As Trump falls in polls, NC Republicans’ safe majority may be in danger | Opinion

The latest polls show bad news for President Trump, but they may have a silver lining for North Carolinians who are weary of right-wing rule in the state legislature..

Trump’s approval rating is among the lowest ever for a newly elected president, with only four in 10 of those surveyed having a positive opinion about his performance. Worries about Trump’s reckless cuts to the federal workforce and his sudden raising of tariffs are among the concerns the dismal numbers.

The president’s growing unpopularity might liberate North Carolina from Republican control of the General Assembly. After the GOP gained a majority in both the state House and Senate following the 2010 election, Republican lawmakers sealed themselves into power through extreme gerrymandering. Despite Democrats winning the governor’s office in the past three elections, the GOP majority has remained cast in political concrete. A blowout midterm election in 2026 may finally crack it.

A recent Meredith College poll found that North Carolinians – including a majority of Republicans – continue to be dissatisfied with the direction of the nation despite Trump’s election.

David McLennan, a Meredith political scientist who directs the poll, said in a news release, “The fact that a majority of Republicans are dissatisfied with the direction of the country, particularly after recently winning the presidential election, bodes poorly for Donald Trump’s approval and how the Republicans will fare in the 2026 midterm elections.”

While the public is uneasy with Trump, the full impact of the trouble he has created has yet to arrive. His tariff increases are starting to push up prices, but the real jolt will come as inventories deplete and supply chains are blocked or limited. Trump has set the stage for shortages, higher inflation and layoffs.

Meanwhile, Trump’s “big beautiful bill” to extend tax cuts that mostly benefit wealthy individuals and large corporations will require drastic cuts in Medicaid and a range of other safety net programs. The contrast between rewarding the rich and punishing the poor will take a heavy toll on Republicans.

In North Carolina, Trump’s spending cuts in scientific funding have been especially damaging. The Research Triangle thrives on federal funding received by its three major research universities and agencies, nonprofits and companies based in Research Triangle Park.

North Carolina Republicans might have a better chance of holding their legislative majority despite an unpopular president and a declining economy if they put distance between Trump’s agenda and their own. But they have instead embraced Trump’s approach to the point of mimicking it.

The so-called Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk has made unpopular moves to lay off more than 100,000 federal employees and hobble services. General Assembly Republicans are pushing to do the same in North Carolina with the DAVE Act. It would create a Division of Accountability, Value, and Efficiency (DAVE) within the state auditor’s office. Efficiency is valuable, but – like Musk’s effort – DAVE would largely be about bashing regulatory agencies that Republicans don’t like.

North Carolina lawmakers are also following – and in some cases anticipating – Trump’s moves to discriminate against transgender people, restrict universities’ academic freedom, weaken environmental regulation, target undocumented immigrants and pass tax cuts that won’t provide significant savings to middle- and lower-income North Carolinians.

A recent Elon University poll shows widespread concerns about the economy’s outlook because of higher tariffs, but 71% of Republicans said they are willing to accept higher prices now in order to bring long-term improvements in the economy. Just 13% of Democrats and 25% of independents felt the same way.

Those are not good numbers for Republicans and they are only likely to get worse. Gerrymandering is a powerful political tool, but it may not be enough to save North Carolina Republicans from what Trump has wrought.

This story was originally published April 30, 2025 at 1:12 PM with the headline "As Trump falls in polls, NC Republicans’ safe majority may be in danger | Opinion."