(The Center Square) – Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is struggling to maintain support among North Carolina voters and even within his own party.
Thirty percent have a very or somewhat favorable view of Robinson, while her opponent, Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, has a favorable view of him at 44%.
This is new Elon University Pollasked 1,095 North Carolina voters about campaign issues for both the presidential and gubernatorial races. The survey was conducted Aug. 2-9 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.86 percentage points.
With just days left until absentee ballots are cast in North Carolina, Robinson's popularity, or lack thereof, seems even more striking.
While half of the state's voters have an unfavorable view of Robinson, just 29% have the same opinion of Stein.
North Carolina voters typically choose the Republican candidate for president, but Democrats often dominate in lower-level races.
Currently, the state's governor, attorney general, and secretary of state are all Democrats. Only four Republicans have held the governorship in the past 100 years.
While Stein's favorability rating is on par with that of the top Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, the poll found a 16 percentage point favorability gap between Robinson and Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump.
Professor Jason Hasser, director of the Elon University poll, told The Center Square that some of the poll results suggest voters may be splitting their votes to Robinson's detriment.
“The bad news for Robinson here is that Republicans are more than twice as likely as Democrats to be in the vote-splitting group,” he said. “16 percent of Republicans split their votes, compared with 6 percent of Democrats. Even worse, 39 percent of independents split their votes.”
Husser said that could be problematic because independents, while they often choose Republicans, make up a crucial portion of the electorate in North Carolina elections.
“[Independents] “Republicans have been able to win statewide elections despite having fewer registered voters than Democrats,” Husser said.
Most independents polled said they viewed Robinson unfavorably, while 27% said they viewed Stein unfavorably.
Political advertising This is likely to affect the disparity in the likeability ratings of candidates.
Stein's fundraising has far outpaced Robinson's, with the attorney general raising more than double the amount: 60% of Stein's donors have come from outside the state, compared to Robinson's 40%.
Polls released last week were mixed on how far Stein was ahead of Robinson, with some showing a lead of as much as 11 percentage points and others showing just 4 percentage points.
