elected.