Yesterday I posted a “Concerned Citizens Survey“, asking RS2W’s readers to voice opinions on North Carolina government, politics, the economy, and What do you want to tell your elected official?

The Carolina Strategy Group asked similar questions to 1,000 North Carolina voters in May and June. The survey clearly indicates an opening for the Republican Party in the state. The economy is now Pres. Obama’s and Gov. Perdue’s economy. The recent NC House of Representatives budget - and tax increase - was not popular at all with the voters (regardless of party affiliation).

How can and should Republicans capitalize on the populist anger in the state?

Read the survey’s highlights below and respond with your thoughts (download the complete survey here):

• Sixty-six percent of North Carolina voters believe the economy is getting worse; 24.5 percent said it was improving. Among Democratic voters, 33.9 percent said the economy was improving compared to 55.8 percent who said the economy was getting worse. Only 14.5 percent of Republican voters and 20.5 percent of unaffiliated voters said the economy was improving.
• Sixty-three percent of the voters surveyed said the  recently passed $18.6 billion N.C. House of Representatives budget (which includes $780 million dollars in new taxes) would hurt the economy; only 22.7 percent of voters said budget would help. Eighty percent of conservatives and 53.9 percent of moderates indicated the budget would harm the economy, while 49.2 percent of self-described liberals said the budget would help the economy. Only 35.2 percent of Democrats think the new taxes will help the economy while 47.4 percent think they are going to hurt.
• Sixty-seven percent of all voters said they were less likely to vote for a state legislative candidate who voted to raise the state sales tax; only 17.9 percent said they were more likely to. Republicans were united with 83.1 percent saying they were less likely; 64 percent of unaffiliated voters said they were less likely. A majority of Democrats – 55.6 percent – said they were less likely to vote for a state legislative candidate who voted to raise the state sales tax.
• Over the period of two polls in May and June, the Carolina Opinion Survey showed that voters continue to think the state budget crisis is due to the government spending too much – not the slow economy. This opinion was reflected in our May survey as well as this current poll. Sixty-one percent of all voters said too much government spending to only 29 percent who said the slow economy. Republicans and unaffiliated voters clearly indicate their belief that the government spends too much: 79.6 percent of Republicans and 60.2 percent of unaffiliated voters. Democrats are split on the issue with 47.6 percent believing the state budget crisis is due to too much spending and 41.8 percent pointing to the slow economy.
• In a generic ballot test for state legislative races, the numbers continued to improve for Republicans. Among all voters, 46 percent said they preferred a Republican candidate to 36.2 percent who preferred a Democrat. This 10-point advantage for Republican candidates stands in contrast to the findings in May when the Republican advantage stood at 2.3 and fell well within the margin of error of that poll.
• The current movement of nearly 8 points represents a significant shift in voter attitudes from the two previous election cycles. This movement appears to be driven by a united Republican Party on the issues of taxes and government spending and a growing concern from unaffiliated voters on the impact new spending and new taxes will have on their household budgets.

Tags: Carolina Strategy Group, Concerned Citizens Survey, Gov. Bev Perdue, NC House of Representatives, NC Politics

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 5:00 am and is filed under NC Politics, Polls & Surveys. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.