Polls close in North Carolina

A new poll out this week in Virginia provided Nikki Haley with further fuel for her argument that she is far better positioned to take on Joe Biden at the ballot box in November than Donald Trump.

The Roanoke College poll found in a hypothetical match-up, Haley would beat Biden by nearly 9 points in Virginia, with the support of 49 per cent of the electorate, compared with 40 per cent for Biden.

The same poll found that in a contest between Trump and Biden, the Democratic incumbent president would win, 47 per cent to 43 per cent.

The poll underscores a fact that many politicos in Virginia have known for some time: the majority of voters there strongly dislike Trump, but would back another Republican if given the chance.

That was made clear in 2021, when Republican political novice and former Carlyle executive Glenn Youngkin was elected governor there, just one year after Biden won the state by 10 points over Trump.

But now, the state’s Republicans look set to give Trump yet another primary win on Tuesday: the Roanoke poll showed that Trump had the backing of 75 per cent of GOP voters in Virginia, compared to just 15 per cent who said they supported Haley.

Still, Haley is hoping to outperform the polls there thanks to the “open” nature of the primary: the state does not have party registration for voters, so anyone can participate, regardless of whether they consider themselves Republicans, Democrats or independents.