{"id":1222,"date":"2026-06-05T08:05:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T08:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=1222"},"modified":"2026-06-05T08:05:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T08:05:16","slug":"republicans-wrote-off-pat-mccrory-not-so-fast-a-new-poll-says-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=1222","title":{"rendered":"Republicans wrote off Pat McCrory. Not so fast, a new poll says. | Opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pat McCrory has spent nearly 10 years in political exile, some of it self-imposed.<\/p>\n

Read more Harpo Marx finally speaks, with a little help from The Avett Brothers\u2019 record label<\/a><\/p>\n

The former governor and Charlotte mayor often sounds like a man who believes today\u2019s politics no longer has a place for him. Democrats have long viewed him as too conservative. And in the age of Trump, he believes Republicans now see him as too much of a RINO.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I can get elected dogcatcher,\u201d he said on C-SPAN recently. \u201cBecause I don\u2019t meet the litmus test in either party.\u201d<\/p>\n

I just got my hands on a new statewide poll that suggests McCrory may be more welcome among voters than he thinks.<\/p>\n

The point is broader than just one person. This poll is useful mainly because it challenges a common assumption in Raleigh that McCrory\u2019s political exile means Republican voters rejected everything he represented.<\/p>\n

They may not have, after all. And as the GOP begins to chart its post-Trump course, that suggests party leaders may have learned the wrong lessons.<\/p>\n

The McCrory question was added to a broader statewide survey by Opinion Diagnostics, not conducted as a standalone poll about the former governor.<\/p>\n

Among registered voters, McCrory is basically even: about 32% favorable and 30% unfavorable, with roughly 30% having no opinion.<\/p>\n

That is not overwhelming popularity. But for a former governor who has been out of office nearly a decade, lost a high-profile U.S. Senate primary and remains tied in many voters\u2019 minds to House Bill 2, it is pretty darn good to be above water.<\/p>\n

Among voters 55 and older, one of the state\u2019s most dependable voting blocs, he is about 12 points above water, and McCrory\u2019s Republican numbers are even stronger. Among likely GOP voters, he rises to about 55% favorable and 17% unfavorable.<\/p>\n

Those numbers are especially notable when compared with the Republican-led legislature. Among Republicans in the poll, McCrory is +38, while the legislature is +15.<\/p>\n

A single opinion poll will never be definitive, and insiders will recognize Opinion Diagnostics as the firm of Patrick Sebastian, McCrory\u2019s nephew. The firm has conducted research for clients across the country, and Sebastian said his business partner handled the McCrory question to avoid any perception of conflict.<\/p>\n

After seeing the results, I reached out to McCrory and asked whether the numbers gave him any interest in running again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely not,\u201d he told me, \u201cthough I do want to help the next generation of leadership succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Mecklenburg County employees fired, disciplined after 6-year-old girl\u2019s death<\/a><\/p>\n

I also asked Peter Francia, a political science professor at East Carolina University, what he made of the numbers. He said McCrory\u2019s name recognition and executive experience still give him advantages many politicians do not have. Enough time has also passed, Francia said, that voters may now see his time in office differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey may look back on the four years that he was governor and say to themselves, \u2018Hey, those four years really were pretty good in hindsight,\u2019\u201d Francia said.<\/p>\n

Francia also said the poll pretty clearly suggests McCrory is not as politically toxic among Republicans as some in Raleigh might assume.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that number pretty clearly demonstrates that he\u2019s not,\u201d Francia said<\/p>\n

In that context, McCrory\u2019s 2022 Senate primary loss to current U.S. Sen. Ted Budd may say more about President Donald Trump\u2019s power in Republican primaries than about McCrory\u2019s standing with GOP voters.<\/p>\n

In truth, McCrory is not really a cautionary tale. He is a reminder that Republican voters can still respond to a candidate who talks directly to the whole state, focuses on jobs, takes big risks and offers a vision bigger than the next legislative session.<\/p>\n

That is a lesson a party dominated by the General Assembly should not ignore.<\/p>\n

North Carolina Republicans have drawn districts that make their power difficult to dislodge, but legislative dominance can make a party mistake control for persuasion.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s mansion is different, and the office still matters. The governor controls agencies, manages crises and becomes the face of whether government works. When the DMV breaks down, hurricane recovery stalls or basic services stop working, voters do not think first about committee chairs. They look to the governor.<\/p>\n

McCrory understood that part of politics, and that is what the party has not replaced.<\/p>\n

The future of the Republican Party, nationally and in North Carolina, is still very much up in the air. The GOP still doesn\u2019t have an answer to what a post-Trump party looks like, and here at home, there is no obvious line of candidates eager to take on a well-funded Gov. Josh Stein in 2028.<\/p>\n

More likely, the party\u2019s next chapter will be shaped by a changing of the guard in Raleigh. That includes House Speaker Destin Hall, the Caldwell County Republican now running the House, and Sen. Brad Overcash, a Gaston County Republican with growing influence.<\/p>\n

To be successful, they do not need to become Pat McCrory. But if they want to win statewide, they should understand why Republican voters still seem to like him.<\/p>\n

McCrory\u2019s poll numbers suggest the next Republican governor may be more like him than Raleigh wants to admit.<\/p>\n

Contributing columnist Andrew Dunn is the publisher of the Longleaf Politics newsletter, which offers thoughtful analysis of North Carolina politics and policy from a conservative perspective. He can be reached at andrew@longleafpol.com.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Trump Realty lists ex-Carolina Panther\u2019s $7.5M Lake Norman mansion. See inside.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But Republicans want to win statewide, they should understand why Republican voters still seem to like the former governor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nRepublicans wrote off Pat McCrory. Not so fast, a new poll says. | Opinion - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=1222\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Republicans wrote off Pat McCrory. 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