Stein tops Robinson by 17 points in North Carolina poll

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, the Democratic candidate for governor, is leading his Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, by 17 points in a New York Times/Siena College survey released Sunday.

Stein has 56 percent support of the likely electorate in North Carolina, while Robinson has 38 percent support. Stein’s 17-point advantage was calculated using unrounded vote shares.

Stein leads among all major demographic groups. Women are twice as likely to back Stein over Robinson, 62 percent to 31 percent. Men, meanwhile, favor Stein over Robinson by 3 points, 49 percent to 46 percent.

Stein is favored by every major age group, although his advantage is most significant among voters under 30, who favor him by 30 points, 62 percent to 32 percent.

Stein’s smallest lead is among voters ages 45-64, who still favor Stein over Robinson by 6 points, 50 percent to 44 percent.

White likely voters back Stein by a narrow 2-point margin, 48 percent to Robinson’s 46 percent. Black voters heavily favor Stein over Robinson, 92 percent to 4 percent.

Stein leads with voters who have a college degree, 64 percent to Robinson’s 31 percent, as well as among likely voters with no college degree, with 50 percent to Robinson’s 43 percent.

Stein trails, however, among white likely voters without a college degree, who favor Robinson over Stein, 54 percent to 40 percent.

By party identification, Stein has 96 percent of his own party’s support, while only 1 percent of self-identifying Democrats say they are supporting Robinson. By party registration, however, 89 percent back Stein and 6 percent back Robinson.

Robinson, meanwhile, has 78 percent support from Republicans, by party ID and by registration. Stein gets 16 percent of self-identifying Republican likely voters, and 15 percent of registered Republican voters.

Independents heavily favor the Democratic candidate, with 61 percent of self-identifying independents backing Stein and 35 percent backing Robinson.

The likely electorate surveyed in the North Carolina poll back Vice President Harris over former President Trump by 3 points, 48 percent to 45 percent, in the same survey.

The survey is released just two days before Election Day and comes after a scandal-ridden campaign that has found Robinson at the center of significant controversy.

Last month, a bombshell report from CNN  linked the GOP candidate to messages posted on a pornography site messaging board more than a decade ago. Robinson reportedly called himself a “Black Nazi” and expressed support for slavery, among other inflammatory comments.

He denied the allegations and called the CNN report “salacious tabloid trash,” vowing to stay in the race. Following the news, a number of his employees also stepped down, and some Republicans pulled their endorsements.

The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s polling index finds Stein ahead by 14.5 points, 53.3 percent to 38.8 percent.

The survey was conducted Oct. 28 to Nov. 2 and included 1,010 likely voters in North Carolina. The margin of error is 3.6 percentage points.