North Carolina voters say the economy and public safety are among the most important issues to them two months before Election Day, according to the results of an exclusive WRAL News Poll.

Those issues resonated with Republican, Democratic and unaffiliated respondents in the poll of 676 likely voters in North Carolina conducted in partnership with independent pollster SurveyUSA. The top issues have remained largely unchanged from a similar survey taken before primary elections in March.

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The November election is Nov. 5, and the poll asked respondents to rank issues on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the most important to you when voting. Respondents were allowed to rank more than one issue as a 10.

The economy was the top issue for Republicans and tied for No. 1 among unaffiliated voters. Democrats also gave the economy a high rank, though it was behind several other issues, such as health care, education, gun control and abortion.

The poll didn’t ask further questions about the specific impacts of the economy that voters are concerned about — be it higher prices, interest rates, the stock market, unemployment or other pocketbook issues.

Those who said they planned to vote for Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, said the economy was their top issue.

“This battle over who the economy benefits is one about framing more than anything else,” said Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University.

“There are numbers, things you can point to, to say things are going well and some to point to saying things are not going well at all. So the two parties aren’t battling as much about whether we should talk about the economy, but about how that issue is framed.”

The poll found that 45% of respondents were optimistic about their families’ economic outlook over the next year, while 33% felt pessimistic.

Trump has tried to tie Harris to higher prices on groceries, gas and home mortgages over the past four years. Harris has argued that Trump’s economic plans, specifically higher tariffs on imported goods, amounts to a tax on American consumers. She has outlined plans to bring down home costs by supporting policies that encourage new construction and giving tax credits to first-time homebuyers.

“It’s going to be difficult for people who are experiencing continued higher prices in the rental and purchased-home markets, and are still seeing grocery store prices being higher than we’re used to,” Meredith College political science professor David McLennan told WRAL. “Her messaging may only have a limited effect there. But we’re seeing her try.”

Crime and public safety, combined as one issue, also received high marks from adults across the political spectrum.

Abortion

Other issues showed some partisan differences.

Republican respondents put immigration and border security as well as national security and international conflicts higher on their list of priorities. Immigration ranked just behind the economy for Trump voters — not coincidentally the former president has campaigned almost exclusively on those issues. It was the least important issue among those asked about for voters planning to support Harris.

Health care was the top issue for Harris’ backers, along with defending democracy. Abortion also was more important for Harris’ voters than Trump supporters.

“Polling shows voters trust Republicans more on immigration, and Democrats more on abortion,” Cooper said. “So Republicans want to talk about immigration but not abortion, and Democrats want to talk about abortion but not immigration.”

That has played out in the state.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein has made abortion rights — and, more specifically, Republican nominee Mark Robinson’s anti-abortion position — the most prominent part of his campaign. And polling suggests it has made a difference. The poll found that the attorney general is leading Robinson, the state’s lieutenant governor, by a wide margin, particularly among women.

“On social issues, can they disqualify [Robinson]?” said Jessica Taylor, who tracks U.S. Senate and governor races for The Cook Political Report. “That’s really a key when it comes to abortion.”

Immigration

Meanwhile, North Carolina Republicans passed legislation this week that would force local sheriffs to cooperate with detainer requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of a larger budget agreement between the GOP-led House and Senate, arguing it is one of the few steps they can take to combat illegal immigration.

“We all know the severity of what’s going on on our border,” said Sen. Danny Britt, R-Robeson.

He added: “We also know as state legislators there’s little we can do about it except voting for the right person in November.”

More than 80% of respondents said the government should take steps to “completely stop” or “reduce” crossing along the Southern border. More than 60% of Republicans said the government should completely stop immigrants, while more than 60% of Democrats said the government should reduce the number of immigrants. More than 40% of unaffiliated voters fit in each category.

Border crossings are down significantly since President Joe Biden signed an executive order in June that bars immigrants who cross illegally from receiving asylum.

The executive action came after crossing surged for much of Biden’s presidency and after Trump sunk a bipartisan immigration agreement negotiated in the U.S. Senate. Harris said she would revive that legislation and sign it into law.

Trump’s successful 2016 campaign for president focused on building a wall on the Southern border and making Mexico pay for it. Some sections of wall were built during Trump’s presidency. Trump said he plans to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally, using both the National Guard and military, as well as complete border wall construction.

Comparing the poll’s findings with a similar question in a March WRAL News Poll, fewer North Carolinians now support the strictest possible response to immigration with a total shutdown of the border. Support for that dropped from 46% to 40%.

But at the same time, the poll still showed a strong rebuke of Biden’s record on immigration: Only 7% said they support the status quo and don’t want to see any change on border policies.

The most popular option among poll respondents was a policy that would “reduce illegal border crossings, but increase ways to enter the US legally.”

That could indicate many voters have a nuanced view of immigration, especially in a state like North Carolina where some of the most important pieces of the economy — tech, agriculture, construction and the service industry — are reliant on immigrant labor, whether legal or not.

Gun control

A majority of respondents said Congress should pass additional legislation to address gun violence in the nation. Fifty-six percent of those surveyed —

including the majority of women, people in all age demographics, non-whites, Democrats and Harris voters, gun owners, parents, urban and suburban residents, home owners, renters and those in all three income brackets listed — said Congress should act.

Thirty percent said Congress shouldn’t pass additional legislation, buoyed by a majority of those who voted for Trump in 2020 and those who plan to vote for him in 2024.

But support for action on gun violence is growing; the 26-point gap in favor of Congress taking action reflected in this poll’s 56%-to-30% split is up from a 20-point gap in favor of action in March when another WRAL News Poll asked the same question.

The poll was taken from Sept. 4 through Sept. 7, a period in which the national news was dominated by updates on a mass shooting at a Georgia high school on Sept. 4.

Small impact from convictions, war in Gaza

The poll surveyed voters on candidate-specific questions for each presidential nominee.

Six percent of respondents said that Trump’s felony convictions in New York caused them to change their support either way of the former president. Almost half (46%) said the conviction did not change their support with near identical amounts saying it made them more supportive (22%) and less supportive (19%).

Voters were also asked if the Biden-Harris administration’s response to the conflict in Israel and Gaza changed their level of support for Harris. Five percent said it had changed their support and 42% said it had no effect. More voters said the administration’s response to the war that began in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel had lessened their support (28%) than made them more supportive (18%).

The poll reported a credibility interval of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. A credibility interval is similar to a margin of error but takes into account more factors and is considered by some pollsters to be a more accurate measurement of statistical certainty.

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