Headed into the 2024 presidential election year, President Joe Biden’s approval rating remains underwater among North Carolina voters.
The latest Civitas poll of likely general election voters puts the president’s approval rating at 36%, compared to 59% who disapprove. Even worse for Biden, of those who disapprove of his performance, 51% strongly do so.
The news from the poll isn’t all bad for Democrats, however. The advantage for the GOP on a generic legislative ballot narrowed this month compared to September — declining from 47.1% to 44.7% — while Democrat’s performance increased from 42% to 43.6%. The difference is within the poll’s margin of error, but the movement is a more sizeable shift than typical seen during a two-month period.
In a generic Congressional race, Republicans hold a slightly larger lead at 46% to Democrats’ 43.4%.
Other poll results on the political front show that Gov. Roy Cooper’s approval rating clocks in at 44% of voters compared to 42% disapproving. In the race to replace Cooper as governor next year, Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has the highest favorability at 28%, followed by 26% favorability for Democrat Attorney General Josh Stein.
The poll revealed that likely voters are largely unfamiliar with the remaining candidates vying for governor — over 70% say they have never heard of former NC Supreme Court Justice Mike Morgan, a Democrat, or State Treasurer Dale Folwell, a Republican. GOP candidate Bill Graham — the latest candidate to enter the Republican primary field — has 53% name recognition.
Support for North Carolina’s new voter ID law remains strong, with 96% of Republicans and 67% of unaffiliated voters in support. For Democrats, 39% support it and 47% are opposed. At the same time, the vast majority of likely voters — 84% — do not believe that voter ID makes it more difficult to vote.
“It’s encouraging to see that most North Carolinians, regardless of their political leanings, do not view voter ID as an impediment to voting,” said Donald Bryson, CEO of the John Locke Foundation. “Many folks’ trust in the ballot box is waning, so we must continue implementing measures that regain voter confidence and reinforce election integrity for the sake of our democracy. Voter ID does that.”
On the question of government transparency, 94% of likely voters believe that open records laws are important in maintaining accountability.
“The overwhelming support for open records laws among North Carolinians, as evidenced by the Civitas Poll, clearly demonstrates a public demand for transparency and accountability in governance,” Bryson added. “Voters, generally, do not believe legislators deserve special privileges compared to other public servants.”
The poll was conducted November 26-27 and surveyed 600 likely general election voters.