African American voters in North Carolina prefer Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders to incumbent President Donald Trump by wide margins, according to a poll conducted by Meredith College.

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Black North Carolinians prefer any Democratic presidential hopeful to President Donald Trump or removing him through impeachment, according to polling conducted by Meredith College.

In a survey of registered voters across the state, 67.8% of African Americans surveyed said they would support Democrat Joe Biden in a potential 2020 campaign compared to 7.8% for Trump and 18.3% for another candidate. If Biden’s top rival, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren were the Democratic standard bearer, 54.9% would vote for her compared to 28.9% for someone else and 8.5% for Trump.

“President Trump’s potential support in the 2020 election essentially mirrors his approval rating in the state,” Meredith Poll Director David McLennan said. “The problem for Democrats in the state is that voters are not excited about their potential nominees and no one runs particularly well against the president at over a year before the election.”

Among all voters surveyed, Trump, who beat Hillary Clinton in North Carolina in 2016, would lose a head-to-head contest with Biden, the two-term former vice president (38.4% to 34.6%) Warren (39.1%-33%) and U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (38.8%-32.5%) and Kamala Harris (39.1%-28.4%). The president’s job approval rating is underwater among North Carolinians at 39.9% compared to 44% in the spring poll. Only 11.3% of Democrats approve of Trump’s performance while 74.4% of Republicans like the job he’s doing.

“The most significant factor affecting President Trump’s decline in job approval ratings among North Carolinians is his loss of Republican support,” McLennan said. “Up until the most recent Meredith Poll, Trump’s support among Republicans was in the mid- to upper 80s. the turmoil surrounding the Ukrainian call and move by [U.S. House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi to start the impeachment inquiry has eroded his support among Republicans.”

Other outcomes from the poll:

• Sanders has the support of black voters in a contest against Trump at 57% to 7% with 28.9% favoring someone else. Ironically, Harris, one of two black candidates in the Democratic primary field, fares worse among African Americans than the party’s white front-runners, polling at 45.1% compared to 39.4% for another candidate and 8.5% for Trump in a hypothetical campaign.

In response to the question of whether they’d vote for Trump or a randomly chosen person from a phone book, 65.5% of black voters preferred the random name compared to 14.8% for the incumbent.

• On the matter of impeachment, 76.1% of black residents said they believe the president’s actions justify an inquiry by the U.S. House of Representatives, while 11.2% said no. The House is responsible for investigating federal office holders for potential articles of impeachment; if the lower chamber confirms the charges, the Senate would hold a trial for removal, which would require affirmation by 67 senators.

• In the U.S. Senate race, 55.6% of blacks back Democrat Erica Smith, a three-term state senator from Henrico in eastern North Carolina, while 9.9% favor incumbent Republican Thom Tillis in a hypothetical race.

Smith's Democratic rival, Cal Cunningham outperformed Tillis, a Huntersville resident considered one of the Senate's most vulnerable incumbents, 49.3% to 14.1%.

The Meredith survey used a random sample of telephone interviews among 998 voters with telephones, wireless numbers or email between Sept. 29-Oct. 7. The margin of error is 3%.

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