Raleigh, N.C. – North Carolinians are still mad at the Republicans in charge of state government for how things went down in the legislative session over the summer, but the anger isn’t quite what it was a couple months ago.

Pat McCrory remains unpopular with a 39/51 approval rating, but that’s up from its low point of 35/53 in September. Approval for the Republicans in state government as a whole is up a tick as well, from 32/57 to 34/55. And 39% of voters now say that GOP control of the state has been a good thing to 50% who say bad, up from a 36/54 spread a couple months ago. The numbers are all still bad for the Republicans, but they’re not as bad as they were in the immediate aftermath of the session.

Other notes from North Carolina politics: 51% of voters in the state want the charges against Moral Monday protesters to be dropped, compared to only 33% who think they should be prosecuted. Majorities of Democrats and independents, and even 29% of GOP voters think charges should be dropped.

There’s no doubt that DHHS is a big part of Pat McCrory’s problems this year. Only 24% of voters approve of the job it’s done so far during his administration, to 47% who disapprove. Even among Republicans DHHS gets a pretty negative 26/42 approval rating.

North Carolinians narrowly favor Medicaid expansion, 46/40. 72% of Democrats support it while 68% of Republicans are opposed, and independents split pretty evenly.

Voters in the state also support the Employment Non Discrimination Act that was passed by the Senate last week, 43/26. 62% of Democrats support it while only 46% of Republicans are opposed, and independents support it by a 13 point spread at 37/24 as well.

PPP surveyed 701 North Carolina voters, including an oversample of 498 Republican primary voters, from November 8th to 11th. The margin of error for the overall survey is +/- 3.7% and for the Republican primary part it’s +/-4.4%. 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 …………………………………………………. 39%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 51%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 10%

Q2 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator
Richard Burr’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 33%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 36%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 30%

Q3 Do you approve or disapprove of the job
Republicans as a whole are doing of running
state government?
Approve …………………………………………………. 34%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 55%
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……………………………………………………… 39%
Bad ……………………………………………………….. 50%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 12%

Q5 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Jeb
Bush, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 47%
Jeb Bush………………………………………………… 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 10%

Q6 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Chris
Christie, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 43%
Chris Christie ………………………………………….. 46%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 11%

Q7 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Ted
Cruz, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 51%
Ted Cruz ………………………………………………… 39%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 10%

Q8 If the candidates for President next time were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Rand
Paul, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 50%
Rand Paul ………………………………………………. 41%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 9%

Q9 Do you approve or disapprove of the job the
General Assembly is doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 15%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 62%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 23%

Q10 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the Democrats in the North Carolina
Legislature?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 37%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 46%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 17%

Q11 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the Republicans in the North Carolina
Legislature?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 36%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 51%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 13%

Q12 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 …………………………………………………. 12%

Q13 Do you have a higher opinion of Congress or
the North Carolina General Assembly, or do
you see them equally?
Congress ……………………………………………….. 10%
General Assembly……………………………………. 27%
See them both equally ……………………………… 46%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 17%

Q14 Do you approve or disapprove of the job the
North Carolina Department of Health and
Human Services has done this year?
Approve …………………………………………………. 24%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 47%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 30%

Q15 Would you support or oppose expanding
Medicaid to cover an additional 500,000 North
Carolinians?
Support ………………………………………………….. 46%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 40%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 14%

Q16 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 ……………….. 33%
Think charges should be dropped………………. 51%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 16%

Q17 Do you support or oppose the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act?
Support ………………………………………………….. 43%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 26%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 31%

Q18 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%

Q19 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or ve ry conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 13%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 11%
Moderate………………………………………………… 34%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 24%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 19%

Q20 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 54%
Man……………………………………………………….. 46%

Q21 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 ……………………………………………….. 45%
Republican……………………………………………… 33%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 21%

Q22 If you are white, press 1. If African-American,
press 2. If other, press 3.
White …………………………………………………….. 73%
African-American …………………………………….. 20%
Other……………………………………………………… 6%

Q23 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………………………………………………….. 15%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 22%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 42%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 21%

Q24 Area Code
252………………………………………………………… 11%
336………………………………………………………… 21%
704………………………………………………………… 18%
828………………………………………………………… 16%
910………………………………………………………… 13%
919………………………………………………………… 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………………………………………………… 16%
Chris Christie ………………………………………….. 20%
Ted Cruz ………………………………………………… 12%
Bobby Jindal …………………………………………… 6%
Rand Paul ………………………………………………. 12%
Marco Rubio …………………………………………… 10%
Paul Ryan ………………………………………………. 7%
Rick Santorum………………………………………… 2%
Scott Walker …………………………………………… 1%
Someone else/Not sure ……………………………. 13%

Q2 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or ve ry conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 3%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 4%
Moderate………………………………………………… 21%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 36%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 36%

Q3 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 49%
Man……………………………………………………….. 51%

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%
Over 65………………………………………………….. 31%

Q5 Area Code
252………………………………………………………… 11%
336………………………………………………………… 23%
704………………………………………………………… 23%
828………………………………………………………… 14%
910………………………………………………………… 10%
919………………………………………………………… 20%