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.
