RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A lot can change between now and November of next year. But as it stands today, former president Donald Trump and current president Joe Biden are the clear front runners for their respective parties. Yet the news is not great for either candidate when it comes to North Carolina voters.

A new poll, by the Conservative John Locke Foundation and Civitas, found only 18% of voters want Biden to take the oath of office, while 20% want a different democrat to do so. The number for Trump jumps but is still below 30%.

“But there’s still also 18% of voters who want to see a Republican but want it to see want it to be a different Republican. So, some challenges there for Donald Trump as well. But the news is especially bad for our incumbent President, Joe Biden,” said Mitch Kokai with the John Lock Foundation.

“I would be concerned about running Biden for president again if I were the Democratic Party,” said Locke CEO Donald Bryson. “It is certainly abnormal to see support for an incumbent president so low, and a 58% job disapproval.”

While Biden faces inflation, Trump faces 91 indictments, including federal charges related to allegations of trying to overturn the 2020 election. Forty-seven percent of North Carolina voters polled said they believe Trump did something illegal, with 34% believing he didn’t do anything seriously wrong.

“Then there were about 12% who thought that he did something wrong but not illegal. So, the most popular, answer close to half not quite half, but close to half of the people surveyed said they thought he did do something illegal,” said Kokai.

In contrast, 54% said the Department of Justice’s treatment of Trump is partisan compared to 36% who don’t.

So how does this impact a voter’s decision? The results make it difficult to tell.

“Some people might say, you know, maybe he did something illegal, but we’re pretty convinced that the federal government under Joe Biden is out to get him, so maybe they don’t. Maybe it’s a wash to them that they think, OK, it’s something illegal. But we’re not ever going to really know the truth because the federal government is waging an actual campaign against him. I think it’s going to be very interesting to see how that all plays out when the votes come in,” said Kokai.

According to Civitas, the survey was conducted August 20 – 21, 2023, with 600 likely general election voters. It has a margin of error of ±3.99%. Known registered voters were interviewed via live calls, and SMS. The survey was weighted to a likely general election voter universe.