The new survey of the North Carolina Senate race by Public Policy Polling (D) shows Republican Sen. Richard Burr in a close race against Democratic Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, with very high undecideds and both candidates remaining heavily unknown.
The numbers: Burr 38%, Marshall 33%, and Libertarian candidate Michael Beitler at 10%, with a whopping 20% undecided. The survey of registered voters has a ±4.4% margin of error. In the previous poll from a month ago, which did not include Beitler and was also conducted during the Democratic primary runoff campaign, Burr led Marshall by 46%-39%. In a three-way match-up, the TPM Poll Average gives Burr 44.0%, Marshall 36.5%, and Beitler 8.0%.
PPP’s Tom Jensen writes: “Burr’s relatively anonymity for an incumbent Senator can be seen in his approval numbers. 28% of voters still have no opinion of him, with those who do splitting negatively. 34% like the job he’s doing while 39% disapprove. Marshall is still pretty unknown too despite 14 years in statewide office and a recently completed campaign to secure her party’s nomination. 58% of voters have no opinion about her with 22% seeing her favorably and 20% unfavorably. “
