North Carolinians are ditching Trump to vote for Hillary
It’s been a rough week for the GOP in NC
The GOP may be in trouble in North Carolina.
The white, educated demographic that has traditionally voted Republican has appeared to shift to the left according to recent polling numbers. Amid the myriad of controversies in the state including the Charlotte protests, inflammatory comments by Congressman Robert Pittenger and of course House Bill 2 debacle, the unpopularity of Governor Pat McCrory and the GOP as whole might push the Tar Heel state to vote Democrat once again.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are tied 41 percent to 41 percent among likely voters in a three-way race in North Carolina, according to a recent New York Times Upshot/Siena College poll released on Thursday. This is bad news for Trump as these numbers show that not only is Hillary leading with minority voters as expected; but also gaining the vote from the upper class, educated whites who have consistently voted with the GOP in past elections.
While the presidential contest always receives the most attention, the bigger story here for us North Carolinians are the local elections. The massive loss of revenue from the HB2 legislature combined with the recent social unrest in Charlotte (where McCrory used to be Governor) have tipped public opinion further in the Democrats favor recently. According to the polls, Governor Pat McCrory trails by eight points against Attorney General Roy Cooper, 50 percent to 42 percent.
In the oft-overlooked Senate race, Democrat Deborah Ross is also leading incumbent GOP Senator Richard Burr in the polls by four points, 46-42. It is also very interesting to note that the numbers from this poll were gathered Thursday before the police-involved shooting which triggered widespread protests and the declaration of a State of Emergency in Charlotte. Not helping the GOP were comments made by GOP representative Robert Pittenger who stated yesterday that the protesters “Hate white people because white people are successful and they’re not.” These events including the similar incident in Tulsa are likely to push the minority vote in the State towards the Democrats who are viewed as the more progressive party when it comes to social issues.
Perhaps no battleground state is as polarized along demographic lines as North Carolina. Trump has a lead of 53 percent to 28 percent among white voters, most likely his best tally with that group in any of the battleground states. Hillary holds the overwhelming support of black voters, at 86 percent to three percent in a three-way race.
The state’s white voters are divided as well. Trump’s advantage with whites stems from a huge margin of 66 percent to 17 percent among white voters without a college degree. Hillary’s challenge runs deep: she has a narrow lead of only 46-39 among white voters without a degree who are registered as Democrats.