Written By Tom Jensen, PublicPolicyPolling.com
Chick-Fil-A is definitely winning in the court of public opinion in North Carolina. 40% of voters rate it as their favorite fast food chicken place to 23% for KFC and 18% for Bojangles.
There is a large ideological split on the all important chicken issue. Voters describing themselves as 'very liberal' actually say that they prefer KFC to Chick-Fil-A by a 43/11 margin, with Bojangles coming in second at 17%. But Chick-Fil-A defeats KFC 61-17 with 'very conservative' voters, a much larger group within the state's electorate.
Chick-Fil-A's overall favorability is 68/22. With Republicans it's 92/4- that's a pretty remarkable figure- it would be hard to find anything else 92% of North Carolina Republicans have a favorable opinion of. Chick-Fil-A is at 51/35 with Democrats, and its 68/22 standing with independents matches its overall numbers.
Bojangles has a 63/13 favorability rating and KFC comes in at 60/18/ North Carolinians appear to like their fast food chicken chains a whole lot more than their politicians.
The biggest headscratcher to me and others on this poll was KFC outpolling the far superior Bojangles (this is one instance where I'm going to insert my opinion in the polling) for second place. This appears to be a product of the excess yankification of North Carolina. Bojangles and KFC tie at 21% among North Carolina natives, but the transplants go for KFC by a 26/13 margin.
Perhaps with time they will see the error of their ways.
As long as we were polling on fast food we also looked at the burger chains. Wendy's come out as the winner on that front with 35% of voters picking it as their favorite to 23% for McDonald's, 15% for Burger King, and 13% for Hardee's. The burger wars aren't nearly as polarizing as the chicken wars. Wendy's is the top choice of Republicans (42-23), independents (34-23), and Democrats (29-24). Finally something that North Carolinians can agree on regardless of party lines.
In terms of simple favorability ratings Wendy's has the best numbers 0f any of the chains, chicken or burger focused, with 72% of voters giving it favorable marks and 13% unfavorable. The other burger places are in the 50s- 59/23 for McDonald's and 52/27 for both Burger King and Hardee's.
publicpolicypolling.com