Majority of Voters Wouldn’t Want Easley 3rd Term

Voters Say “No” to Hypothetical Easley Run

Raleigh, N.C. – Over half of all voters would not vote to re-elect current Governor Mike Easley if he were constitutionally allowed to run for a third term according to a new poll released today by the Civitas Institute.

According to the live telephone survey of 600 likely General Election voters, when asked if Governor Easley were eligible to run for a third term, would you vote to re-elect him, only 34 percent of voters said yes. 52 percent said no. 14 percent were unsure.

When asked of the job Easley was doing as Governor, 46 percent approved of his performance while 34 percent disapproved.

“Despite having an overall positive approval rating, voters are ready for a change in leadership in Raleigh,” said Francis De Luca, Executive Director of the Civitas Institute.

Easley is still fairly well liked as a Governor among his base Democratic supporters, enjoying a 52-28 favorability rating, but those Democrats only support a third Easley term by a 46-42 margin.

On the issues that matter most to North Carolinians, only those who list health care as their top priority would give Easley a third term (44-39). Voters who are concerned with public education (42-46), the economy and jobs (37-47), taxes (18-74) and illegal immigration (14-70) all oppose Easley continuing as Governor.

“It appears some of the blame for the current economic condition is falling on Governor Easley,” added De Luca. “Most elected official looking to establish his or her legacy would prefer to have higher numbers than this when they leave office.”

Click here for full results and crosstabs.

The study of 600 registered voters was conducted September 17-20 by Tel Opinion Research of Alexandria, Virginia. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered voters in North Carolina. For purposes of this study, voters we interviewed had to have voted in either the 2002, 2004 or 2006 general election or were newly registered voters since 2006. The voters were interviewed using live callers.

The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95% of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4.2% of the “True Values.” “True Values” refer to the results obtained if were possible to interview every person in North Carolina who had voted in either the 2002, 2004 or 2006 general elections or were newly registered voters since 2006.

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If you would like more information regarding this topic or to schedule an interview with Francis De Luca, please call Gabe Dellinger at 919.747.8065 or email at Gabe.Dellinger@nccivitas.org.