NC Values Coalition Poll – Not Affiliated with Any Campaign – Indicates Ted Budd in the Lead Just as Voting Begins in NC

(Raleigh, N.C.) – The NC Values Coalition yesterday released poll results indicating that Ted Budd is leading the Republican Primary for US Senate. Our lawyers tell us we shouldn’t include a link to NC Values website, but you can probably find a link in the #NCPOL Twitterverse. Let’s just skip to the FAQs.

Felts FAQs

What are the numbers?

Ted Budd-32%; Pat McCrory-29%; Mark Walker-12%; Marjorie Eastman-2%

That’s only a 3-point lead. 

Yeah. Just three points and, if you want to get technical, within the margin of error. 

So why are you so excited over three points?

We’re not that excited but I’d rather be up than down at this point. As we always note, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. But look, it’s a survey commissioned by an organization that has a strong interest in the Republican Primary but has not endorsed anyone. They’ve got every reason to want their membership to see accurate numbers, but they don’t have a dog in the fight. The results confirm what all surveys, including McCrory’s internal surveys, have indicated in this campaign. McCrory continues to slide (now down to 29%) and Walker probably has a large callous on top of his head because he’s been bumping against his vote-percentage-ceiling (low-to-mid-teens) for over a year now. 

Why do you say it’s the beginning of the end for McWalker?

This poll is similar to our own survey at the beginning of this month (Budd is +7, McCrory is-2, Walker is -4, Eastman is -2). What’s happened between then and now to explain our gains and the decline of the other candidates?

• We’ve activated our grassroots organizations to start driving GOTV (see below).
• Television ads supporting Ted Budd are back on the air.

Additionally, our survey indicated Ted still has plenty of room to grow, McCrory can’t grow, and Walker never has grown. In our slow-but-steady-and-not-flashy fashion, we are starting to peak just as North Carolinians lock in and start voting (yesterday was the first day Absentee Ballots are being mailed out). It’s almost like we had a strategic plan designed to maximize voter contact impact just before the primary election.

Speaking of which, what does the future hold between now and Primary Day?

Great question:

• During the month of March, Ted Budd for US Senate executed over 50K volunteer door knocks and phone calls in all 100 counties and those numbers are only going to increase. (Apologies to a few parents out there who let me know that our volunteers ringing the doorbell woke up napping infants this past weekend).
• We’ve got more CoH than anyone else to spend on paid voter contact (tv, radio, digital, mail).
• And, oh yeah, there’s a rally on April 9 featuring the most popular figure in the Republican Party – President Donald Trump. As #NCPOL reporter Colin Campbell adroitly noted in a Tweet: “This rally will focus a lot more attention on Trump’s endorsement of Budd.” And yeah, contrary to what you might’ve read out of DC, that makes a positive difference for our NC campaign.

We’ve got a lot of momentum already and still have a lot of room to press before our gas pedal hits the floor while McWalker is running on fumes. That’s why I think this survey is the beginning of the end for McWalker.

I’ve never heard of this pollster. Have you?

No. But according to the Internets, Todd Vitale used to be a Partner at The Tarrance Group, one of the top polling firms in the country and not the type to give out partnerships to morons. And c’mon, this is ACC Country. If you can’t trust a guy with the last name Vitale to accurately predict winners and losers this time of year, then who can you trust? GO WAKE FOREST!!!!