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North Carolinians remain divided about President Barack Obama, but Gov. Pat McCrory continues to be popular, according to a new poll.

Forty-five percent of North Carolina residents – not just voters – polled said they approved of Obama's job performance, while 46 percent disapproved, according to the Elon University Poll.

McCrory had a job approval rating of 46 percent, which was similar to that of Obama. But his disapproval rating was much lower at 25 percent. McCrory's approval rating has risen from 42 to 46 percent since February.

The approval rating for Congress is only 12 percent.

But the approval rating the state legislature was 37 percent, up four points since February. Another 39 percent disapproved. That suggests that some of the controversial positions the legislature has taken has not hurt it politically.

Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan had an approval rating of 40 percent, and a disapproval rating of 33 percent. Republican Sen. Richard Burr had an approval rating of 39 percent and a disapproval rating of 26 percent.

The survey questioned 770 North Carolina residents between April 5-9 and had a margin of error of 3.53. Unlike most polls it did not quiz just voters, but polled all residents.

The presidential race in North Carolina is a dead heat, according to the latest Elon Poll.

The poll found President Barack Obama and former Masschusetts Gov. tied at 45 percent with 5 percent undecided. It is the fourth poll released in the last week showing the presidential race in North Carolina is a toss up.

The Elon Poll also found that in the governor's race, Republican Pat McCrory leading Democrat Walter Dalton by a 52-38 percent margin. 

North Carolina residents are divided about how Democratic President Barack Obama is doing his job, but have a more negative view of how Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue is handling hers, according to the latest Elon University Poll.

The survey found 48 percent approved of the job that Obama was doing, while 45 percent disapproved. That was better than Perdue's numbers, where 39 percent approved and 52 percent disapproved.

Job approval aside, Tar Heel residents even seem to like Obama better than they do Perdue. Forty percent of Tar Heel residents have a favorable opinion of Perdue, while 51 percent have a favorable view of Obama.

The public is evenly divided about the Republican-controlled legislature, with 41 percent approving of the way it is doing its job, and 41 percent disapproving.

Tar Heel residents give about equal marks to North Carolina two senators. Forty-two percent approve of the way Republican Sen. Richard Burr is handling his job, while 44 percent approve of the way Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan is handling her job.

More than three-quarters of those interviewed disapprove of the way Congress is doing its job. North Carolinians give their highest marks in dealing with the national issues to Republicans in Congress(34 percent) followed by Obama(26 percent) and Democrats in Congress (15 percent.)

A majority of North Carolinians (60 percent) think North Carolina is on the wrong track, a figure that has remained fairly consistent since September.

The overwhelming issue that people are concerned about is economy and jobs(56 percent) followed by elementary and secondary education(15 percent), taxes(3 percent)  health care(2.6 percent) and economic development(1.7 percent.)

The Elon Poll is unlike most polls in that it interviews residents, not just registered voters.

The poll was conducted April 11-14 and surveyed 630 North Carolinians. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.98 percent.

Half of the state's residents don't like the way President Barack Obama is handling the economy, according to an Elon University Poll.

Forty-four percent of respondents approved Obama's handling of the economy.
More than 70 percent think that Obama's policies have not had an effect on the economy, or made things worse, according to the poll.

The survey of 584 state residents was conducted from September 20-23 and has a 4.1 percentage point margin of error.

The state's August unemployment rate was 9.7 percent.

North Carolinians are evenly divided about President Barack Obama but strongly disapprove of Congress, according to a new Elon University Poll.

The survey found that 47.3 percent approve of the way Obama has handled his job, while 47.5 percent disapprove.

But Tar Heel residents are much more sharply critical of members of Congress. Only 23 percent approve of the job that Congress is doing, while 68 percent disapprove. This cannot be good news for incumbents running.

The poll, conducted Sept. 20-23, surveyed 584 North Carolina residents – voters and non voters – and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

Half of North Carolina residents approve of the job President Barack Obama is doing while three-quarters of the state say they disapprove of Congress' work, according to a new survey from the Elon University Poll.

Elon asked 508 state residents questions about who they support and trust.

