Beasley, Budd separated by 1 point in NC Senate race: poll

Democratic North Carolina Senate nominee Cheri Beasley leads her Republican opponent, Ted Budd, by 1 percentage point, according to a new Civiqs poll.

The survey, which was released on Thursday, found 49 percent of likely voters in the state indicated support for Beasley, compared to 48 percent for Budd, a gap well within the margin of error.

That slight gap widened, however, when comparing the two nominees’ favorability ratings, although both candidates were seen as unfavorable by a plurality of respondents.

Forty-four percent of respondents expressed a favorable opinion of Beasley, while 45 percent had an unfavorable opinion.

When asked about Budd, 41 percent gave a favorable rating, and 49 percent expressed an unfavorable opinion.

The North Carolina contest to replace retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) is one of multiple closely watched races in this year’s midterm elections as Republicans hope to cut into Democrats’ razor-thin majority and flip the upper chamber.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the race as “lean Republican.”

An Emerson College-CBS17-The Hill survey released on Tuesday found that Budd leads Beasley by 3 points.

But Budd’s support in that poll clocked in 4 points lower than the pollster’s April survey of the state.

Former President Trump won the state by 1 point in 2020.

The Civiqs survey was conducted between Sept. 17 and Sept. 20 online. The pollster surveyed 586 likely voters in the state, weighting for demographics like age, race, and party identification, and the margin of error is 5.5 percentage points.