In North Carolina, Budd and Beasley in Statistical Dead Heat for U.S. Senate
In North Carolina’s race for U.S. Senate, Republican Congressman Ted Budd continues to lead former state Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley. New results from a poll by Emerson College and The Hill show Budd with 46 percent support of surveyed voters, compared to 43 percent for Beasley. Budd’s three-point lead matches the poll’s margin of error, putting the candidates in a statistical dead heat.
The Emerson College poll comes two weeks after an Eastern Carolina University poll showed Budd with a three point lead but slightly more of the vote, leading Beasley 49 percent to 43 percent. During the first week of September, Trafalgar Group showed Budd leading by a three-point margin, with 47 percent of surveyed voters support vs. 44 percent supporting Beasley.
KEY DATA FROM THE EMERSON COLLEGE POLL:
- Budd leads among men by 16 points while Beasley leads among women by nine points.
- 81 percent of of the undecided voters are women whose most important voting issue is abortion access (28 percent).”
- 48 percent of North Carolina voters have a favorable view of Budd, while 46% have a favorable view of Beasley.
- 38 percent have an unfavorable view of Budd, compared to 40% have an unfavorable view of Beasley.
- The economy is the most important issue in determining 41% of voters’ November decision, followed by threats to democracy (14%), abortion (12%), and healthcare (11%).
- 69 percent of voters who say the economy is their most important issue plan to vote for Budd. Seventy-seven percent of those who say abortion is their top issue support Beasley. Those who find threats to democracy to be the most important issue are more split: 53% support Beasley and 42% support Budd.”
- A majority of voters (59%) say they are much more likely (46%) or somewhat more likely (12%) to vote in the 2022 elections due to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Thirty-five percent say it makes no difference, and 17% say they are somewhat less likely (2%) or much less likely (5%). A plurality of voters (39%) think the North Carolina legislature should make it easier to access abortion, while 32% think the legislature should make it harder to access abortion, and 29% say they should not pass abortion laws.
- Of the 46% of voters who say they are much more likely to vote because of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, 60% support Beasley and 29% Budd. However, voters who say the overturning of Roe makes no difference on their vote break for Budd over Beasley 51% to 25%,” Kimball said.
- Fifty-seven percent of voters support expansion of Medicaid coverage for up to 600,000 low income people in North Carolina, 18% oppose Medicaid expansion, and 26% are neutral or have no opinion.
- Voters are split on the federal government’s decision to forgive $10,000 of student loan debt for borrowers making under $125,000 per year: 32% think it is too much action, 26% think it is just about the right amount of action, 20% think it is not enough action, and 23% think no student loan debt should be forgiven.
