Poll: Rep. Ted Budd Leads with North Carolina ‘Trump Republicans,’ GOP Voters in U.S. Senate Primary

Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) is leading with “Trump Republicans” and Republican voters overall in the race to fill retiring Sen. Richard Burr’s (R-NC) U.S. Senate seat, a new poll found.

According to a Civitas poll conducted with 600 likely North Carolina Republican primary election voters on behalf of the John Locke Foundation, Trump-endorsed Budd has support from 32 percent of voters when matched against the 13 other candidates. Establishment-backed former Gov. Pat McCrory comes in second with 21 percent, and former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker with 7 percent. No other candidate tops 1 percent, and 39 percent of primary voters are undecided, less than six weeks away from the primary election. 

When the field is reduced to the top four candidates who qualify  for the Feb. 26 Carolina Journal debate, Budd garners 34 percent support compared to 24 percent for McCrory, 10 percent for Walker, and 3 percent for Marjorie Eastman. Thirty percent of voters “remain undecided” in that scenario, according to the poll, which was conducted April 1-3 and has a margin of error of ±3.98 percent. 

“Budd’s nearly 13-point surge since the last time we polled this race, in January, leaps off the topline results. It’s clear that Budd has leaped forward with the $10 million backing of Club for Growth Action in the past few weeks,” said John Locke Foundation President Donald Bryson. “What might be the most remarkable is that we are 40 days out from this election, and nearly 40% of likely primary voters are still undecided.”

Budd leads McCrory 38 percent to 16 percent among primary voters who call themselves “Trump Republicans.” “That’s up from a 24-percent to 21-percent margin” from another poll conducted in January, the report states. However, McCrory leads Budd 29 percent to 23 percent with voters who say they are “traditional conservative Republicans.”

“That margin has dropped since January, when McCrory held a 33-percent to 12-percent edge among that group,” the survey found.

The survey confirmed the findings of previous polls, showing that more than 55 percent of likely GOP voters say an endorsement from former President Donald Trump would make them “more likely to vote for a candidate.” Eighty-three percent of respondents say they want a U.S. Senate candidate who is “similar to Trump” on issues. Forty-two percent say they “wants a candidate who mirrors Trump’s tone and style, along with his issues.”

Among the issues that concern North Carolina GOP voters most, securing the border and preventing illegal immigration (49 percent), inflation and cost of living (37 percent), and election integrity (23 percent) were the top three.

The Civitas poll is the third poll to come out in a week showing Budd as the leading candidate in the North Carolina U.S. Senate primary. Internal polling showed Budd leading McCrory by 13 points, 44 percent to 31 percent, and an Emerson College/The Hill poll showed Budd leading McCrory 38 percent to 22 percent.

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Twitter.