The race between President Biden and former President Trump in North Carolina is neck and neck, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
The Quinnipiac University poll found Trump narrowly edged out Biden with 48 percent of support among North Carolina voters compared to Biden’s 46 percent. When independent and Green Party candidates were included in the choices, 41 percent of voters backed Trump and 38 percent backed Biden.
Twelve percent selected independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and 3 percent chose independent candidate Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, according to the poll.
“With overall voter enthusiasm for Biden and Trump lukewarm at best, close to 1 in 5 North Carolina voters look at third party candidates with open minds and the potential to throw a wrench into the works in a close race,” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement.
Democrats are eyeing North Carolina as a potential flip state for Biden, who narrowly lost the state in 2020 to Trump. Biden traveled to North Carolina late last month to emphasize that he has “delivered for the South.”
According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s North Carolina polling average, Trump has a 5.2 percent lead over Biden based on 25 polls.
The poll also found that Democrat Josh Stein leads Republican Mark Robinson by 8 percentage points in the gubernatorial race.
Stein said last month that he would welcome Biden campaigning for him in the Tar Heel State.
The poll was conducted April 4-8 among 1,401 registered voters in the state, with a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points.
