WASHINGTON – Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by 7 points in the key state of North Carolina, according to a new NBC News / Marist poll, and voters also favor the Democratic Senate and gubernatorial candidates and say 2-to-1. that the state was right to reject the Trump administration’s plans for the Charlotte convention over concerns about coronavirus safety protocols.
Among registered voters, Biden, the alleged Democratic candidate, garnered 51 percent support, compared to 44 percent who supported Trump. In March, Biden had a 4-point lead in a head-to-head matchup, 49 percent to 45 percent.
Democratic Senate candidate Cal Cunningham leads Republican Senator Thom Tillis by 9 points, backed by 50 percent of voters, compared to 41 percent by Tillis.
And Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, who spent much of the spring in a dispute with the Trump administration over his efforts to hold the Republican National Convention in person in Charlotte despite the pandemic, easily led his Republican rival, Lt. Governor Dan Forest. .58 percent to 38 percent.
Cooper, who recently stopped the state’s reopening plan and issued a state-wide mask mandate in response to the increasing number of coronavirus cases, had a positive approval rating of 59 percent of voters, compared to 35 percent who disapproved.
Download the NBC News app for the latest news and politics.
Meanwhile, Trump’s job approval rating among North Carolina voters was just 41 percent, with a majority, 55 percent, disagreeing. That’s a net 11-point drop from March, when 45 percent approved and 48 percent disapproved.
And only 32 percent of North Carolina voters say state leaders were wrong to insist on safety protocols for the convention. Republican officials eventually dismissed the protocols as too stringent and moved the president’s nomination speech to Jacksonville, Florida. Six out of 10 agreed that “the state was right to prioritize its health protocols for large meetings on the president’s objections.”
The Jacksonville event would also be canceled. The poll was conducted July 14-22, before the president announced the cancellation Thursday night due to logistical and security concerns.
Trump still leads the economy; Biden has big clues about coronaviruses, race relations
In a head-to-head competition, Biden leads among independents (49 percent to 41 percent), black voters (86 percent to 8 percent), women (58 percent to 37 percent), and voters who don’t like them the top two candidates (52 percent to 27 percent).
Trump maintains an advantage among white voters (54 percent to 42 percent), men (52 percent to 43 percent), and white voters without college degrees (69 percent to 28 percent).
Reflecting national polls, Trump also has an advantage in the intensity of his support. Seventy-five percent of Trump voters in North Carolina say they strongly support him, while 64 percent of Biden voters say the same thing about his candidate.
Voters also chose Trump over Biden when it comes to economic issues, with 52 percent saying Trump is the best-equipped candidate to run the economy, compared to 39 percent who chose Biden.
But in dealing with race relations, only 31 percent said Trump is the best candidate, while 53 percent chose Biden.
Trump had a similar deficit when voters were asked who would best manage the coronavirus, with only 34 percent selecting it, compared to 51 percent who chose Biden.
Overall, about half of voters in North Carolina, 48 percent, say the pandemic is getting worse in the state. Only 14 percent say it is improving, while 36 percent say it stays the same.
The part that says the pandemic is getting worse includes 66 percent of Biden voters, but only 28 percent of Trump voters.
“Biden is in good shape in North Carolina as long as coronavirus or race relations are paramount,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute of Public Opinion. “His downside is if the focus shifts to the economy, where Trump has the advantage.”
What the survey sample looks like
As Marist works to ensure that the most difficult-to-reach voters are included in her samples, 20 percent of the registered voter sample for this survey lives in the Raleigh-Durham area, 16 percent is from the Charlotte, 25 percent is from the eastern part of the state, 21 percent is from the Piedmont region, and 17 percent comes from the western part of the state.
Among registered voters, 19 percent live in major cities, 19 percent live in small cities, 14 percent are slum dwellers, 28 percent are small towns, and 20 percent are rural voters .
35% identified as Democrats, 29% as Republicans, and 36% as Independents.
38% of voters were white voters without college degrees, while 30% were white voters with college degrees.
The NBC News / North Carolina Marist Survey of 1,067 adults, who It took place from July 14 to 22, and has a margin of error of +/- 3.7 percentage points. The margin of error among the 882 registered voters the survey surveyed is +/- 4.0 percentage points.
