A new poll from Public Policy Polling (PPP) in Raleigh, NC, shows that North Carolina has had a dramatic decline in how it is viewed nationally. During that period, Republicans have gained power with both the Governorship, the State House and Senate for the first time since the 1800’s.
Two years ago, PPP did national polls looking at the favorable/unfavorable opinions held across the nation at each state. Generally, southern states did poorly in the study, with North Carolina being the exception and ranking in the top 10 with 40% rating it favorably and only 11% unfavorably. Here’s the link to the original study.
In the most current study, North Carolina tumbled to what would be 40th place with a only 30% favorable and 23% unfavorable.
As surprising as that decline is, even more shocking is the change in opinion among minorities and women. African Americans had a positive opinion 42/8 and that has dropped to 19/30. Also, Hispanics viewed the state well in the original poll 50/9, but are now 20/39. Women still view the state slightly favorably at 25/22, but that’s down from 40/8.
While the study doesn’t attempt to pinpoint specific reasons for the decline, broad political changes in North Carolina and GOP control of the state are an obvious source. An aggressive agenda including voter id laws, increased standards for abortion clinics, reductions in teacher pay, refusal to expand medicare under the Affordable Care Act, and reductions in unemployment benefits have all been pushed through quickly and gained the state national attention.
Edited/Published by: SB
