Elon University Poll

North Carolina recently enacted a law called House Bill 2. It is also known as the Bathroom Bill or HB2. Have you heard anything about HB2?

Wording notes: adopts the opponents' nickname 'the Bathroom Bill' as part of the introduction

neutral — a pure awareness screen; 'Bathroom Bill' was the near-universal shorthand in NC media at the time and is offered here as an alternative name rather than as a characterization

North Carolina recently enacted a law called House Bill 2. It is also known as the Bathroom Bill or HB2. Have you heard anything about HB2?

[If yes to House Bill 2 Intro] Do you support or oppose HB2?

Wording notes: names only the bill number, relying on the preamble for content | no substantive description of what HB2 does

neutral — symmetric support/oppose with volunteered middle and don't-know categories; because the law's content is never described, the result measures reaction to the label as much as to the policy

North Carolina recently enacted a law called House Bill 2. It is also known as the Bathroom Bill or HB2. Have you heard anything about HB2?

[If yes to House Bill 2 Intro] Has Governor Pat McCrory's handling of HB2 made you more or less likely to vote to re-elect him as governor?

Wording notes: 'no difference' is offered as an explicit alternative rather than volunteered

neutral — balanced more/less construction with an explicit no-difference option

North Carolina recently enacted a law called House Bill 2. It is also known as the Bathroom Bill or HB2. Have you heard anything about HB2?

[If yes to House Bill 2 Intro] Regardless of what you think about HB2 itself, do you think the national reputation of North Carolina is better, worse, or about the same since HB2 was passed?

Wording notes: explicitly instructs respondents to set aside their own view of the law

neutral — all three directions offered with an explicit instruction to separate the reputational judgment from the policy judgment

Do you support or oppose HB2?

Wording notes: names the bill only ('HB2') with no description of its contents | the word 'transgender' does not appear in the item | allows a 'neither' response

neutral — bare bill-name item; neutrality comes at the cost of assuming respondent knowledge of the law's contents

Regardless of what you think about HB2 itself, do you think the national reputation of North Carolina is better, worse, or about the same since HB2 passed?

Wording notes: explicitly separates reputational effect from support for the law | middle option offered

neutral — symmetric better/worse/same with an explicit instruction to set aside one's own view of the law

Has Gov. Pat McCrory's handling of HB2 made you more or less likely to vote to re-elect him as governor?

Wording notes: ties the bathroom law directly to vote choice | middle 'no difference' option offered

neutral — symmetric more/less likely with a no-difference option