Pat McCrory: Voters Say Yes In 2012! Poll: 41% To Bev's 37%

Civitas Poll: McCrory Ahead If Election For Governor Were Held Today


Republican Pat McCrory would defeat incumbent Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue in a rematch if the election for Governor was held today according to a new poll released today by the Civitas Institute.

According to the live caller poll of 600 likely voters, 46 percent of voters said they would vote for McCrory while 37 percent said they would support Perdue. Seventeen percent said they are not sure.

“Voters continue to have a bit of ‘buyer’s remorse’ when it comes to the Governor’s mansion,” said Civitas Institute Senior Legislative Analyst Chris Hayes. “Perdue has struggled to maintain her popularity since her first few months in office and that trend continues.”

McCrory leads among Republicans by an 82%-7% margin and among Unaffiliateds by 39%-29%. Democratic voters favor Perdue by a 65%-18% margin.

Much of the lead McCrory has is a product of voter opinion of the two candidates. Thirty-seven percent of voters view Perdue favorably, 41 percent have an unfavorable opinion and 20 percent are not aware, giving her a net favorability rating of -4.

McCrory has a net favorability +23 after having been seen favorably by 36 percent of voters and unfavorably by 13 percent of voters. Twenty-nine percent said they had no opinion about him.

Voters were additionally asked if they thought Perdue had met, exceeded, or failed to meet their expectations so far as Governor. Forty-four percent of voters said that she had failed to meet their expectations while 40 percent said she had met expectations. Only four percent said she had exceeded expectations.

“Obviously voters had higher hopes for the Perdue administration than she has delivered so far in her term,” added Hayes. “Perdue’s challenge over the next couple of years is to convince voters she has been successful at turning the state around.”

The Civitas Poll is the only monthly live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina. For more information on Civitas polling see www.nccivitas.org/media/poll-results/.


Bev Perdue

Favorable – 37%
Unfavorable – 41%
No Opinion – 20%

Pat McCrory

Favorable – 36%
Unfavorable – 13%
No Opinion – 29%

If the election for Governor were held today and the candidates were: Republican Pat McCrory and Democrat Bev Perdue, who would you vote for? If not sure/refused… are you leaning toward: Republican Pat McCrory or Democrat Bev Perdue?

McCrory – 34%
Lean McCrory – 12%
TOTAL MCCRORY – 46%
Lean Perdue – 7%
Perdue – 30%
TOTAL PERDUE – 37%
Not Sure – 17%

Which statement comes closest to describing your opinion of Bev Perdue’s governorship?

She exceeded my expectations – 4%
She met my expectations – 40%
She failed to meet my expectations – 44%

This poll of 600 likely general election voters in North Carolina was conducted June 15-18, 2010 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 2004, 2006 or 2008 general elections or were newly registered voters since 2008.

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.” True Values refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every person in North Carolina who had voted in either the 2004, 2006 or 2008 general elections or were newly registered voters since 2008.


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Sources: Civitas Institute, WRAL, Youtube, Google Maps