Raleigh, N.C. – After bottoming out in September, Pat McCrory’s approval numbers continue to tick back up. 42% of voters approve of the job he’s doing to 47% who disapprove, a big improvement from 35/53 three months ago. McCrory’s numbers are most notably improving with independents- he’s back on narrowly positive ground with them at 44/43 after having dropped all the way to 32/57 in September. He’s also seeing some progress with his party base, going from 62/24 in late summer up to 68/18 now.
Voters aren’t happy with the McCrory administration’s policy of making people pay for any public records request that takes more than 30 minutes to process though. Just 23% say they agree with that rule to 62% who disagree with it, and even Republican voters say by a 34/48 spread that they disagree with the McCrory administration’s approach on that issue.
The state legislature remains very unpopular even while out of session. Only 20% of voters approve of the job it’s doing to 53% who disapprove. There’s plenty of unhappiness to go around for both parties. The Democrats in the legislature are unpopular with a 35/45 favorability rating, and the Republicans are even more unpopular at 34/51. Democrats hold a narrow 45/43 advantage on the generic legislative ballot but that’s well down from what it was over the summer and may limit their opportunities to make gains next fall.
Perhaps because voters don’t care for the legislature Moral Monday protesters were rallying against, only 28% think those who were arrested should be prosecuted compared to 54% who think the charges should be dropped. Democrats (72/15) overwhelmingly think charges should be dropped, a majority of independents (50/27) d0, and even a third of Republicans (32/46) do.
Just as we found a month ago Chris Christie is the only Republican who leads Hillary Clinton at this point in North Carolina, 45/42. Clinton has modest leads over Jeb Bush (46/45) and Rand Paul (48/44) and then holds a wider lead over Ted Cruz at 49/41.
PPP surveyed 1,281 North Carolina voters, including an oversample of 529 Republican primary voters, from December 5th to 8th. The margin of error for the overall survey is +/- 2.7% and for the Republican primary part it’s +/-4.3%. PPP’s surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
General Election Toplines
Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Pat
McCrory’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 42%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 47%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 11%
Q2 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator
Richard Burr’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 34%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 38%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 28%
Q3 Do you approve or disapprove of the job
Republicans as a whole are doing of running
state government?
Approve …………………………………………………. 38%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 53%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 10%
Q4 Do you think Republicans having total control
of state government has been a good thing or a
bad thing for North Carolina?
Good……………………………………………………… 40%
Bad ……………………………………………………….. 48%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 11%
Q5 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Jeb
Bush, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 46%
Jeb Bush………………………………………………… 45%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 9%
Q6 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Chris
Christie, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 42%
Chris Christie ………………………………………….. 45%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 13%
Q7 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Ted
Cruz, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 49%
Ted Cruz ………………………………………………… 41%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 9%
Q8 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Rand
Paul, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 48%
Rand Paul ………………………………………………. 44%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 8%
Q9 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Art Pope?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 9%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 27%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 64%
Q10 Do you support or oppose the McCrory
administration’s policy charging people for any
public records request that takes more than 30
minutes to process?
Support ………………………………………………….. 23%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 62%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 15%
Q11 Do you approve or disapprove of the job the
General Assembly is doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 20%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 53%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 27%
Q12 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the Democrats in the North Carolina
Legislature?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 35%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 45%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 20%
Q13 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the Republicans in the North Carolina
Legislature?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 34%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 51%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 16%
Q14 Generally speaking, if there was an election for
the state legislature today, would you vote for
the Democratic or Republican candidate from
your district?
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 45%
Republican……………………………………………… 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 13%
Q15 Do you think Moral Monday protesters who
were arrested this summer should be
prosecuted, or do you think charges against
them should be dropped?
Think they should be prosecuted ……………….. 28%
Think charges should be dropped………………. 54%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 18%
Q16 When it comes to college football, do you
consider yourself to be most a Duke, East
Carolina, NC State, UNC, or Wake Forest fan?
Duke ……………………………………………………… 16%
ECU………………………………………………………. 9%
NCSU ……………………………………………………. 19%
UNC………………………………………………………. 26%
Wake……………………………………………………… 5%
Someone else/Not sure ……………………………. 27%
Q17 (Asked only of Duke fans:) Do you approve or
disapprove of the job David Cutcliffe is doing
as football coach?
Approve …………………………………………………. 58%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 5%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 37%
Q18 (Asked only of ECU fans:) Do you approve or
disapprove of the job Ruffin McNeill is doing as
football coach?
Approve …………………………………………………. 58%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 5%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 37%
Q19 (Asked only of NCSU fans:) Do you approve or
disapprove of the job Dave Doeren is doing as
football coach?
Approve …………………………………………………. 24%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 21%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 55%
Q20 (Asked only of UNC fans:) Do you approve or
disapprove of the job Larry Fedora is doing as
football coach?
Approve …………………………………………………. 42%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 5%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 53%
Q21 (Asked only of Wake fans:) Do you approve or
disapprove of the job Jim Grobe is doing as
football coach?
Approve …………………………………………………. 39%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 13%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 48%
Q22 In the last presidential election, did you vote for
Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?
Barack Obama………………………………………… 45%
Mitt Romney……………………………………………. 48%
Someone else/Don’t remember …………………. 7%
Q23 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or ve ry conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 12%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 16%
Moderate………………………………………………… 29%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 24%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 19%
Q24 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 53%
Man……………………………………………………….. 47%
Q25 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 ……………………………………………….. 43%
Republican……………………………………………… 34%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 23%
Q26 If you are white, press 1. If African-American,
press 2. If other, press 3.
White …………………………………………………….. 73%
African-American …………………………………….. 21%
Other……………………………………………………… 6%
Q27 If you are 18 to 45 years old, press 1. If 46 to
65, press 2. If you are 65 or older, press 3.
18 to 45………………………………………………….. 36%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 42%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 22%
Q28 Area Code
252………………………………………………………… 13%
336………………………………………………………… 17%
704………………………………………………………… 23%
828………………………………………………………… 14%
910………………………………………………………… 13%
919………………………………………………………… 19%
Republican Primary Toplines
Q1 Given the choices of Jeb Bush, Chris Christie,
Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Marco
Rubio, Paul Ryan, Rick Santorum, and Scott
Walker, who would you most like to see as the
GOP candidate for President in 2016?
Jeb Bush………………………………………………… 15%
Chris Christie ………………………………………….. 19%
Ted Cruz ………………………………………………… 12%
Bobby Jindal …………………………………………… 3%
Rand Paul ………………………………………………. 13%
Marco Rubio …………………………………………… 10%
Paul Ryan ………………………………………………. 7%
Rick Santorum………………………………………… 5%
Scott Walker …………………………………………… 5%
Someone else/Not sure ……………………………. 11%
Q2 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or ve ry conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 1%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 7%
Moderate………………………………………………… 16%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 39%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 37%
Q3 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 51%
Man……………………………………………………….. 49%
Q4 If you are 18 to 45 years old, press 1. If 46 to
65, press 2. If you are 65 or older, press 3.
18 to 45………………………………………………….. 33%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 36%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 31%
Q5 Area Code
252………………………………………………………… 11%
336………………………………………………………… 21%
704………………………………………………………… 22%
828………………………………………………………… 18%
910………………………………………………………… 12%
919………………………………………………………… 15%
