Former President Donald Trump has a clear five-point lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in North Carolina, according to a Rasmussen Reports/American Thinker poll.

The survey, conducted by Pulse Opinion Research and published Tuesday, finds that 51 percent of the likely voter respondents back Trump, while 46 percent support Harris. He has tacked two more points onto his lead since September, when he led 49 percent to 46 percent in the Tar Heel State.

Trump has a substantial edge with male voters, 56 percent to 42 percent, and Harris only has a slight advantage with women, 51 percent to 47 percent. What is more, the former president is winning 26 percent of blacks. Other minorities prefer Trump to Harris by nearly a three-in-five ratio.

“Voters are deeply distressed by the state of things in America and believe that Trump is the better candidate to address the problems,” said American Thinker managing editor Andrea Widburg in Rasmussen Reports’ release.

The survey also gauged what North Carolina voters believe is the top issue in this presidential election. A plurality of 33 percent said the economy is the most pressing issue. Another 17 percent selected border security, and 12 percent chose abortion.

Public Opinion Research sampled 1,042 likely voters in North Carolina from October 9-14 and the margin of error is ± three percentage points.

North Carolina is the lone swing state Trump won in both 2020 and 2016 and is a core building block in his easiest path to the White House, which includes two other swing states: Georgia and Pennsylvania. A combination of these three states, combined with the ones Trump is expected to win, would place him at precisely 270 electoral votes, securing him a second term.

North Carolina also represents a potential foundational piece in secondary pathways. North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and either Michigan or Wisconsin would put Trump over the edge without Pennsylvania, and he has additional pathways, some of which Breitbart News detailed on Monday.