Raleigh, N.C. – North Carolinians give Pat McCrory a C for his work as Governor so far. We asked on our monthly poll what letter grade they would give McCrory based on his time in office to date and his reviews came in right down the middle. 42% give him an A or a B, compared to 37% who give him a D or an F. But since his F’s (20%) outweigh his A’s (17%) it puts him at a C overall.
McCrory’s approval rating this month is 43% to 45% of voters who disapprove of him. For the fifth month in a row we find that a hypothetical contest between him and Roy Cooper would be within a couple points, with McCrory at 44% this month to 43% for Cooper. There is virtually no support for impeaching Cooper, a possibility allegedly brought up by a Republican legislator a few weeks ago. Just 16% of voters would favor that course of action to 42% who are opposed and 42% who have no opinion either way.
“Pat McCrory has had negative approval ratings for over a year now,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “That has the 2016 race for Governor shaping up as one that looks like it will be really competitive, at least at this early stage.”
Richard Burr is one of the lowest profile Senators in the country- 32% of voters approve of him, 32% of voters disapprove of him, and even after 10 years in office a 36% plurality has no opinion about him either way- those numbers are pretty similar to what we found for Pat Roberts at the beginning of this cycle. Nevertheless Burr would start out with decent sized leads for reelection against a quartet of hypothetical opponents we tested against him- he would be up 44/37 on Janet Cowell, 45/35 on Anthony Foxx, 45/33 on Grier Martin, and 45/32 on Allen Joines.
North Carolinians continue to be closely divided when it comes to how they plan to vote for the legislature this year- 44% say they would vote Democratic if there was an election today, compared to 43% who say they would vote Republican. If those numbers hold it would likely result in Democrats gaining a few seats in the state House and Senate, but not a huge number.
PPP surveyed 856 likely voters from August 14th to 17th. The margin of error for the survey is +/- 3.4%. 80% of interviews for the poll were conducted over the phone with 20% interviewed over the internet to reach respondents who don’t have landline telephones.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 The candidates for one North Carolina
Supreme Court seat this fall are Robin Hudson
and Eric Levinson. If the election was today,
who would you vote for?
Robin Hudson …………………………………………. 19%
Eric Levinson ………………………………………….. 11%
Undecided………………………………………………. 71%
Q2 Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Pat
McCrory’s job performance?
Approve …………….. .43%
Disapprove…………. .45%
Not sure …………….. .12%
Q3 What letter grade would you give to Pat
McCrory for his work as Governor so far: an A,
a B, a C, a D, or an F?
A …………………………………………………………… 17%
B …………………………………………………………… 25%
C…………………………………………………………… 17%
D…………………………………………………………… 17%
F …………………………………………………………… 20%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 4%
Q4 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Roy Cooper?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 30%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 19%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 50%
Q5 If the candidates for Governor in 2016 were
Republican Pat McCrory and Democrat Roy
Cooper, who would you vote for?
Pat McCrory……………………………………………. 44%
Roy Cooper…………………………………………….. 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 14%
Q6 Would you support or oppose impeaching Roy
Cooper?
Support ………………………………………………….. 16%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 42%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 42%
Q7 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator
Richard Burr’s job performance?
Approve …………….. .32%
Disapprove…………. .32%
Not sure …………….. .36%
Q8 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Janet Cowell?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 14%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 9%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 76%
Q9 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Anthony Foxx?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 15%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 14%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 71%
Q10 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Allen Joines?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 10%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 8%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 82%
Q11 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Grier Martin?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 7%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 5%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 89%
Q12 If the candidates for U.S. Senate in 2016 were
Republican Richard Burr and Democrat Janet
Cowell, who would you vote for?
Richard Burr……………………………………………. 44%
Janet Cowell …………………………………………… 37%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 19%
Q13 If the candidates for U.S. Senate in 2016 were
Republican Richard Burr and Democrat
Anthony Foxx, who would you vote for?
Richard Burr……………………………………………. 45%
Anthony Foxx………………………………………….. 35%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 19%
Q14 If the candidates for U.S. Senate in 2016 were
Republican Richard Burr and Democrat Allen
Joines, who would you vote for?
Richard Burr……………………………………………. 45%
Allen Joines ……………………………………………. 32%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 23%
Q15 If the candidates for U.S. Senate in 2016 were
Republican Richard Burr and Democrat Grier
Martin, who would you vote for?
Richard Burr……………………………………………. 45%
Grier Martin…………………………………………….. 33%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 22%
Q16 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………………………………………………… 42%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 12%
Q17 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Chris
Christie, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 45%
Chris Christie ………………………………………….. 38%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 16%
Q18 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Ted
Cruz, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 47%
Ted Cruz ………………………………………………… 41%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 11%
Q19 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Mike
Huckabee, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 45%
Mike Huckabee ……………………………………….. 44%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 11%
Q20 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Rand
Paul, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 47%
Rand Paul ………………………………………………. 42%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 11%
Q21 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the Democrats in the North Carolina
Legislature?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 32%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 47%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 22%
Q22 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 ……………………………………………….. 44%
Republican……………………………………………… 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 13%
Q23 Do you think voters in individual counties
should be able to increase their local sales tax
if they want to, or do you think it should be
capped by the General Assembly?
Voters should be able to raise the local sales
tax………………………………………………………….49%
The General Assembly should cap it ………….. 37%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 14%
Q24 In the last presidential election, did you vote for
Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?
Barack Obama………………………………………… 46%
Mitt Romney……………………………………………. 49%
Someone else / Don’t remember ……………….. 5%
Q25 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 10%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 16%
Moderate………………………………………………… 32%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 24%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 19%
Q26 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 53%
Man……………………………………………………….. 47%
Q27 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 ……………………………………………….. 42%
Republican……………………………………………… 31%
Independent / Other…………………………………. 27%
Q28 If you are white, press 1. If African-American,
press 2. If other, press 3.
White …………………………………………………….. 75%
African-American …………………………………….. 20%
Other……………………………………………………… 5%
Q29 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………………………………………………….. 20%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 45%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 25%
Q30 Were you born in North Carolina, or did you
move here from somewhere else?
Born in NC……………………………………………… 56%
Born somewhere else ………………………………. 44%
Q31 Mode
Phone ……………………………………………………. 80%
Internet ………………………………………………….. 20%
Q32 Area Code
252………………………………………………………… 8%
336………………………………………………………… 17%
704………………………………………………………… 15%
828………………………………………………………… 14%
910………………………………………………………… 10%
919………………………………………………………… 16%
Internet ………………………………………………….. 20%
