(The Center Square) – Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson struggles to maintain the approval of voters in North Carolina, even from those within his own party.
While 30% hold a very or somewhat favorable view of Robinson, his opponent, Democrat Attorney General Josh Stein, garners 44% favorability.
This is according to a new Elon University Poll, which asked 1,095 registered voters in North Carolina about issues related to both the presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. The survey was conducted from Aug. 2 to 9, and the margin of error is +/-3.86%.
With just days until absentee ballots go out in North Carolina, Robinson’s popularity, or lack thereof, looks even more stark.
While half of state voters hold unfavorable views of Robinson, just 29% felt the same about Stein.
Though North Carolina voters regularly choose Republican candidates for president, its downballot races often swing Democratic.
Currently, the state’s governor, attorney general and secretary of state are all Democrats. In the last 100 years, only four Republicans have held the governor’s seat.
While Stein’s favorability is comparable to Vice President Kamala Harris, who leads the Democratic ticket, the poll found that a 16% favorability difference exists between former Robinson and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.
Professor Jason Husser, director of the Elon University Poll, told The Center Square that some of the poll’s findings show how voters splitting their tickets could hurt Robinson.
“The bad news for Robinson in this is that Republicans are more than twice as likely than Democrats to be in those ticket splitter groups,” he said. “Sixteen percent of Republicans were ticket splitters and 6% of Democrats. Making matters worse, 39% of Independents are ticket splitters.”
Husser said this could be problematic because though Independents often choose Republicans, they are a decisive subset of voters for North Carolina elections.
“[Independents] are how Republicans are able to win statewide elections, despite being a smaller registered, registered voting group than Democrats,” Husser said.
Most Independents polled said they viewed Robinson unfavorably, while 27% said they did not view Stein favorably.
Political advertising likely plays a role in the candidates’ favorability gap.
Stein’s fundraising has outpaced Robinson’s significantly, with the attorney general bringing in more than double the amount of money. Sixty percent of all of Stein’s donors have come from out-of-state, compared with Robinson’s 40%.
Polls released last week were mixed on how much Stein leads Robinson, with some as much as an 11-percentage point spread to as little as 4 percentage points.
