Raleigh, N.C. – The budget passed by the North Carolina General Assembly last week is very unpopular- not just with voters statewide but also with the constituents of Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger.
Only 23% of voters across the state support the budget to 41% who are opposed and 36% with no opinion. It is only marginally more popular in Tillis’ district, where 24% of
voters favor it to 41% opposed, and in Berger’s district, where 27% support it with 44%
in opposition.
The reason the budget’s so unpopular is that Democrats and independents are strongly
opposed to it, while Republicans are pretty evenly divided. Statewide Democrats are
against it by a 36 point margin (15/51) and independents are by an 18 point spread
(23/41) while Republicans support it by only 6 points (33/27).
Cuts to education are at the center of voter opposition to the budget. Statewide only 36% of voters think that it’s most important to end the temporary one cent sales tax compared to 50% who think it’s more vital to minimize cuts to education spending. The numbers are similar in Berger’s district where 53% of voters think it’s more important to protect education vs. 36% who think it’s more important to roll back the sales tax and in Tillis’ where 51% side with education to 41% for reducing the sales tax.
“Governor Perdue’s veto of the budget is likely to be a political winner for her,” said
Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “Voters agree with her that it’s more
important to protect education than make a small reduction in the sales tax.
”
PPP surveyed 563 North Carolina voters from June 8th to 11th and also interviewed 576 voters in Thom Tillis’ district and 527 voters in Phil Berger’s on June 11th and 12th. The margin of error for the statewide and Tillis polls is +/-4.1% and for the Berger poll it’s +/-4.3%.
This poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization. PPP
surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews. PPP is a Democratic
polling company, but polling expert Nate Silver of the New York Times found that its
surveys in 2010 actually exhibited a slight bias toward Republican candidates.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you have more faith in Governor Perdue or
Legislative Republicans to lead the state?
Governor Perdue …………………………………….. 42%
Legislative Republicans ……………………………. 40%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 18%
Q2 Do you support or oppose the budget that the
General Assembly passed last week?
Support ………………………………………………….. 23%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 41%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 36%
Q3 Do you support or oppose a 5.8% cut in
funding to the public schools in North Carolina?
Support ………………………………………………….. 25%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 62%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 12%
Q4 Do you support or oppose a 12% cut in funding
to the UNC system?
Support ………………………………………………….. 30%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 49%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 22%
Q5 What do you think is more important: ending
the temporary one cent sales tax increase or
minimizing cuts to education spending?
Ending the temporary one cent sales tax
increase is more important…………………………36%
Minimizing cuts to education spending………… 50%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 14%
Q6 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 9%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 17%
Moderate………………………………………………… 31%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 27%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 17%
Q7 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 54%
Man……………………………………………………….. 46%
Q8 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 47%
Republican……………………………………………… 36%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 16%
Q9 If you are white, press 1. If African-American,
press 2. If other, press 3.
White …………………………………………………….. 71%
African-American …………………………………….. 23%
Other……………………………………………………… 6%
Q10 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 10%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 28%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 42%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 20%
Q11
252………………………………………………………… 11%
336………………………………………………………… 19%
704………………………………………………………… 19%
828………………………………………………………… 16%
910………………………………………………………… 16%
919………………………………………………………… 19%
