Pat McCrory is leaving office as Mayor of Charlotte with his popularity intact. But that doesn't mean voters in the city are yearning for him to run for Governor again.
McCrory's final approval rating is 59%, with only 26% disapproving. He has the approval of 81% of Republicans and 62% of independents and his 39% approval rating with Charlotte Democrats is actually better than Bev Perdue's 38% approval with Democrats statewide in our most recent poll.
Despite his good overall numbers only 51% of voters in the city want him to challenge Perdue again in 2012, with 40% opposed.
The party breakdown on those numbers speaks to the trouble McCrory had with voters in the city last fall. Most Republicans who like the job he's doing want him to run again- but only 46% of independents would like to see him make a bid despite his 62% approval with them and just 27% of Democrats want him to even though 39% think he's a good Mayor.
McCrory's popularity as Mayor didn't translate to support for Governor in 2008 at the sort of level that he needed, and it looks like he might continue to be plagued by that problem with a repeat bid in 2012. Given the strong unhappiness many Charlotte residents express with their treatment by the rest of the state this is somewhat curious, but for most voters in the city party still trumps province.
Full results here
I'd be interested to see what Perdue's numbers in Charlotte would be if those same questions were asked about her. I imagine the second question would be even lower than her approval too...Also, even if McCrory only won 51% of the city, that would smash the total he earned from the city in 2008. Heck, it would be better than the total he got from the whole county.
ReplyDeleteIn a head to head race within the city between Perdue and McCrory, my guess would be that McCrory would show better numbers than his performance from 2008.
That is disappointing and ultimately harmful to voters if they punish great civil servants like McCrory. He's one of the most transformative mayors in this generation. Charlotte became a better city because of him. People should be afraid that now that a Democrat replaced him in Charlotte, one should expect inexorable decline of Charlotte.
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