A new poll gave former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper an 11-point lead over former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, another poor sign for Republicans in the midterm elections.
An AARP poll released Monday found that 53% of likely voters said they would “definitely” or “probably” vote for Cooper, compared with 42% who would cast their vote for Whatley. Another 5% were uncertain, and 1% said someone else.
Relevant for the commissioners of the poll, Whatley boasted a sizable lead among voters 50 and over. He had 51% of their support, compared to 45% who supported Cooper.
Despite Cooper’s high favorability, respondents heavily self-identified as conservative — 44% in total, compared to 25% liberal and 26% moderate.
Other recent polls suggest the bleak results for Republicans aren’t a fluke. A Sept. 9-16 poll from High Point University gave Cooper an 8-point lead, a Sept. 22 Rasmussen poll gave Cooper a 7-point lead, and a Sept. 13-15 GOP-affiliated Harper Polling survey had Cooper up by 15 points.
Whatley has struggled to overcome his lack of name recognition, with a consistently large share of voters still not knowing who he is. Cooper, meanwhile, has spent decades in public office, and has never lost a race.
North Carolina voted for President Donald Trump all three times, but its state offices have been more of a wildcard. Morale has continued falling among Republicans vis-a-vis the North Carolina race, and the party appears to be considering cutting its losses and focusing resources somewhere else.
The poll surveyed 1,115 likely voters in North Carolina from Sept. 17 to 20, and had a margin of error of +/- 2.9%.