President Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, is currently the favorite among North Carolina voters to succeed in the 2022 Republican primary for the seat of retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), according to a BUSR/UNLV Lee Business School poll released Monday.
The poll found that Lara Trump, who is reportedly considering a Senate run, leads former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) 24 percent to 23 percent, though this is within the poll’s 7-point margin of error.
The leads by Lara Trump and McCrory far surpass support for Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), the only major candidate so far to launch a campaign for the Senate seat. The congressman polled at 7 percent among North Carolina Republicans surveyed.
Rep. George Holding (R-N.C.) and North Carolina State House Speaker Tim Moore (R) were also included in the poll, receiving 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
About 39 percent of those surveyed were undecided on their favorite for the Republican Senate primary.
The same poll also found that in the 2024 North Carolina Republican Presidential Primary, President Trump leads among voters with 76 percent support, ahead of former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) at 6 percent.
Republican Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Mitt Romney (Utah) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) were also included in the presidential primary poll question, each receiving 3 percent or less.
The survey comes after The New York Times reported last month that Lara Trump was mulling a Senate run, citing three allies of the president’s daughter-in-law who spoke to the outlet.
The upcoming Senate race is likely to be competitive after North Carolina became a tight battleground state in this year’s election. President Trump held onto the state by 1.3 percentage points — a smaller margin than in 2016.
Last week, Walker, the vice chairman of the House Republican Conference and a staunch ally of President Trump, officially launched his Senate run.
When asked in an interview last week whether Lara Trump’s potential run influenced his decision to enter the race, Walker instead pointed to his six years as a congressman and 16 years as a pastor in North Carolina.
“I guess anybody should be a concern. I’m not trying to be too pollyannaish or coy about this,” he said. “It’s not determinative at all.”
The poll was conducted on Nov. 30, and from Dec.1-2. It surveyed 221 self-identified North Carolina Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.