New PPP poll: HB2 has little support, most races are a toss-up

PPP's newest North Carolina poll continues to find that HB2 is very unpopular, and voters want to see it repealed.

Only 35% of voters in the state support the bill, to 44% who are opposed to it. We continue to find that there are a lot more Republicans (28%) who are opposed to it than there are Democrats (16%) in support of it. 50% of voters in the state would like to see it repealed, compared to only 38% who think it should stay on the books. That includes a 46/39 spread among independents in favor of repealing it.

The reason for voters wanting HB2 repealed are pretty straightforward- they think it's hurting the state both economically and in terms of its national reputation. Overall only 29% of voters believe HB2 is helping North Carolina, t0 56% who think it's hurting. That includes a 29/53 spread with independents. Specifically on the issue of the economy, only 12% think it's having a positive impact on the state to 50% who think it's hurting. Even among Republicans 14% more think it's negatively affecting the state's economy than positively. And just 24% of voters think HB2 is helping the state's national reputation, to 53% who think it's hurting.

One final reason for HB2's unpopularity is that voters don't believe it's achieving its stated purpose of making the state safer. Only 36% think it's made North Carolina safer to 47% who don't think it has. And among women, who the bill purportedly protects from men in their bathrooms, just 28% think it's made the state safer to 53% who think it has not. On the whole 2 months after HB2's passage it's not getting any more popular.

North Carolina's major state elections are shaping up to be very tight this year. We find the Governor's race tied with Pat McCrory and Roy Cooper both at 41% and Libertarian Lon Cecil getting 5%. We've never found either candidate ahead by more than 2 or 3 points, and now they're dead even. This looks like it will be the country's premier Governor's race this fall. McCrory continues to be unpopular, with 44% of voters approving of him to 49% who disapprove, making it 35 months in a row now we've found him under water in our polling. But Cooper's image has taken a little bit of a hit in the last month as well, as negative tv ads started running against him- he's gone from a 37/27 favorability to 30/33 since our April poll.