A Bloomberg poll released today shows Democrat Roy Cooper making big gains on incumbent Governor Pat McCrory. Dissatisfaction over HB 2 appears to be driving at least some of Cooper’s lead, which has stretched to six points, according to Bloomberg.
“The strongest sentiment for repealing the bathroom law is among Democrats and those who lean that way and among those under age 35, with 74 percent and 72 percent favoring abolishment,” an analysis of the poll notes. “Both men and women favor eliminating the law, although men are more divided (47 percent to 42 percent) than women (57 percent to 38 percent).”
Three quarters of Cooper supporters favor a repeal of HB 2, while two-thirds of McCrory supporters want it kept in place.
The issue also seems to be dragging down U.S. Senator Richard Burr, who now trails his Democratic challenger, Deborah Ross, by two points, according to Bloomberg.
At the top of the ticket, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are awfully close in N.C., with Clinton leading by a point. Bloomberg notes:
“It’s hard to imagine a battleground state where things could be much closer, both in the overall horse-race number and in the underlying party ideology of the voters,” said pollster J. Ann Selzer, who oversaw the survey. “This is the kind of situation where third-party candidates could tip the balance.”
Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson is polling at around 6 percent in the state, according to Bloomberg.
In other poll news, Quinnipiac University’s latest has Clinton up 46-41 in North Carolina. Trump has a nine-point lead among men, and Clinton enjoys a thirteen-point lead among women. Last week’s events seem unlikely to improve Trump’s standing with the latter group.