In North Carolina, Gov. Cooper viewed positively overall, on COVID-19 handling

Washington, DC, October 21, 2020 –  A new Spectrum News/Ipsos polls conducted in North Carolina explores gubernatorial approval, sentiments toward COVID-19, voting behavior, and more. 

Detailed Findings

A majority of North Carolinians approve of the job Gov. Roy Cooper is doing. He is bolstered by strong support in Raleigh.

• Overall, 53% approve of the job Cooper is doing. That number rises to 58% in the Raleigh media market, and 63% in the Raleigh area (Wake/Durham counties).
• A majority approve of the job he’s doing on COVID-19 (55%) and jobs and the economy (51%). He earns net positive ratings for his handling of crime and public safety (49%), protests and social unrest (48%), and climate change (42%). People in the state are split on his handling of plans for sending children back to school: 45% approve, 42% disapprove.
• In the Raleigh area – not the media market as a whole – sentiments are more positive toward Cooper on sending kids back to school: 50% approve, 38% disapprove. In the entire media market, however, views are more similar to the statewide total (43% approve, 44% disapprove).

Due to COVID-19, most believe the state’s higher education institutions should be closed, but there are mixed feelings about K-12 students learning in person.

• Sixty percent believe all colleges and universities in North Carolina should be closed and only offer virtual classes. A similar number in the Raleigh market, part of the state’s Research Triangle, agree (62%).
• Among parents of a school-aged child, there are mixed feelings about whether their child is, or would be, safe attending school in person: 49% agree, 48% disagree. The biggest indicator of opinions about returning to school (and education in the time of COVID-19 more generally) is partisanship. Sixty-one percent of parents who identify as Republicans feel their child would be safe in school, compared to 33% of Democrats.

A majority agree racism is a significant problem in North Carolina, but symbols from the Confederacy are harder to grapple with.

• Sixty percent say racism is a significant problem in North Carolina, including 64% in the Raleigh media market and 68% in the more immediate Raleigh area. Fifty-four percent support the Black Lives Matter movement (60% in the Raleigh DMA).
• A majority, 55%, agree that the Confederate flag represents Southern heritage. Views on this are not only divided by party identification (77% of Republicans agree vs. 38% of Democrats) and race (67% of white people agree vs. 27% of Black people), but by age. Younger North Carolinians are less likely to agree with this sentiment (45% of 18-34-year-olds vs. 62% of those over 55).
• There is an even split on the statement, “Military bases should not be named after Confederate generals” (44% agree, 42% disagree). On the question of whether cities should continue to place Confederate memorials in prominent locations, slightly more disagree than agree, but it is still a relatively even split (40% agree, 45% disagree).
• These overall viewpoints only tell part of the story, though. There are stark differences between white and Black residents of the state, as well as among Republicans and Democrats. Black and Democratic North Carolinians are far less likely to favor honoring the Confederacy in public or on military bases.

About the Study   

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between October 7-15, 2020, on behalf of Spectrum News. For this survey, a sample of 1,401 adults age 18+ from North Carolina was interviewed online in English, including an oversample of 400 respondents in the Raleigh media market, for a total of 658 interviews in that market.

The sample for this study was randomly drawn from Ipsos’ online panel (see link below for more info on “Access Panels and Recruitment”), partner online panel sources, and “river” sampling (see link below for more info on the Ipsos “Ampario Overview” sample method) and does not rely on a population frame in the traditional sense. Ipsos uses fixed sample targets, unique to each study, in drawing a sample. After a sample has been obtained from the Ipsos panel, Ipsos calibrates respondent characteristics to be representative of the population of North Carolina using standard procedures such as raking-ratio adjustments. The source of these population targets is U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey data. The sample drawn for this study reflects fixed sample targets on demographics. Posthoc weights were made to the population characteristics on gender, age, race/ethnicity, region, and education.

Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online non-probability polls. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error and measurement error. Where figures do not sum to 100, this is due to the effects of rounding. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.0 percentage points for all respondents. Ipsos calculates a design effect (DEFF) for each study based on the variation of the weights, following the formula of Kish (1965). This study had a credibility interval adjusted for design effect of the following (n=1,401, DEFF=1.5, adjusted Confidence Interval=+/-4.5 percentage points).

The poll also has a credibility interval of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points for respondents in the Raleigh media market.

For more information on this news release, please contact: 

Chris Jackson 
Senior Vice President, US   
Public Affairs   
+1 202 420-2025   
[email protected]     

Mallory Newall 
Director, US   
Public Affairs   
+1 202 420-2014   
[email protected]     

Kate Silverstein 
Media Relations Specialist, US   
Public Affairs   
+1 718 755-8829
[email protected] 

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