Joe Biden could take North Carolina from President Trump, creating another pathway for the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee to claim the White House in November’s general election.
Biden earns 47.4% support from registered North Carolina voters over Trump’s 40.4%, according to a Meredith College poll released Friday. Biden’s 7-point lead can be compared to six months ago, when Meredith College researchers found both were essentially tied for the battleground state’s 15 Electoral College votes while the Democrats were still in the throes of their primary.
The survey is a harbinger for the incumbent, given that he beat 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in North Carolina by 3.7 percentage points, though he trailed her at the same point in their race and polling averages have him ahead by 0.3 percentage points.
Friday’s study captures Trump’s popularity in the state’s suburbs, boosted by women, with whom he lags elsewhere around the country. But it also records his highest net negative approval rating since he took office, driven by North Carolina Democrats and the state’s African American community.
Democrats could additionally pick up North Carolina’s Senate seat, currently held by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, in the fall fight for Congress’s balance of power.
Tillis, who diverged from Trump on issues such as the proposed southern border wall, is behind Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham, a lawyer and soldier. Cunningham has a 9-point advantage on Tillis, 43.5% to 34.3%. The race, however, is tighter in polling averages, with Cunningham only ahead by 0.3 percentage points, according to RealClearPolitics data.
Meredith College researchers surveyed 604 registered North Carolina voters online between Wednesday and Thursday. Their findings have a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
