PPP’s newest North Carolina poll finds that Joe Biden continues to have a strong lead for the Democratic primary in the state. He’s at 31% to 18% for Bernie Sanders and 15% for Elizabeth Warren. Michael Bloomberg at 8%, Pete Buttigieg at 6%, Andrew Yang at 5%, and Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer each at 3% round out the field.
Although he continues to be well ahead, Biden is down 8 points from his 39% standing the last time PPP polled the state in October. This seems likely due to Bloomberg’s relatively strong support and their pulling from similar bases. Warren is also on the decline, from 22% on the last poll to 15% on this one. Sanders has tripled his support from 6% on the last poll to 18% on this one although it should be noted that the previous poll was done right after his heart attack, and he had a period of a couple weeks following that event where his poll numbers were unusually low before making a quick recovery after he returned for the October debate.
Biden’s advantage is largely driven by overwhelming support from African American voters. He gets 47% with them to 16% for Sanders and 14% for Warren with no one else in double digits. Biden also has a commanding lead with seniors, getting 44% with them to 14% for Bloomberg with everyone else in single digits. Sanders has a strong advantage with younger voters, getting 39% with them to 19% for Warren, 14% for Biden, and 10% for Yang.
In the Democratic primary for US Senate Cal Cunningham now has a double digit lead with 22% to 12% for Erica Smith with Atul Goel at 3%, Trevor Fuller at 2%, and Steve Swenson at 1% rounding out the field. 60% of voters remain undecided. Cunningham is the only candidate with more than 20% name recognition and those who are familiar with him generally like him- he has a 24% favorability rating to just 8% who view him in a negative light.
The primary races for both Lieutenant Governor and State Treasurer are completely up in the air. 77% are undecided for Lieutenant Governor- Yvonne Holley gets 7%, Allen Thomas 6%, Terry Van Duyn 4%, Chaz Beasley 3%, and Ron Newton and Bill Toole each 2%. The level of undecideds is even higher for Treasurer at 80%- in that contest Dimple Ajmera has 10%, Matt Leatherman 6%, and Ronnie Chatterji 5%.
Full results here