North Carolina voters don’t like either the Democratic or Republican parties.

But Independent voters – who are the key swing voters and who will decide the 2026 election – really, really dislike the GOP.

That’s good news for Democrats this year.

The poll we did last month of 1,069 voters across the state found they have a 54-34% unfavorable opinion of the Republican Party and a 52-33% unfavorable view of the Democratic Party.

Nearly identical.

But registered Independents, who outnumber Democrats and Republicans in North Carolina, are much more negative toward the GOP (76-3% unfavorable) than the Democratic Party (49-13% unfavorable).

Why are the overall ratings so close when Independents are much more negative toward Republicans?

That’s because 93% of Republicans are happy with their party, while only 73% of Democrats are happy with theirs.

That happens when your party lost the White House to Donald Trump and can’t get its act together against him. But you can be sure Democrats will turn out against him this year.

The bottom line: Trump and MAGA are unpopular, and Republicans are in power.

They’ll be the target of voters’ anger and anxiety this year, especially if the Iran war drags on and the economy gets dragged down.