Poll: NC voters don't like Repubs -- or Dems, either

Here's a poll that confirms what many knew instinctively: One reason that Tar Heel voters in November chose Republicans to run the N.C. General Assembly for the first time in more than a century is that they didn't much care for Democrats in the General Assembly. But voters aren't all that wild about the new Republicans in the legislature, either -- perhaps putting the GOP on notice that the party needs to perform a lot better than their predecessors in the session that begins Jan. 26 if they hope to win the governorship next time and retain legislative control.

They've got a tough enough job as it is: Finding a way to cover a $3.7 billion shortfall, protecting public schools and higher education from the worst of cuts, maintaining roads and public safety while also dealing with continued high unemployment.

Public Policy Polling finds that voters have mixed feelings about whether things will be any better in 2011 than they have been recently. Here's what PPP, a Democratic polling firm with a reputation for accuracy, has to say about the new majority:

North Carolina voters don't have a particularly favorable view of the legislative Republicans who will take power next month. But they don't like legislative Democrats either, which is why the Republicans were able to gain control last month despite not being popular themselves. Against that backdrop it should come as no surprise that voters have mixed feelings about whether things in the state will be any better with the shift in legislative power.

41% of voters think the state will be better off with Republicans in charge while 37% think things will be worse and 20% see it as about a wash. GOP voters unsurprisingly are pretty enthusiastic- 82% of them think the state of the state will improve with their party in charge. Democrats are pessimistic, although not to the extent Republicans are optimistic- 64% of them think the state will be worse off. And independents are split three ways with 34% thinking things will be better, 31% that they'll be worse, and 30% that they'll stay basically the same.

The ambivalence about whether North Carolina will be better off with Republicans in control of the General Assembly is probably a function of the fact that neither party is seen very favorably by voters in the state. 45% have an unfavorable opinion of legislative Democrats to only 38% with a positive one. The numbers for Republicans aren't much different- 41% see them in a negative light to just 33% with a favorable opinion. Democrats like their party but not the Republicans, Republicans like their party but not the Democrats, and independents don't like either of them.


When you combine the feelings North Carolinians have about both parties in the legislature with the persistent negative feelings toward Bev Perdue, the main thing you can take away is that North Carolina voters just don't like their state government and that cuts across party lines.