NC governor’s race: Latest poll shows Josh Stein’s growing lead over Mark Robinson
Welcome to the governor’s race edition of our Under the Dome politics newsletter. I’m Dawn Vaughan, The News & Observer’s Capitol bureau chief.
A new High Point University/SurveyUSA poll paints a rosier Election Day outlook for Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein than it does for Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
Here’s a breakdown of the poll:
▪ Among registered voters, Stein leads Robinson by 14 percentage points: 48% to 34%. Another 18% are undecided.
▪ Among certain voters, Stein also maintains a large lead of 16 points,
▪ Among probable voters, Stein’s lead drops to six points.
▪ Among those who plan to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris for president, 88% say they will vote for Stein.
▪ Among those who plan to vote for former President Donald Trump, 68% say they will vote for Robinson, too.
▪ However, notably, 13% of Trump voters will also vote for Stein; and 5% of Harris voters will also vote for Robinson.
It isn’t too unusual for North Carolina to split ballots. Trump won the state in the election, as did Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. What’s more significant about the poll is the size of the spread between Stein and Robinson, which is growing larger in favor of Stein compared to previous surveys.
Stein’s back-to-school pitch
Also this week, Stein announced a plan timed for back-to-school season. Most North Carolina public schools — those that are traditional calendar and follow the state law — start the school year this week. He held press conferences around the state about his “Ready. Set. Save!” plan. His proposal includes reinstating the sales tax holiday that was repealed in 2014. Usually held the first weekend in August, the sales tax holiday was meant as tax relief for school supplies.
Stein also proposed giving more teachers a stipend to cover school supplies they pay for out-of-pocket, and more funding of free school meals.
Robinson shares policy proposals ahead of Trump rally
Robinson unveiled two policy proposals in August: economic and public safety. He held a press conference in Statesville hours before Trump took the stage at a rally in Asheboro. My Charlotte Observer colleague Ryan Oehrli covered the Statesville event, and you can read his story about the press conference and Robinson’s public safety plan.
This past week Robinson announced a “jobs and prosperity team” who will give him economic policy advice. The team includes several Republican state lawmakers: Sen. Dave Craven, Sen. Ralph Hise, Sen. Tim Moffitt, Sen. Paul Newton, Rep. John Bradford, Rep. Jimmy Dixon and Rep. Dennis Riddell. Hise is a top budget writer in the Senate and Newton is the Senate majority leader. Bradford is leaving the House this year, as he ran instead for a U.S. House seat but lost his primary.
Robinson’s economic plan includes wanting to cut taxes for businesses and individual taxpayers, and address inflation by cutting fees as well. He did not include specific amounts of tax cuts and fee cuts in his proposal.
Robinson attended the rally featuring Trump and Sen. JD Vance, but did not give a speech. I was there in Asheboro as well as others on our News & Observer and Charlotte Observer team, and you can read our coverage of what Trump, Vance and the rally-goers had to say.
Robinson briefly joined Trump and a group of sheriffs on stage, where Trump said Robinson is “a good man” who’s “gotta win.” Trump also commented on Robinson’s weight, saying that he had lost a lot of weight recently.
Stay informed about #ncpol
Don’t forget to follow our Under the Dome tweets and listen to our Under the Dome podcast to stay up to date. Our new episode posts Monday morning, and I’m joined by my politics team colleague Kyle Ingram and metro intern William Tong. We take a behind-the-scenes look at Trump and Vance’s rally in Asheboro and talk about the highlights of the Democratic National Convention, plus the latest voting information.
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This story was originally published August 25, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "NC governor’s race: Latest poll shows Josh Stein’s growing lead over Mark Robinson."
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