This is part one of our latest poll from Meeting Street Insights. One may read the second part of the poll analysis here.
On behalf of the Carolina Leadership Coalition, Meeting Street Insights conducted a statewide survey of 500 registered voters in North Carolina. Interviews were completed July 15–17, 2024, by live-interviewer landline and cell phone interviews and text-to-web interviews. The margin of error for a sample of N=500 is ±4.38%.
Key Findings
North Carolina voters do not think Joe Biden is up to the job
Only 28% of registered voters say Joe Biden has the physical and mental ability to be President for the next four years, while 66% say he does not. Barely half of Democrats (56%), fewer than a quarter of Unaffiliated voters (22%), and just three percent of Republicans say he has the ability to continue for the next four years. Fewer than a third of voters in every major media market in the state say he is up for the job. Even among his own voters, just over half (56%) say he has the physical and mental ability to be President. Only eight percent of persuadable voters agree.
Most voters do not have these concerns about Donald Trump
A majority of voters (55%) say Donald Trump has the physical and mental ability to President for the next four years, while 42% say he does not. Nearly all Republicans (94%), about half of Unaffiliated voters (49%), about roughly a quarter of Democrats (23%) agree. Majorities of key electoral groups say Donald Trump has the ability to be President for the next four years, including White women (53%), college-educated White men (54%), and voters in every major media market in the state. Nearly all Trump voters (96%) say he is able to serve, as do a plurality of persuadable voters.
North Carolina voters are split about whether Joe Biden should drop out of the campaign
About as many voters say Joe Biden should drop out of the race for President (45%) as say he should stay in and continue (46%). Republicans (59% drop out – 35% stay in) and Unaffiliated voters (49% drop out – 39% stay in) are more inclined to say he should drop out than stay in, but most Democrats want him to stay in the race (29% drop out – 62% stay in). Majorities of key electoral groups want him to drop out, including 51% of White women and 51% of ideologically moderate voters. A majority of voters who say they will vote for Biden (57%) say he should stay in the race, but only 12% of persuadable voters agree.
There are major splits in the Democrats’ coalition on Joe Biden’s abilities
Voters under 35 are the least likely age cohort to say Joe Biden has the physical and mental ability to be President for the next four years (19%), and they’re the most likely age group to say he should drop out (62% drop out – 25% stay in). Only 37% of Democrats under the age of 55 say he has the physical and mental ability to be President for the next four years, while 72% of Democrats 55+ say he is up for the job. Democrats under 55 are split about whether he should remain in the race (40% drop out – 49% stay in). But, Democrats 55+ overwhelmingly want him to continue his campaign (19% drop out – 74% stay in). Only a bare majority of White Democrats (51%) want him to stay in the race, while two-thirds of African Americans (68%) want to see him continue.
Photo of President Joe Biden is by Travis Dove for The New York Times.
