A poll conducted in North Carolina from Monday to Friday of last week and released on Sunday showed Kamala Harris and Donald Trump neck and neck, with Josh Stein leading Mark Robinson by 10 points.
While most other polls since Super Tuesday have shown Trump either tied or ahead statistically within the margin of error, the sampled poll sponsored by Democratic-backed outlet Carolina Forward and conducted by YouGov Blue marked the first time that Harris and Trump respondents received the same number of votes (46%). The poll was conducted among 802 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
For Stein, the Democratic attorney general has begun creating an opportunity to widen her lead over the Republican lieutenant governor in most polls since late spring. Stein received 46 percent, Robinson 36 percent, and 13 percent remained undecided.
Those 10 points are an outlier: The previous high came from a Public Policy Poll conducted by the Democratic-backed Clean and Prosperous America on July 19 and 20, which showed Stein ahead by 6 points.
That’s the opposite of a poll released Friday by the conservative John Locke Foundation.In the race for lieutenant governor, State Senator Rachel Hunt, a Democrat, is leading Republican Hal Weatherman, 40% to 38%, with 22% undecided. In the race for Attorney General, Democratic Representative Jeff Jackson is leading Republican Representative Dan Bishop, 42% to 40%, with 18% undecided. In the race for public schools superintendent, Democrat Moe Green is leading Republican Michelle Morrow, 42% to 39%, with 19% undecided. In the race for state auditor, Democrat Jessica Holmes is leading Republican Dave Boreek, 41% to 37%, with 22% undecided.
The poll does not include a sample of the Secretary of State race, where Democrat Elaine Marshall is seeking victory and would team up with the sixth governor since first being elected in 1996. In the other nine state legislative races, Democrats had leads in six, Republicans had leads in two and there was a tie in one.
The 10 seats in the state Legislature (which serve four-year terms) are for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, farm insurance commissioner, secretary of state, secretary of labor, auditor, treasurer and superintendent of public schools.
The poll asked the main question, “How concerned are you about the following issues?” with responses ranging from very concerned, somewhat concerned, not very concerned, to not concerned at all.
The cost of living (75% very, 22% somewhat) was a concern for 97%, followed by the economy and employment (65% very, 29% somewhat) and the cost of health care (64% very, 30% somewhat) at 94%. Crime (58% very, 31% somewhat) was next at 89%.
Immigration (52% strongly in favor, 28% somewhat in favor) reached 80%, far surpassing the 70% total for protecting abortion rights (45% strongly in favor, 25% somewhat in favor).
“Abortion will be a top issue that we advocate for, to make sure that North Carolinians know they have to protect not just abortion but contraception as well,” state Democratic Party Chairman Anderson Clayton said in April.
Absentee mail ballots will be sent out in 25 days.There are 66 days left until early voting and 85 days until the election on November 5th.
There are some notable patterns in North Carolina’s elections.
Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon B. Johnson’s victory in 1964 He has only won the state twice in the past 14 elections – Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Barack Obama in 2008. Both failed to win the state four years later.
North Carolina 16 electoral votes It is considered one of seven key battleground states with 93 electoral votes. The others are Pennsylvania (19), Georgia (16), Michigan (15), Arizona (11), Wisconsin (10) and Nevada (6).
Governor Roy Cooper completed the two consecutive terms allowed by state law and has been elected for 13 consecutive terms since November 1984. Daniel Lindsay Scott Russell’s tenure 1897-1901A Democrat has held the governor’s office every year, except for Baptist Oliver Max Gardner (1929-33) and Republicans James Holshouser (1973-77), Jim Martin (1985-93), and Pat McCrory (2013-16).
Unlike some states, the lieutenant governor position is not paired with the gubernatorial candidate, but only three Republicans have held the office since Russell left the 19th century: Robinson and Dan Forest in each of the past 12 years, and Jim Gardner (1989-93) more than 30 years ago.
of Last Democrat to win lieutenant governorship In 2008 it was Walter Dalton.
James Carson (1974-75) was the only Republican to serve as Attorney General since Robert Douglas (1900-01). 16 different Democrats It has held this position since the early 20th century.
