Trump Holds Slim Lead Over Harris in North Carolina; Governor Race Sees Major Shift After Robinson Scandal

On Friday, a poll by Bloomberg News/Morning Consult revealed that Kamala Harris holds the lead over Donald Trump in all battleground states but Georgia. Among the states included in the survey was North Carolina, were the vice president currently holds a 2-point lead, according to the study.

A factor in Harris' lead in the state seems to be related to her 29-point differential over Trump among Latinos, a demographic that favors her across all battleground states but by lower margins than previous presidential elections.

Nevertheless, battleground states are called that for a reason, with figures varying from poll to poll. In North Carolina, a new East Carolina University (ECU) survey shows Trump with 49% of the support in the state compared to Harris' 47%. Another 2% of likely voters remain undecided, and 2% plan to vote for a different candidate.

The figures, according to ECU are largely unchanged from the previous poll in late August, which had Trump leading by 1 percentage point.

A major shift, however, has occurred in the Governor race, where Democrat State Attorney General Josh Stein now leads current Governor Mark Robinson 50% to 33% among likely voters, aided by Robinson's recent scandal in which it was revealed he had made inflammatory and sexually explicit comments on a pornography website's message board.

Stein's lead over Robinson has increased significantly since ECU's last poll, when Stein held a 6 percentage point advantage, 47% to 41%.

When taking a more granular look at the poll's findings on the presidential election, Harris leads Trump among women 53% to 44%, while Trump leads among men 56% to 40%. Harris continues to lead among Black voters, with 90% support compared to Trump's 7%, while Trump leads among white voters 66% to 32%.

North Carolina is a critical battleground state in the upcoming election, with 16 electoral votes at stake. Both campaigns have heavily focused on the state, as its closely divided electorate could play a key role in determining the outcome. In 2020, North Carolina was the only swing state to support Trump, while the other battleground states backed President Biden.