ON POLITICS

Polls: Clinton, Trump tangled in N.C., Trump up in Ariz.

Eliza Collins
USA TODAY
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are locked in a tight race in North Carolina.

The two are just 2 points apart — a number that is within the margin of error — in a Monmouth University poll of likely voters released Wednesday.

Clinton led Trump, 44%-42%, while 7% of those surveyed backing Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.

The race was also tight on the Senate side. Republican incumbent Sen. Richard Burr was ahead of Democrat Deborah Ross by the same margin, 45%-43%.

And for the governorship, Republican Gov. Pat McCrory is far behind Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper. The incumbent trails Cooper 52%-43%.

Some of McCrory’s struggle could stem from the HB2 law that he signed. The HB2 law, also known as the “bathroom bill,” among other things requires users of public restrooms to use the bathroom of the gender they were born with. A majority of voters said they disapproved of the law, 55%-36%.

The telephone poll was conducted Aug. 20-23 of 401 likely voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 points.

A CNN/ORC poll released later Wednesday found similar results. Clinton was ahead of Trump among North Carolina registered voters by a single point, 44%-43%. Johnson had 11% support in the state.

The CNN/ORC poll had Burr and Ross 3 points apart, 49%-46%, with the incumbent leading. And McCrory is still behind his challenger, though by a smaller margin (6 points).

But there is good news for Trump in Arizona — a traditionally Republican state. He’s up 5 points over Clinton with registered voters, with  43% to Clinton’s 38%. Libertarian Gary Johnson had 12% support and Green Party candidate Jill Stein had 4%.

And Sen. John McCain, who has struggled on how closely to align himself with Trump throughout the year, was doing just fine in his re-election bid. The incumbent Republican led Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick 52%-39%. And in his primary race against Kelli Ward, McCain was ahead 55%-29%.

The CNN/ORC telephone poll included 912 registered voters in North Carolina and 842 registered voters in Arizona. It was conducted Aug. 18-23, and the margin of error in both states is plus or minus 3.5 points.