North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s approval numbers turned negative this month for the first time since taking office, according to a new PPP poll.
According to the poll, only 40% of voters are happy with the job McCrory is doing, while 49% disapprove—a turn from the previous month, which showed that 45% of voters approved of the governor and 39% disapproved. PPP reports that, while the governor’s numbers are steady among fellow Republicans, McCrory is quickly losing support from Democrats and independents.
The response, PPP finds, is due in large part to McCrory’s and the Republican Party’s handling of a controversial abortion bill passed by the state Legislature last week. “The abortion bill seems to be the final straw for a lot of voters when it comes to the Republicans in state government,” said PPP president Dean Debnam in the latest report.
PPP’s poll shows that 34% of voters support the bill, while 47% oppose it, and 80% of voters found the process of inserting abortion language into bills about motorcycle safety and Sharia Law inappropriate.
Debnam adds, “Voters don’t like the process that led to it and they’re starting to really take it out on Pat McCrory.”
A majority of voters also agree that McCrory should stick to his promise to veto the bill—a promise that looks to be empty after last Friday’s announcement that the governor will sign the bill into law.
The poll results conclude that the North Carolina Republican Party could face an uphill battle in 2014 and could lose their majority in the state Legislature. The GOP’s rising unpopularity in North Carolina, however, has created a stronger support among voters for the Moral Monday protests that have been organized to fight back against the state’s attempts to restrict abortion rights, with 47% in support of those being arrested and 40% opposed.
Traci Lee