Trump voters prefer Duke, Clinton voters prefer UNC in new poll

North Carolina is just as divided during basketball season as it is during election season, according to a new poll by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic polling firm based in Raleigh.

The poll surveyed 839 voters from Jan. 19 to Jan. 21 to sample the state’s current political climate. In contrast to previous years, it found that 46 percent of state voters would choose the Democratic candidate compared to the 41 percent who would vote for the Republican candidate. The press release added that North Carolinians are pleased with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper but unhappy with the progress made by Republican President Donald Trump.

“With new maps, a popular Governor, and the energy of the voters on their side Democrats are almost certain to make gains in the legislature this year. The question is just how wide ranging the gains will be,” said Dean Debnam, president of PPP, in the press release. “Donald Trump and most of what he tried to do in his first year in office are unpopular in North Carolina, [and] that’s why Democrats are positioned to have their best election in the state since President Obama’s election in 2008.”

However, although the Democratic-Republican divide seems to have shifted, the historic split between Duke and UNC Chapel Hill has remained relatively the same, the press release noted.

“A lot has changed in North Carolina over the last decade that we’ve been regularly polling the state but there’s one constant: when UNC and Duke play each other in basketball in a couple weeks, 41 percent of voters will be pulling for the Tar Heels to 31 percent for the Blue Devils,” PPP wrote in its press release. 28 percent of those polled were not sure who they would root for in the  game.

The poll also found that Clinton voters preferred UNC 47 to 25 while Trump voters preferred Duke 38 to 35. Comparatively, a survey conducted by The Chronicle before the 2016 presidential election found that approximately 6.4 percent of Duke students supported the Trump-Pence ticket at the time.