July 1, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Francis De Luca (919) 834-2099 francis.deluca@nccivitas.org
RALEIGH – The latest Civitas Poll of registered North Carolina voters offers insights on key political trends. Among the findings:
- Thirty-nine percent of respondents thought North Carolina was headed in the right direction, while 47 percent thought it was on the wrong track.
- Asked whether they approved of the job Barack Obama is doing as president, 48 percent approved, 49 percent disapproved.
- Thirty-seven percent of voters approved of how Sen. Richard Burr was doing his job, while 27 percent disapproved and 36 percent said they didn’t know.
- Asked how Roy Cooper was doing as state attorney general, 41 percent approved, 18 percent disapproved, and 41 percent didn’t know.
- 52 percent had a favorable opinion of Gov. Pat McCrory, while 36 percent had an unfavorable opinion.
- When voters were informed of the $14 billion annual cost of Medicaid, 78 percent were willing to try a new approach to the program.
The poll surveyed 600 registered North Carolina voters, 30 percent of whom were reached on cell phones. The survey was taken June 23-25, and had a margin of error of plus/minus 4 percent.
Following is the exact wording of these questions and the results*:
First, do you feel things in North Carolina are generally headed in the right direction or have things gotten off on the wrong track?
2/15 3/15 7/15
42% 38% 39% Right Direction
47% 48% 47% Wrong Track
11% 14% 13% Don’t Know
— — — Refused
If the 2016 election for State Legislator in your area were held today, would you be voting for the: (ROTATE)
2/15 3/15 7/15
37% 37% 34% Republican candidate
40% 39% 38% Democratic candidate
7% 6% 11% Neither
15% 18% 16% Don’t Know
1% — — Refused
Now, please tell me whether you approve or disapprove of … (ROTATE)
Total Total Strong Smwt Smwt Strong Don’t Refused
Approve Disapprove Approve Approve Disapp. Disapp Know
… the job Barack Obama is doing as President?
7/15 48% 49% 26% 22% 9% 40% 3% —
3/15 44% 52% 24% 20% 9% 43% 4% —
2/15 47% 51% 28% 19% 10% 41% 2% —
… the job that Pat McCrory is doing as Governor?
7/15 51% 39% 19% 33% 16% 23% 9% —
3/15 48% 39% 15% 33% 15% 24% 13% —
2/15 51% 40% 18% 33% 16% 24% 9% —
…the job Richard Burr is doing as a US Senator?
7/15 37% 27% 9% 28% 10% 17% 36% —
10/13 36% 33% 7% 29% 18% 16% 30% —
… the job Roy Cooper is doing as Attorney General?
7/15 41% 18% 13% 28% 8% 10% 41% —
Now I am going to read you a list of people active in politics. After I read each name, please tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of that person. If you never heard of them, just tell me and we’ll go on to the next one…the (first/next) one is…(RANDOMIZE)
TOTAL TOTAL VERY SMWT SMWT VERY HRD OF/ NEVER
FAV UNFAV FAV FAV UNFAV UNFAV NO OPIN HRD OF
Pat McCrory
7/15 52% 36% 18% 34% 13% 23% 9% 2%
3/15 52% 36% 16% 36% 15% 22% 11% 1%
2/15 51% 37% 16% 35% 14% 23% 10% 2%
Richard Burr
7/15 39% 30% 7% 31% 14% 16% 22% 10%
2/15 32% 25% 8% 25% 12% 13% 28% 15%
10/13 32% 28% 9% 22% 14% 14% 30% 10%
Roy Cooper
7/15 38% 17% 11% 27% 8% 9% 30% 15%
Barack Obama
7/15 49% 47% 27% 22% 8% 39% 4% —
3/15 46% 50% 23% 23% 9% 40% 5% —
2/15 48% 49% 28% 20% 9% 40% 3% —
10/11 47% 48% 30% 17% 11% 37% 4% 1%
Thinking about political parties, which political party in North Carolina would you say provides the best solutions to our problems, (ROTATE) the Republicans or the Democrats?
33% Republicans
36% Democrats
19% Neither
5% Both
7% Don’t Know/Unsure
— Refused
The state of North Carolina currently spends 17 percent of its General Fund, or 3.8 Billion dollars on the Medicaid program. In your opinion, is this too much, too little, or about right?
21% Too Much
27% Too Little
34% About Right
17% Don’t Know/ Need More Information
— Refused
The total spending on Medicaid, including federal and state funds, is almost $14 billion dollars. The program has been plagued by almost annual cost overruns. In your opinion, what is the best way to address these problems? (ROTATE)
8% Continue managing the program, in largely the same way
78% Try a different approach
14% Don’t Know/ Need More Information
— Refused
Now I am going to read you a list of statements. After I read each, please tell me if you personally agree or disagree with the statement… (RANDOMIZE)
TOTAL TOTAL Strongly Smwt Smwt Strongly Don’t Refused
AGREE DISAGREE Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Know
Federal government funds to state government are never QUOTE “free” UNQUOTE, and usually come with strings attached.
83% 12% 55% 28% 5% 7% 5% —
Federal government funds sent to North Carolina reflect North Carolina’s values and priorities.
37% 39% 12% 25% 17% 22% 23% 1%
Thinking about the handling of your tax dollars for a moment…Do you have more confidence in the North Carolina State Government or the Federal Government to BEST allocate you tax dollars?
47% More Confidence in State Government
22% More Confidence in Federal Government
25% Much more confidence in State Government
22% Somewhat more confidence in State Government
11% Somewhat more confidence in Federal Government
12% Much more confidence in Federal Government
2% I have confidence in both equally
24% I don’t have confidence in either
4% Don’t Know
— Refused
How much longer do you think it will take for the economy to improve and the current recession to end? If you think the current recession has ended just say so…
2/15 7/15
1% 2% Under 6 months
6% 5% Between 6 months and a year
17% 16% Between 1 and 2 years
48% 54% Over 2 years
21% 16% Recession has ended
7% 8% Don’t Know
— — Refused
*Totals may not equal 100 percent because of rounding.
Crosstabs for poll here.
About the poll: This poll of 600 registered voters in North Carolina was conducted June 23-25, 2015 by National Research, Inc., of Holmdel, NJ. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered general election voters in North Carolina. Thirty percent of the respondents were cell phone-only users. For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in at least one of the past two general elections (2012, 2014) or be newly registered to vote since November 1, 2014. The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.”
For more information on Civitas polling, see: http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/.
Founded in 2005, the Civitas Institute is a Raleigh, NC-based policy organization committed to creating a North Carolina whose citizens enjoy liberty and prosperity derived from limited government, personal responsibility and civic engagement. To that end, Civitas develops and advocates for conservative policy solutions to improve the lives of all North Carolinians. Towards that end, Civitas provides research, information and training to:
• empower citizens to become better civic leaders and more informed voters;
• educate emerging public leaders, enabling them to be more effective in the democratic process; and
• inform elected officials about citizen-based, free-market solutions to problems facing North Carolinians.
Leave a Comment