When asked for an opinion about Obama, 53 percent had a favorable view of him while 41 percent say they see him unfavorably. When asked for an opinion about the job Obama is doing, 50 percent approved while 45 percent disapproved. 

When asked to describe how much confidence they have in Congress, 62 percent said they had little or no confidence while 37 percent had at least some confidence. Respondents were also asked if they approve or disapprove of the way Congress is doing its job and 75 percent disapproved while 19 percent said they approved.  

And when poll respondents were asked who would do the best job dealing with the main issues facing the country, 36 percent said Obama, 12 percent chose Democrats in Congress, 29 percent picked Republicans in Congress and 18 percent chose none of the above.

The respondents for the Feb. 22-25 poll were drawn from a pool of landline telephone numbers and cell phone numbers. It had a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.

One poll says North Carolinians are increasingly opposed to health care reform proposals advanced by Democrats.

Another poll says more than half of state residents support those proposals. A third national poll says 45 percent of Americans oppose President Barack Obama's health care plan.

Dome isn't an expert on these sorts of things, but it's a safe bet that how the questions were asked and how the polls were conducted has something to do with the difference. Here's a quick roundup of what the October polls asked and what respondents said. Percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding.

Civitas Institute: (600 North Carolina voters) "Do you approve or disapprove of the health care plan being proposed by Barack Obama and Congress?" 49 percent opposed, 40 percent supported, 10 percent no opinion.

Elon University Poll, (703 state residents) "As you are likely aware, the public option is a health insurance option provided by the federal government...so, with this in mind, would you [support or oppose] health insurance legislation that would offer a public option?" 54 support, 38 percent oppose and 7 percent don't know.

Public Policy Polling (766 American voters) "Do you support or oppose President Obama’s health care plan, or do you not have an opinion?" 42 percent support, 45 percent oppose and 13 percent no opinion.

A majority of North Carolina residents support the federal economic stimulus package.

The latest Elon University Poll found that 52 percent of those surveyed support the stimulus package, while 39 percent disapprove of the package.

When asked who they trusted to do the "best job" dealing with the main issues facing the country, 46 percent said President Barack Obama, 21 percent said congressional Republicans and 10 percent said congressional Democrats.

"While North Carolinians are pessimistic about the economy, they are pinning their hopes on President Obama to lead them through the crisis," said Hunter Bacot, director of the poll.

The poll surveyed 758 North Carolina residents from Feb. 22-26. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Update: A poll released earlier in the week by the Civitas Institute found that 50 percent of North Carolina voters support the stimulus package, while 36 percent are opposed to the package.

Civitas surveyed 600 registered voters from Feb. 16-19. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. 

North Carolinians think that, for the most part, Republicans were more "negative or nasty" in this year's campaigns, according to the latest survey by Elon University.

The notable exception was in the governor's race, where more North Carolinians had negative impressions of the campaign waged by Democratic candidate Beverly Perdue.

Elon surveyed 797 North Carolina residents on Oct. 27-30. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. It did not screen for registered or likely voters.

50 percent of those surveyed had "negative impressions" of the campaign run by Republican presidential candidate John McCain, while 30 percent had a negative feel for the campaign run by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

In the U.S. Senate race, 48 percent of those surveyed had a negative impression of Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole's campaign, while 38 percent had a negative impression of the campaign of Democratic challenger Kay Hagan.

In the governor's race, 30 percent had a negative impression of Perdue's campaign, while 21 percent had a negative impression of the campaign waged by Republican Pat McCrory.

A poll by Elon University found that 69 percent of North Carolina residents support offshore drilling. Another 26 percent are opposed.

The poll also found that 67 percent believe gas prices would fall within a decade, Barb Barrett reports.

"People in North Carolina clearly believe that offshore oil drilling would reduce the pain they feel at the gasoline pump and may agree with any initiative to lift the ban that’s in place," said Hunter Bacot, director of the Elon University poll.

Here’s the breakdown, according to the poll, of respondents saying when they thought prices would be affected by offshore drilling:

— Immediately to less than one year: 14 percent.

— One to five years: 29 percent.

— Six to 10 years: 24 percent.

— Will never affect gas prices: 6 percent.

More after the jump.