President Donald Trump leads presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden by two points in North Carolina, according to a poll released by Cardinal Point Analytics on Thursday.
In a head to head matchup, the poll shows President Donald Trump receives the support of 48 percent of respondents, compared to 46 percent for Biden. Only three percent of poll respondents were undecided.
The Cardinal Point Analytics poll results in North Carolina released Thursday continue the trend in the past week of President Trump gaining ground in several battleground states, as Breitbart News reported earlier this week.
North Carolina is a key battleground state whose 15 electoral college votes are expected to play an important role in determining the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
President Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 in North Carolina by a margin of four points, 50 percent to 46 percent. Had Hillary Clinton won North Carolina, Trump’s 2016 election day electoral college total would have dropped from 306 to 291, still sufficient to exceed the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidency.
Surprisingly, there is no difference in presidential support by gender in the Cardinal Point Analytics poll released on Thursday. Men favor Trump by two points, as do women.
Also, surprisingly, support for Trump is higher among younger age groups.
Among voters age 18 to 40, Trump leads Biden 60 percent to 34 percent. Trump’s advantage over Biden declines among voters age 41 to 74, to 52 percent to 43 percent. Among voters 75 years of age and older, Biden leads by a margin of 54 percent to 42 percent.
White voters support Trump over Biden by a margin of 59 percent to 35 percent. Black voters support Biden over Trump by a margin of 87.3 percent to 8.9 percent.
The Cardinal Point Analytics poll of 735 likely voters was conducted between July 22 and July 24 and has a 3.6 percent margin of error.
The results of the Cardinal Points Analytics poll are not included in the Real Clear Politics Average of Polls, which currently shows Biden has a 3.4 percent lead over Trump in North Carolina.
In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham are tied with 43 percent support each.
In the Real Clear Politics Average of Polls, Cunningham leads Tillis by 6.2 points.
In the gubernatorial race, incumbent Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) and Republican challenger Dan Forest are tied with 46 percent support each.
In the Real Clear Politics Average of Polls, Cooper leads Forest by 10.2 points.
Cardinal Point Analytics is not among the polling firms rated by fivethirtyeight.com.