Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) leads his Democratic challenger 45 percent to 41 percent in a new poll out Tuesday from Emerson College.
The poll found 5 percent of respondents would choose someone else and 8 percent were undecided.
Burr, a relatively popular two-term incumbent, has consistently led former state Rep. Deborah Ross (D) in the Senate race, although the gap between the candidates has shrunk in recent months.
This is the first poll from Emerson College on the North Carolina race. Last week, a CNN poll of the race found Burr ahead 49-46, while a poll from Monmouth found Burr leading 45-43.
Democrats believe North Carolina is on the table, and as Clinton’s lead there began to widen in June and July, the possibility of carrying the state as Obama did in 2008 seemed within reach. However, an Emerson College general election poll out Tuesday found Clinton down two points to Trump, 45 percent to 43 percent.
The Emerson College poll was conducted Aug. 27-29 and surveyed 800 likely general election voters using an automated survey on landline phones. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.4 percent.
TPM’s PollTracker Average has Ross trailing Burr 43.2 percent to 47.1 percent.
