Raleigh, N.C. – For the second straight month, North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue trails her likely Republican opponent Pat McCrory by double digits. McCrory leads Perdue 52-41 in a head-to-head matchup, slightly worse for Perdue than last month when McCrory led 50-40. When Libertarian candidate Michael Munger is included, McCrory leads 48-37-6. Perdue’s approval rating now stands at 32 percent approval and 51 percent disapproval, deteriorating further from last month when it was 37-48.
McCrory holds a shinier 40-24 approval rating, but with 36 percent of voters holding no opinion. In fact, a plurality of independents (43%) are not sure about their opinion of McCrory, with 37% favorable and 19% unfavorable. McCrory could either increase his lead or see it shrink as these independents begin to make up their mind about him.
Perdue suffers from high disapproval rates among independents (59 disapproval, 23 approval) and relatively low marks from Democrats with only 50% approval and 31% disapproval.
One way she might do that is to continue to draw contrasts with the Republicans in the State Legislature – voters indicate they have more faith in Perdue than the Legislative GOP to lead North Carolina by a 42-38 margin.
Despite continuing to toy with the idea of running for Governor, State Rep. Bill Faison continues to be a non-factor, trailing McCrory in a head-to-head matchup 47-27.
“Bev Perdue’s chances have taken a step back over the last three months,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “In September and October she got her deficit against Pat McCrory down to 4-5 points. But since November she’s gone back to trailing by 9-11 points. The one thing she has going for her is that the Legislature is even less popular, and running against their actions may provide her a path to victory.”
PPP surveyed 780 North Carolina voters from January 5th to 8th. The margin of error for the survey is +/-3.5%. 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 If the candidates for Governor this year were
Democrat Bev Perdue, Republican Pat
McCrory, and Libertarian Michael Munger, who
would you vote for?
Bev Perdue………… .37%
Pat McCrory……….. .48%
Michael Munger ….. . 6%
Undecided………….. . 9%
Q2 If the candidates for Governor this year were
just Democrat Bev Perdue and Republican Pat
McCrory, who would you vote for?
Bev Perdue………… .41%
Pat McCrory……….. .52%
Undecided………….. . 7%
Q3 Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Bev
Perdue’s job performance?
Approve…………….. 32%
Disapprove………… 51%
Not sure ……………. 17%
Q4 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Pat McCrory?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 40%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 24%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 36%
Q5 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Bill Faison?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 5%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 21%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 74%
Q6 If the candidates for Governor this year were
Democrat Bill Faison and Republican Pat
McCrory, who would you vote for?
Bill Faison ………….. .27%
Pat McCrory……….. .47%
Undecided………….. .26%
Q7 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator
Richard Burr’s job performance?
Approve …………….. .32%
Disapprove…………. .37%
Not sure …………….. .31%
Q8 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator Kay
Hagan’s job performance?
Approve …………….. .40%
Disapprove…………. .37%
Not sure …………….. .23%
Q9 Do you have more faith in Governor Perdue or
Legislative Republicans to lead the state?
Governor Perdue …………………………………….. 42%
Legislative Republicans ……………………………. 38%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 20%
Q10 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 10%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 16%
Moderate………………………………………………… 30%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 27%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 18%
Q11 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 53%
Man……………………………………………………….. 47%
Q12 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 ……………………………………………….. 48%
Republican……………………………………………… 34%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 18%
Q13 If you are white, press 1. If African-American,
press 2. If other, press 3.
White …………………………………………………….. 73%
African-American …………………………………….. 22%
Other……………………………………………………… 5%
Q14 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………………………………………………….. 11%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 25%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 44%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 20%
Q15
252………………………………………………………… 11%
336………………………………………………………… 18%
704………………………………………………………… 19%
828………………………………………………………… 14%
910………………………………………………………… 15%
919………………………………………………………… 23%
