A new survey of North Carolina from Public Policy Polling (D) indicates that GOP Sen. Richard Burr could be in serious trouble in 2010, as he runs for re-election in a state that flipped from the Republicans to the Democrats last year.
Burr’s approval rating here is only 35%, disapproval is 32%, and a third of likely voters are undecided — not very good numbers for an incumbent, to say the least. Against a generic Democrat, Burr has an initial lead of 42%-38%, with the incumbent well below 50%. Against Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, it’s a very similar 43%-35% margin for Burr.
Democrats and independents are also more likely than Republicans to be undecided, suggesting that Burr already has much of his base locked down.
From the pollster’s analysis: “A large segment of the electorate knows nothing about him and among those who do he’s basically running 50/50. That makes him very vulnerable to a strong Democratic challenge next year.”
