Raleigh, N.C. – President Obama continues his slide, as only 40% of North Carolina voters approve of the job he’s doing, compared to 54% who disapprove. The 14% gap is up from an 11% gap in December, when voters disapproved of him 44/55, and it represents one of his lowest approval ratings since being in office.
Things aren’t going well for Pat McCrory either. Only 37% of voters approve of the job he’s doing, versus 47% who disapprove. These numbers are down from December, when 42% of voters approved, and they signal the end of McCrory’s three-month rally, where his poll numbers had modestly improved after bottoming out in September.
Statewide, voters across party lines think McCrory should replace DHHS Secretary Adolna Wos (37/17 among Democrats, 41/12 among Republicans). The General Assembly is still wildly unpopular (17/53), although Republicans now have a slight lead in the generic ballot for state legislature (43% would vote for a Republican, 42% for a Democrat). Democrats had been leading in our December poll (45/43).
Voters support a raise in the minimum wage to $10/hour (57/35), with even 31% of Republicans supporting. Voters in both parties, however, agree that North Carolina teachers are paid too little (82% of Democrats, 60% of Republicans) and would support raising teacher pay to the national average over four years (79/11).
“There’s a strong bipartisan agreement with Jim Hunt that North Carolina should bring its teacher salaries up to the national average,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “This could be the winning issue for Democrats in the state in 2014.”
As for national issues, voters think Congress should continue unemployment benefits (64/31), although 44% of Republicans strongly feel Congress should cut off benefits. Our poll seemed to be too early to capture any of the effects from the Christie Administration’s lane closures: he still leads Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical general election 43/42, down only slightly from leading 45/42 last month.
PPP surveyed 1,384 North Carolina voters, including 575 Republican primary voters, from January 9th-12th. The margin of error for the overall survey is +/- 2.6% and for the Republican primary part it’s +/-4.1%. 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.
General Election Toplines
Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of President
Barack Obama’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 40%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 54%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 5%
Q2 Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Pat
McCrory’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 37%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 47%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 16%
Q3 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator
Richard Burr’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 30%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 37%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 33%
Q4 Do you approve or disapprove of the job
Republicans as a whole are doing of running
state government?
Approve …………………………………………………. 35%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 51%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 14%
Q5 Do you think Republicans having total control
of state government has been a good thing or a
bad thing for North Carolina?
Good……………………………………………………… 36%
Bad ……………………………………………………….. 49%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 16%
Q6 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………………………………………………… 44%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 11%
Q7 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 ………………………………………….. 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 14%
Q8 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 …………………………………………………. 12%
Q9 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 ………………………………………………. 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 10%
Q10 Do you approve or disapprove of the job the
General Assembly is doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 17%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 53%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 30%
Q11 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the Democrats in the North Carolina
Legislature?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 34%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 47%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 18%
Q12 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the Republicans in the North Carolina
Legislature?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 35%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 49%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 16%
Q13 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 ……………………………………………….. 42%
Republican……………………………………………… 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 15%
Q14 Do you approve or disapprove of the job the
North Carolina Department of Health and
Human Services is doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 15%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 50%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 35%
Q15 Do you think Governor McCrory should replace
Health and Human Services Secretary Aldona
Wos, or not?
Think he should replace her………………………. 38%
Think he should not …………………………………. 14%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 48%
Q16 Would you support or oppose raising the
minimum wage to $10 an hour?
Support ………………………………………………….. 57%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 35%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 8%
Q17 Would you support or oppose a 3% pay
increase for state employees?
Support ………………………………………………….. 50%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 38%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 12%
Q18 Congress is considering whether to continue or
cut off federal unemployment benefits for
workers whose state unemployment benefits
have ended but cannot find a job. Do you think
that Congress should continue or cut off federal
unemployment benefits at this time?
Strongly feel they should continue them……… 44%
Somewhat feel they should continue them ….. 20%
Strongly feel they should cut them off…………. 24%
Somewhat feel they should cut them off ……… 7%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 6%
Q19 Do you believe that man-made climate change
is occurring, or not?
Believe it is……………………………………………… 45%
Believe it is not………………………………………… 41%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 14%
Q20 Do you agree or disagree with the following
statement? ‘The winter weather over the last
week shows that the concept of global warming
is a fraud.’
Agree …………………………………………………….. 32%
Disagree ………………………………………………… 47%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 21%
Q21 Do you think teachers in North Carolina are
paid too little, too much, or just about right?
Too little …………………………………………………. 72%
Too much ……………………………………………….. 3%
About right ……………………………………………… 20%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 5%
Q22 Do you support or oppose the idea of
increasing teacher pay in North Carolina to the
national average over the next four years?
Support ………………………………………………….. 79%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 11%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 11%
Q23 Would you say you are very concerned,
somewhat concerned, or not concerned at all
that some teachers are leaving North Carolina
schools to work in other professions or are
moving to higher paying teaching jobs in other
states?
Very concerned……………………………………….. 58%
Somewhat concerned ………………………………. 25%
Not concerned at all…………………………………. 14%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 4%
Q24 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Martin Luther King, Jr.?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 66%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 18%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 16%
Q25 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Phil Robertson from Duck Dynasty?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 47%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 27%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 27%
Q26 In the last presidential election, did you vote for
Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?
Barack Obama………………………………………… 47%
Mitt Romney……………………………………………. 47%
Someone else/Don’t remember …………………. 6%
Q27 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……………………………. 25%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 17%
Q28 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 53%
Man……………………………………………………….. 47%
Q29 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……………………………………………… 33%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 23%
Q30 If you are white, press 1. If African-American,
press 2. If other, press 3.
White …………………………………………………….. 73%
African-American …………………………………….. 21%
Other……………………………………………………… 6%
Q31 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 65
or older, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 12%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 26%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 41%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 21%
Q32 Area Code
252………………………………………………………… 11%
336………………………………………………………… 18%
704………………………………………………………… 14%
828………………………………………………………… 12%
910………………………………………………………… 11%
919………………………………………………………… 15%
Internet ………………………………………………….. 20%
Q33 Mode
Phone ……………………………………………………. 80%
Internet ………………………………………………….. 20%
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………………………………………………… 14%
Chris Christie ………………………………………….. 17%
Ted Cruz ………………………………………………… 11%
Bobby Jindal …………………………………………… 5%
Rand Paul ………………………………………………. 14%
Marco Rubio …………………………………………… 9%
Paul Ryan ………………………………………………. 11%
Rick Santorum………………………………………… 4%
Scott Walker …………………………………………… 3%
Someone else/Not sure ……………………………. 13%
Q2 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 2%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 4%
Moderate………………………………………………… 16%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 40%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 38%
Q3 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 48%
Man……………………………………………………….. 52%
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………………………………………………….. 32%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 37%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 31%
Q5 Area Code
252………………………………………………………… 9%
336………………………………………………………… 20%
704………………………………………………………… 18%
828………………………………………………………… 14%
910………………………………………………………… 10%
919………………………………………………………… 14%
Internet ………………………………………………….. 14%
Q6 Mode
Phone ……………………………………………………. 86%
Internet ………………………………………………….. 14%
