Poll: Trump-Backed Ted Budd Leads Former Gov. Pat McCrory in North Carolina GOP Primary

Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) has a four-point edge over former Gov. Pat McCrory (R) in the Republican primary race for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, according to a poll published Wednesday by the conservative Club for Growth PAC.

The poll, conducted by WPA Intelligence December 19–21, found Budd at 47 percent support compared to McCrory’s 43 percent support in a hypothetical head-to-head primary matchup. Ten percent said they were undecided.

Club for Growth has endorsed Budd, as has former President Donald Trump.

The influential group with close ties to the former president has backed a handful of candidates ahead of the 2022 midterms whom it believes will promote limited government and economically conservative policies, and it announced in June it had raised more than $5 million for Budd and that it planned “to raise and spend even more.”

In the primary, Budd is up against McCrory, who has the advantage of name recognition, having served as Charlotte mayor for 14 years, governor for one term, and host to a popular Charlotte-based radio show, which he ended this year in lieu of his Senate campaign. McCrory lost two out of three bids for governor, in 2008 and in a close race against now-Gov. Roy Cooper (D) in 2016.

Former Gov. Pat McCrory in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File).

McCrory is backed by retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), one of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump of inciting an “insurrection” over the January 6 Capitol riot. Burr said, per Politico, that he believes McCrory is “the only one in the race that can win the general election” in the battleground state that Trump won by just one point in 2020.

Also in the primary running is Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC), though the Charlotte Observer reported Thursday that Club for Growth and Trump have been pushing Walker behind-the-scenes to drop out of the Senate race and run for a House seat in hopes that Budd would then annex Walker supporters.

In the wake of announcing its accumulation of funds for Budd, Club for Growth said in its memo about the new poll that it found McCrory’s unfavorable ratings “climbed to” 42 percent in Greensboro, where the group has paid for two weeks of television ads that highlight McCrory’s “history of anti-Trump statements.”

Club for Growth President Dave McIntosh said in a statement about the poll that McCrory’s “past policies, statements, and ethical questions are understandably making voters question his campaign. Meanwhile Ted Budd is a proven and principled conservative with a record who has the support of President Trump – the choice is clear.”

Budd’s campaign also commented on the poll, taking a jab at McCrory over his prior political defeats.

“Governor Pat McCrory peaked on the first day of his campaign and it’s been downhill ever since as voters are reminded why they’ve already rejected him twice,” Budd senior adviser Jonathan Felts said in a statement. “North Carolinians don’t want a career politician who doesn’t support President Donald Trump’s America First Agenda.”

The poll was conducted among 504 likely primary voters by telephone and had a 4.4 percent margin of error.

Write to Ashley Oliver at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @asholiver.

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