The North Carolina GOP is not doing the NRSC any favors in their hopes to unseat Senator Kay Hagan (D. NC):
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/...
The biggest winner coming out of the North Carolina legislative session might be Kay Hagan. She leads her two most likely Republican opponents, Thom Tillis and Phil Berger, by 8 points each at 47/39.
Beyond that though it's clear that the actions of the General Assembly this year make voters hesitant to give either of their legislative leaders a promotion. 49% of voters say they're less likely to support the Speaker of the House for the Senate because of what happened during this session to only 19% who are more likely to. And 41% are less likely to support the President Pro Tem of the State Senate for the US Senate, to 18% who are more likely to.
Tillis and Berger still have low name recognition- 44% and 38% respectively- but voters know they're unhappy with what the people in their offices did regardless of whether they know their names at this point, and that will give Hagan a lot to work with in her campaign. Overall the General Assembly has a 24% approval rating with 54% of voters disapproving of it.
Hagan has leads of 7-11 points against her other potential opponents as well. Jim Cain comes closest with a 7 point deficit at 46/39, followed by Greg Brannon (47/38), Virginia Foxx (48/39), and Mark Harris (46/37) with 9 point deficits, Heather Grant with a 10 point gap at 47/37, and Lynn Wheeler with an 11 point one at 47/36.
Virginia Foxx remains the top choice of North Carolina Republicans to be their candidate next year amidst renewed speculation that she might be interested in a bid. - PPP, 8/13/13
That's right, Virginia "Crazy Like A" Foxx might be testing the U.S. Senate waters:
http://projects.newsobserver.com/...
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx will speak at a fund raiser for the Republican Women's Club of Chapel Hill on Sunday, in a move likely to spur speculation that she is testing the waters for a Senate race next year.
Foxx, a veteran lawmaker from Banner Elk who had been mentioned as a potential U.S. Senate candidate next year, will talk at a cookie and coffee affair at the Chapel Hill Country Club. The event is a $20 person fund raiser will begin at 3 p.m.
Polls have put Foxx at the top of the list of potential GOP challengers to Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan. Other Republican women, Rep. Renee Ellmers and state Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry, have ruled out the race, but Foxx has apparently not made any public comments in weeks. - Charlotte News Observer, 8/12/13
Foxx gets 18% from Republican voters while Phil Berger and Jim Cain each get 9%. Thom Tillis gets 8%, Dr. Greg Brannon gets 7%, Heather Grant and Mark Harris each get 4% and Lynn Wheeler gets 2%. 40% of Republican voters don't know enough about the GOP candidates.
While Hagan's approval ratings are 42/41, she's feeling pretty confident about her chances next year:
http://www.fayobserver.com/...
"I've got a great team in place," she said. "I feel very confident that I'm going to win this race."
Hagan said she has been to all 100 counties in the state since she won her seat in 2008.
"I've had town hall meetings in every county," Hagan said. "I think constituent service is a hallmark of my office."
Hagan spoke about her re-election efforts, as well as jobs and national security, during her visit Tuesday with the editorial staff at The Fayetteville Observer.
Hagan, who is a former a state senator from Greensboro, defeated GOP Sen. Elizabeth Dole for the U.S. Senate seat by more than 360,000 votes. - Fay Observer, 8/12/13
I wouldn't blame her, especially with how unpopular the voter ID law just signed into law is. Only 39% support the voter ID law while 50% oppose it. Here are the details:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/...
-Only 33% of voters in the state support reducing the early voting period by a week to 59% who are opposed. Independents (28/62) and Democrats (22/70) are both strongly opposed to that provision.
-Only 21% of voters in the state support eliminating straight party ticket voting to 68% who are opposed. There's bipartisan consensus on that issue with Democrats (70/17) and Republicans (68/22) both thinking that should continue to be allowed.
The unpopularity of these provisions is enough to make the overall bill unpopular despite the fact that voters support requiring a photo ID to vote. White voters only narrowly support the new voting bill (46/44), while African Americans (16/72) are heavily opposed. Republicans (71%) support the bill but Democrats (72%) are just as unified in their opposition and independents are against it by a 49/43 margin as well. And perhaps most foreboding for Republicans, moderate voters stand against the legislation 70/20. - PPP, 8/12/13
Even U.S. Senate candidate and face of the NC GOP lunacy, House Speaker Thom Tillis (R. NC), admitted that voter fraud isn't the reasons why the North Carolina GOP pushed for this bill:
http://myfox8.com/...
House Speaker Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenburg) recognized that voter fraud is a small issue in North Carolina and said suppressing fraud is not the primary reason behind House Bill 589.
“We call this restoring confidence in elections,” Tillis said, according to an interview with NBC News’s Craig Melvin in March. “There is some voter fraud, but that’s not the primary reason for doing this.”
McCrory praised the bill in a media conference Friday, saying it will restore faith in elections by requiring voters to present government-issued identification at the polls.
But when an Associated Press reporter asked McCrory how the provision ending pre-registration by those under 18 would help prevent voter fraud, McCrory said he had not seen that provision. - My Fox 8, 7/29/13
By the way, looks like Pat McCrory might be the Tom Corbett (R. PA) of 2016:
http://blogs.fayobserver.com/...
The governor’s race in Pennsylvania might not seem to have any connection to the situation here in NC.
But our governor, Pat McCrory, might want to tune in.
In PA, Republican Tom Corbett is a dead man walking, according to polls that show him badly trailing just about any Democrat who is willing to put his or name in the race. Corbett is at 38 percent job approval.
Republican McCrory is at 40 percent approval and 49 percent disapproval. It represents a precipitous 15-point drop from June, according to Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning but well-regarded firm.
What is striking is that Corbett and the legislature in Pennsylvania pursued a nearly identical legislative course as McCrory and the N.C. General Assembly.
Namely: Voter ID; cuts to education and diminishment of teachers; cuts to programs for the poor; refusal to accept federal Medicaid money and refusal to set up Obamacare health care exchanges; big tax breaks for corporations, etc.
McCrory has additionally hanging over him that he was not honest about whether he would restrict abortion access. He said point-blank he wouldn’t, but wound up supporting a bill expected to close most abortion clinics. - Fay Observer, 8/8/13
The real purpose behind the voter ID laws are to disenfranchise minority and poor voters from helping Hagan win re-election. But Hagan's calling in the big guns to tackle the voter ID laws:
http://projects.newsobserver.com/...
Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan Tuesday sent a letter to U..S. Attorney General Eric Holder urging him to review the voting bill signed into law by Republican Gov Pat McCrory.
"I am deeply concerned that H.S. 589 will restrict the ability of minorities, seniors, students and disabled and low and middle incomes citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote," Hagan wrote. "I strongly encourage the Justice Department to immediately review House Bill 589 and take all appropriate steps to protect federal civil rights and the fundamental right to vote.''
She said called the law one of the most restrictive in the country, requiring not only a photo ID to vote, but reducing early voting by a week, eliminating pre-registration of high schoolers, ending same-day registration, restricting the ability to vote by provisional ballot. - Charlotte News Observer, 8/13/13
Even if Holder is successful in getting the voter ID laws in North Carolina overturned, Art Pope and the Koch Brothers are still going to spend big to defeat Hagan. If you would like to donate or get involved with Hagan's campaign, you can do so here:
http://www.kayhagan.com/