PPP: NC Republicans still unpopular but gaining

North Carolinians are still mad at the Republicans in charge of state government for how things went down in the legislative session over the summer, but the anger isn't quite what it was a couple months ago.

Pat McCrory remains unpopular with a 39/51 approval rating, but that's up from its low point of 35/53 in September. Approval for the Republicans in state government as a whole is up a tick as well, from 32/57 to 34/55. And 39% of voters now say that GOP control of the state has been a good thing to 50% who say bad, up from a 36/54 spread a couple months ago. The numbers are all still bad for the Republicans, but they're not as bad as they were in the immediate aftermath of the session.

Other notes from North Carolina politics: 51% of voters in the state want the charges against Moral Monday protesters to be dropped, compared to only 33% who think they should be prosecuted. Majorities of Democrats and independents, and even 29% of GOP voters think charges should be dropped.

There's no doubt that DHHS is a big part of Pat McCrory's problems this year. Only 24% of voters approve of the job it's done so far during his administration, to 47% who disapprove. Even among Republicans DHHS gets a pretty negative 26/42 approval rating.

North Carolinians narrowly favor Medicaid expansion, 46/40. 72% of Democrats support it while 68% of Republicans are opposed, and independents split pretty evenly.

Voters in the state also support the Employment Non Discrimination Act that was passed by the Senate last week, 43/26. 62% of Democrats support it while only 46% of Republicans are opposed, and independents support it by a 13 point spread at 37/24 as well.

PPP surveyed 701 North Carolina voters, including an oversample of 498 Republican primary voters, from November 8th to 11th. The margin of error for the overall survey is +/- 3.7% and for the Republican primary part it’s +/-4.4%. PPP’s surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews.