As North Carolina’s new General Assembly has been getting more and more attention both in and outside of the state, the Elon Poll surveyed North Carolinians to see how citizens feel about their new legislature.
The poll, which conducted 770 live-interview calls April 5-9, found 37 percent of interviewees approved of the assembly’s job, while 39 percent disapproved.
The General Assembly has gotten flack for proposing legislation such as a waiting period for divorce and a reduction in early voting time. Sixty-nine percent and 59 percent of respondents opposed each measure, respectively.
“People tend to see the General Assembly, or any large government agency, as this large amorphous body,” said Jason Husser, assistant director of the Elon Poll. “As a result, individual policy proposals are not always connected to that body.”
Along with the state’s General Assembly, the poll also asked citizens for their opinions on President Barack Obama and Senators Richard Burr and Kay Hagan. While each had mediocre approval ratings — 45, 39 and 40 percent support, respectively — Kenneth Fernandez, director of the Elon Poll, said he feels the ratings for the Democratic president correspond to feelings toward Democratic Sen. Hagan, whose reelection is coming up.
“If we keep asking these questions and we keep seeing Obama’s approval ratings slipping a little bit, it could tap people on the shoulder and say, ‘You know what? I’m going to run against Sen. Hagan,’” Fernandez said.
Governor McCrory saw an increase in his approval ratings since the last Elon Poll in February, from 42 percent approval to 46 percent. While McCrory has received attention for his decision not to expand Medicaid and his appointment of political financier Art Pope as top budget writer, the governor has attempted to remain untarnished by the actions of the General Assembly.
“He has taken this hands-off approach to it and made statements like, ‘We’ll let the process play out,’” Husser said. “By letting it go through this process where, publicly, he has a hands-off approach, he’s able to insulate himself from criticism.”
The Elon Poll also asked North Carolinians if they support or oppose gay marriage. The results were split: Forty-four percent said they supported it, and 45 percent said they opposed it. The poll has received higher levels of support for similar questions in the past, but this is the first Elon Poll that used the word “marriage.”
“Once you say, ‘Do you support or oppose gay marriage?’ support is going to drop,” Fernandez said. “I think it’s a good way to measure it because the debate isn’t about civil unions anymore. It’s about gay marriage.”
As legislation to eliminate tenure for public school teachers moves through the General Assembly, 54 percent of North Carolinians surveyed said they oppose the current form of teacher tenure in the state. Unlike most states, which require three years before tenure, North Carolina requires four.
“If you just ask people, I think that they believe that people should be fired if they’re bad and it shouldn’t be difficult to get rid of bad teachers,” Fernandez said.
On the other hand, the poll also found about 75 percent of respondents believe public school teachers are paid too little.
“If a state got rid of tenure but didn’t up the salary, the attractiveness of teaching will become so low that the quality of people that will go to those vocations will be dramatically lowered,” Fernandez said. “If you’re going to get rid of tenure, you’ve got to raise salary.”