Poll: 2 in 3 NC Republican Primary Voters Back Donald Trump for Nomination

Former President Donald Trump has the support of two in three likely Republican primary voters in North Carolina, while his nearest GOP rival, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, barely eclipses double digits, according to a Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey. 

The poll published on Monday finds Trump leads the pack in North Carolina with 66 percent of support, placing him 54 points ahead of Haley, who is at 12 percent. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) sits in third place with nine percent backing, followed by entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy with four percent, and former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) at three percent. Neither former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) nor Ryan Binkley drew a percentage point of support: 

Trump has far and away the best favorability rating of any Republican presidential candidate in North Carolina, with 80 percent finding him favorable and just 17 percent finding him unfavorable. 

DeSantis is the only other candidate with a net-positive rating in this regard. Of the respondents, 56 percent say they have positive views of the Florida governor, while 28 percent see him unfavorably. Ramaswamy is neutral, as 34 percent give him positive marks, and 34 percent give him negative marks. Haley and Christie are both underwater. 

Of the respondents, 38 percent said they found Haley favorable, versus 44 percent who found her unfavorable. Only 13 percent see Christie in a positive light, while 71 percent have negative perceptions of him. 

Notably, North Carolina will not hold its primary election until Super Tuesday on March 5 after key caucuses and primaries in many states, including Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada, Michigan, and more. The contours of the race could shift dramatically before the North Carolina primary, especially if Trump runs away with the nomination in the earlier states or someone makes a legitimate challenge to him in one of those states. 

PPP also gauged the temperature of North Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial primary, where Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson holds a majority of support at 55 percent. Attorney Bill Graham takes 15 percent of the response, followed by State Treasurer Dale Folwell at seven percent. Another 24 percent of poll participants are undecided. 

When asked if they would be more or less likely to vote for a candidate who had Trump’s backing, 43 percent said they would be more likely to support the candidate, and 10 percent said they would be less inclined to do so. Another 44 percent said a potential Trump endorsement would not make a difference one way or another.

The poll included samples from 619 likely Republican primary voters from January 5-6. The margin of error is ± 3.9 percentage points.