North Carolinians’ confidence in elected policymakers

Published 2:52 p.m. today

By Michael Bitzer

In the March 2025 Catawba-YouGov Survey of 1,000 North Carolinians*, respondents were asked to express their level of confidence in a variety of policy makers, from the president down to local county boards of education. Beyond the president, most policymakers saw a mix of responses regarding confidence in their decision-making. 

In responding to “How confident are you in the decision-making capabilities of the President?,” 43 percent said not very or not at all confident, while 41 percent said very or somewhat confident, with 17 percent expressing a neutral response. But as with most prominent political topics, partisanship is a key drive of confidence, or lack thereof. 

Federal Elected Officials:

Among those who self-identify as Democratic, nearly three-quarters—74 percent—said they were not confident in the president’s decision-making, while nearly eight out of ten—79 percent—of Republicans said they were confident in the president’s decision-making. 

March 2025 Catawba-YouGov Survey of 1,000 North Carolinians
(Overall Survey Margin of Error = +/- 3.6%; larger for sub-groups)

Small numbers of partisans crossed over and said the opposite: 11 percent of Democrats expressed confidence in the president’s decision-making, while 7 percent of Republicans expressed a lack of confidence. 

Among self-identified Independents, a plurality—46 percent—expressed a lack of confidence, while over a third—35 percent—said they were confident. 

The partisan trends extended to North Carolina members of the U.S. Congress, both in the House and Senate. With Republicans controlling the congressional delegation, bare pluralities expressed confidence in Representatives and Senators: 37 percent had confidence in Representatives, while 35 percent had confidence in U.S. Senators. 

Yet those who expressed a lack of confidence in the members of Congress were either Democratic or Independent: both had pluralities expressing no confidence, with 41 percent of Democrats and 38 percent among Independents for U.S. representatives, and 46 percent and 39 percent respectively for U.S. senators from North Carolina. 

 

March 2025 Catawba-YouGov Survey of 1,000 North Carolinians
(Overall Survey Margin of Error = +/- 3.6%; larger for sub-groups)

 

 
March 2025 Catawba-YouGov Survey of 1,000 North Carolinians
(Overall Survey Margin of Error = +/- 3.6%; larger for sub-groups)

North Carolina's State Officials

Among the state’s executive officers who make up the Council of State, 45 percent of North Carolinians expressed confidence in their decision-making, with only 22 percent expressing a lack of confidence. Politically, the Council of State is evenly divided between Democrats (controlling 5 offices) and Republicans (controlling 5 offices). 

Among partisan self-identification, North Carolinians rating the executive officers with high levels of confidence. Nearly six out of ten (59%) of Democrats expressing confidence, yet among independents and Republicans, only four out of ten (41 and 40 percent respectively) had confidence. 

March 2025 Catawba-YouGov Survey of 1,000 North Carolinians
(Overall Survey Margin of Error = +/- 3.6%; larger for sub-groups)
When asked about confidence in decision-making among members of the North Carolina General Assembly, partisanship was again very evident in the evenly-divided responses between confidence and lack thereof. Overall, 35 percent of North Carolinians expressed confidence in the state legislature, lead by Republicans in both chambers, while 34 percent expressed a lack of confidence. 

 

March 2025 Catawba-YouGov Survey of 1,000 North Carolinians
(Overall Survey Margin of Error = +/- 3.6%; larger for sub-groups)

As with the president, partisanship drives whether there is confidence or not in the state legislature. Pluralities of both self-identified Democrats and Independents (44 and 41 percent, respectively) expressed a lack of confidence, while a majority of Republicans had confidence. 

When it comes to the third branch of government, North Carolinians were more middle-of-the-road in their confidence: a plurality (40 percent) were neutral, while 34 percent had confidence and 25 percent expressed a lack of confidence. Only among Republicans was there a slim number expressing confidence (43 percent), but 41 percent were neutral. 

 

March 2025 Catawba-YouGov Survey of 1,000 North Carolinians
(Overall Survey Margin of Error = +/- 3.6%; larger for sub-groups)

Confidence in Local Elected Officials' Decision-Making

Among the three groups of local officials, North Carolina county commissioners were a group that fell into the middle ground of North Carolinians’ confidence in their decision-making, with 39 percent being neutral to 34 percent with confidence and 27 percent lacking confidence. Again, a plurality of Republicans expressed confidence, while pluralities of Democrats and Independents were neutral.
 
March 2025 Catawba-YouGov Survey of 1,000 North Carolinians
(Overall Survey Margin of Error = +/- 3.6%; larger for sub-groups)

Among North Carolina’s mayors and city council members, North Carolinians were evenly divided in expressing either confidence or neutrality about these local officials’ decision-making capabilities.

Democrats expressed a slight plurality (44 percent), while both Independents and Republicans were at 38 percent confidence, but closely tied to those expressing a neutral opinion (36 percent among Independents and 39 percent among Republicans). 

March 2025 Catawba-YouGov Survey of 1,000 North Carolinians
(Overall Survey Margin of Error = +/- 3.6%; larger for sub-groups)

Finally, North Carolinians expressed a plurality of confidence in their local school boards of education, at 37 percent, with 31 percent expressing a lack of confidence. The overall plurality confidence is supported by nearly a majority—47 percent—of Democrats having confidence and 37 percent of Republicans expressed confidence. 

 

March 2025 Catawba-YouGov Survey of 1,000 North Carolinians
(Overall Survey Margin of Error = +/- 3.6%; larger for sub-groups)

In an interesting turn, a plurality of Independents—36 percent—expressed a lack of confidence in school board policy makers (it should be noted that all the independent responses were well within the margin of error). 

In general, once you get beyond the highly nationalized and partisan-driven dynamics of the president (who commands daily, if not hourly, attention), a reliable third of North Carolinians are neutral regarding their confidence in elected officials at the state and local level. The general presumption is that the closer to the voter you get, the more likely citizens would likely have confidence in these policymakers. 

But with significant percentages--from a third to nearly 40 percent--of North Carolinians expressing neutral feelings in their confidence in local officials' decision making, it appears that the level of government that has the most day-to-day impact with citizens has an opportunity to build greater levels of confidence beyond the partisan polarization at the national level. 

Dr. Michael Bitzer is a professor of politics and history at Catawba College, where he is director of the Center for N.C. Politics & Public Service and holds the Leonard Chair of Political Science.
 

* The poll was paid for by the Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service at Catawba College and conducted online by YouGov, which interviewed 1129 North Carolina respondents who were then matched down to a sample of 1000 to produce the final dataset.

Read More NC SPIN >>